History of the International Workers’ Day
On May Day the international community celebrates the International Workers’ Day. May Day dates back to the Roman times, which celebrates fertility and the arrival of Spring. The International Worker’s Day (IWD) commemorates the Hay-market Affair of 4th May, 1886. On that day, 7 police officers and 4 workers lost their lives to a bombing at a labor demonstration in Chicago.
In addition, International Workers’ Day is a feast day of the working class and it is a day of demonstrating solidarity. While over 80 countries join in this celebration, some celebrate on different days. US, Canada celebrate it on the first Monday of September, while New Zealand on the 4th Monday in October.
“All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
Money vs Passion
As we finish college our main objective is to choose the most lucrative career path. We all want money, dream of becoming millionaires the least, retiring early and enjoying our lives without any worries. How many of us are fortunate to make a career of what we really love doing? Be it business, engineering, becoming a doctor, a painter, writer or even a traveler. A person’s NEED rather than PASSION for a trade drives their career choice. Need to make money, need to lessen the family burdens, need to take care of the sick parents, need to educate the siblings or need to clear debts. If your fate is not in favor, then you won’t get to choose but grab the first opportunity which gives a golden egg.
Every form of work in the world contributes to a greater good. We are interdependent on each other’s work. If the farmer doesn’t till the soil and cultivate, we would not have the fruits of his labor – rice, fruit and vegetation. When the drivers of our daily transportation modes and the workers of public service decide to halt their services for a day, how much do we have to struggle? None of us is a Jack of all trades. If only we were, then we need not worry if the world ran out of doctors, lawyers, fisherman and farmers. We could’ve done it all by ourselves. Unfortunately, the days we have on earth are limited. As a result, we cannot master all the skills we need to.
Dignity of Labor
It is especially relevant that we understand the dignity of our labor and how much we contribute to the society. Irrespective of the choice of work we make or what is in our destiny, we should respect our work. None of our work is of less importance or undignified. Anything that falls within the boundaries of lawful and ethical, beyond everything which contributes to the society is good labor. The fruitfulness of our work depends on how passionate we are about what we do. As a result we can contribute to uplifting the standards of human life through our work.
Martin Luther King, Jr. said,
“If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, go out and sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures. Sweep streets like Handel and Beethoven composed music. Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say, here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well.”
IVolunteer International is proud to have a collaboration of volunteers across various industries working towards the common good. In conclusion, on this International Workers’ Day we wish success to the work of hands of each and every worker who contributes to uplift the standards of human life.
