The Trade Unions which have grouped together argue that May 1 is the International Workers Day or labour day
It is reported that a group of Trade Unions, offended by the decision to declare May 7 as ‘Workers Day’, had decided to protest. This decision to change the date had apparently been taken by President Maitripala Sirisena on the advice of the Maha Nayake Theras who had pointed out that 
the week following Vesak Poya, which falls on April 29 and 30 will be one of religious observances and therefore, not opportune to have May Day rallies on May 1, immediately after the two Vesak holidays.
The Trade Unions which have grouped together argue that May 1 is the International Workers Day or Labour Day popularly known as May Day which according to them is universally celebrated as the day on which the workers highlight their woes and voice their legitimate demands and as such it was against international norms and rules to annul the May 1 holiday and instead declare May 7 as the day to mark workers day. The Unions argue that this decision violates the Constitution of Sri Lanka too and say that there were a few occasions in the past, when May Day was celebrated just before or just after Vesak Day. They go on to highlight the historical significance of May Day and that almost all countries have declared May 1 as workers day or labour day. The trade unions have declared that they would defy the Government’s decision and hold rallies on May 1.
It is worthwhile pondering on the historical background of May Day. In early pagan culture of Europe, May 1 was celebrated as the first day of summer and over the centuries, the day was associated with various religious and cultural festivities and celebrations. This day was observed as a spring holiday in the northern hemisphere with varied cultural and religious activities. In the late 19th century, May Day was chosen as International Workers Day by the Socialists and Communist movements of the Second Internationale to commemorate the bombing on May 4, 1886 of a demonstration by workers conducted in support of an eight-hour workday in Chicago known as the Haymarket Affair. Due to the bombing, seven police officers and four workers lost their lives. This celebration also combined with the anti-capitalist movement of that time in England. Since then, the working classes of many countries celebrated May 1 as International Workers Day and several governments recognized the day and declared it as a holiday. However, some countries celebrate workers day on different dates which are significant to them such as in the United States labour day is celebrated on the first Monday of September. This year in England, the May Day holiday has been fixed on May 7, which is aMonday, since May 1 falls on Tuesday. It had been the practice in England over the years that May Day was recognized as a holiday if it fell on a Monday and if not, on another day, usually a Monday was chosen as the May Day holiday.
Now one may wonder why the trade unions are irked by the decision to declare May 7 as May Day. If the workers wish to highlight the issues that affect them directly or of concern to them, why is it not possible for them to hold their rallies on any holiday in May? The message will be effectively put across to the respective authorities if unity among workers is firmly displayed. But what happens in Sri Lanka is that a majority of the unions are affiliated to the major political parties and they participate in May Day rallies organized by the parent political parties who make use of the May Day rallies to demonstrate their strength. There is more disunity than unity among workers when it comes to highlighting their woes. The only unions with sufficient numbers is the plantation workers unions, which too has become aligned to political parties of their choosing. As a result, it is not the aspirations of the workers that are highlighted on May Day but the slogans prepared by political parties. Therefore it is a moot point whether the trade unions have their workers day on May 1 or any other day in May or even for that matter any day in the year. The trade unions are responsible to their members to effectively present the workers’ grievances and make representations against the policies or practices of the employers that affect them adversely. Instead what we currently see is that the Unions mobilize workers or members against totally unrelated issues and more often than not, ‘missing the woods for the trees’ where their main issues are not highlighted but the workers are made to respond to the May Day slogans of the political parties they are affiliated to.
The May Day rallies of the so called socialist countries are also farcical demonstrations where such rallies are used to demonstrate their economic and military might to the world and hardly any worker-grievances are highlighted
The May Day rallies of the so called socialist countries are also farcical demonstrations where such rallies are used to demonstrate their economic and military might to the world and hardly any worker-grievances are highlighted. Due to the shrouded nature of worker conditions, the world hardly gets to know the plight of the workers in those countries because the Unions are State controlled, as are the media.
The government and the President cannot obviously ignore the advice of the Maha Nayake Theras in respect of religious observances connected with Vesak and the President quite rightly got the Cabinet to approve the shifting of May Day celebrations to May 7. What is the position if Vesak Poya fell on May 1 itself? In such a scenario would the trade unions want the Poya Day shifted to some other day to enable them to celebrate May Day? In this instance, the rights of the workers and trade unions have not been suppressed and merely allowed another day to conveniently exercise their rights. The unions claim that this rescheduling of May Day is a violation of international norms and our constitution. As explained in previous paragraphs, celebrating May Day on May 1 is not an international norm though prevalent in many countries. The claimed that the Constitution was being violated, maybe hinting at the favoured treatment meted out to Buddhists but there is no discrimination against other faiths in this exercise. Hypothetically, if workers day falls on Christmas day itself, there is no other option for the Government but to reschedule the workers day to some other time.
Have the Trade Unions lost their marbles or is there a more sinister motive underlying their agitation? Only time will tell.
