Remembering A. E Goonesinha He was the founder of May Day in Sri Lanka

A.E. Goonesinha was a prominent freedom fighter and a national hero

By Yasmin Koch

Writing about a historical figure is no easy task. Readers could tire of reading about the same feats year after year. However, every year there are readers who could gain knowledge of facts and changes in history created by our own men and women.

The glory of May Day goes to A.E. Goonesinha and it’s essential that we commemorate him on this day as the father of the labour movement and the trade unions in Ceylon. If not for his courageous fight on behalf of the workers’ rights of this country during colonial times, the workers wouldn’t be able to live with dignity, let alone liberty. The cruelty and disrespect shown to their colonies by the British knew no bounds. You allied with them and did their bidding or you fought against their punitive laws and risked your life.

Born on 1st May 1891 in Kandy, A.E. Goonesinha was educated at Dharmaraja College, Kandy, and at St. Josephs College in Colombo. He started his professional career as a journalist and publisher of the Journal “Search Light” to support the National Movement. He was instrumental in forming the “Young Lanka League” and the “Lanka Workers Association” which was the forerunner to the formation of worker organisations and trade unions in Ceylon.

In 1891 the colonial government introduced a tax of Rs. 2.00 per year per male adult. Those who did not pay had to work on the roads for one day in lieu of the tax. Goonesinha campaigned against the tax levied by the Municipal Council and got the members of his Young Lanka League not to pay the tax and to work on the road instead. His determination in breaking metal himself for 8 hours with people joining him in great numbers and showing their support, resulted in the tax being finally withdrawn in 1923. - The experience of poverty and poor living conditions of the working class during his anti-poll tax campaign and the general strike of 1923 convinced him of the potential of the working class in emancipating the country by strengthening them with adult franchise.

A.E. Goonesinha had also been advised by Dr. Shields on the lack of social legislation to cover minimum wage, hours of work, workmen’s compensation, health insurance, pensions, protection for women workers and provision for the education and housing of workers. Goonesinha’s political career marked the formation of the Ceylon Labour Party. And: However vocal and vociferous he was at meetings and in his dealings with a hostile colonial environment, he was a kind and generous man to his family, friends and anybody who sought his help.

The first May Day rally was held in 1927. A.E. Goonesinha was not a ceremonial Buddhist and was a follower of Buddhist principles. 

The late President Ranasinghe Premadasa, renamed Price Park in Pettah “Goonesinhapura” as a tribute. Labour Day (May Day) was first held in Ceylon in 1927 under the leadership of A.E. Goonesinha.  A.E. Goonesinha, a prominent freedom fighter and national hero, social worker, advocate of the poor, politician and trade union leader is remembered today as the father of Sri Lanka’s Labour and Trade Union Movement.