AS LABOUR Day comes round again, there is room for reflection on the significance of the occasion. In its earliest days (post-1938), the event provided opportunity for workers, rejoicing in their fledgling status as members of a newly-organised workforce, to march and parade, enjoying the rhetoric of their leaders, heady with the wine of attainment of rights for their followers.
By the mid-1970s, however, the concept of Labour Day underwent its most dramatic change when the late Michael Manley, filled with the fervour of his socialist ideals, urged the populace at large to "put labour into Labour Day" and succeed in doing so. Even his most avid detractors (and they were many), seem to have fallen under the spell and Labour Day evolved into a frenzy of activism, the result of which can still be seen in numerous community centres, basic schools and other facilities.
With Mr. Manley's departure from the scene, the enthusiasm for 'labour on Labour Day' seemed to have waned somewhat. While groups and individuals still go out to engage in community improvement, the level of involvement is nowhere near what it was at the height of the programme's popularity when, from one end of the island to the other, the day was marked by activity and camaraderie. Some will still go out to toil today, responding especially to the Labour Day Secretariat's call to assist in projects to benefit disaster preparedness. For others, particularly of a younger generation, it will pass as just another public holiday.
The time may well have come for a new focus to be found for Labour Day. Such a concept, we submit, could be located in the arena of worker-education. The day off from the workplace could be used to rally younger workers in particular to participate in forums and other events, to discuss and evaluate the changes occurring in the global workplace and the significance for their future. Much of the current anxieties and insecurities which beset us are rooted in a lack of knowledge of the factors which impinge on our lives and the inter-connectedness with global sources.
A Labour Day Colloquium on the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) for instance could become an occasion of significance, benefiting workers and employers alike. If we accept that an educated workforce is the best defence against the tide of rapid change, then the addition of such a dimension to Labour Day is worthy of consideration, especially by the institutions which are concerned with worker-education.
After all, if Labour Day is going to continue to evolve in response to social needs, as it has done before, then why not use the day dedicated to the workers' cause to increase their knowledge?
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
