In South Africa, there is ample evidence of the collective power of labor (by unionism) to enhance working conditions for employees. Unions were essential to the nation’s liberation and reconstruction as well as the struggle for workers’ rights both before and after 1994.
During a period when other powerful organizations and political parties were outlawed, unions battled for civil and political rights. Because of this, neither unions nor the employees they represent have ever found it easy to travel the path that led to the accomplishment of the rights that workers enjoy today. Workers were compelled to use their collective strength against employers as a result of employers’ resistance to the implementation of workers’ rights in the workplace.
May Day: Where did it All Start?
International Workers Day is observed on May 1st to honor workers who have made progress in the struggle for improved working conditions and their rights. On May 1, 1886, Workers Day was first observed in the United States (US). There was a heated dispute between employers and employees on the amount of hours that employees were required to work in a typical workday prior to the United States declaring May 1st as Workers Day.
In the past, laborers were required to put in ten to sixteen hours a day in hazardous settings. Injuries and fatalities were frequent during this time in labor relations history. Workers tried to reduce their work hours as early as 1860 without it having an adverse effect on their salary. Due to employer pushback, this did not materialize. Only in the 1880s did organized labor gain the clout to proclaim that workdays could only consist of eight hours.
The Origins of May Day and the Reasons Behind South Africa’s Celebration of Workers’ Day
The working class has been fighting for a shorter workday since the 1800s; this demand has significant political implications. The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions in the United States and Canada decided on October 7, 1884, that eight hours would be considered a legitimate workday starting on May 1, 1886. Additionally, the Federation advised worker organizations under its purview to adhere to this decision by the specified deadline. May Day has been observed on May 1st every year since then.
The Johannesburg District Trades Council is said to have organized the first May Day celebration in South Africa, which happened in 1895, according to Ray Alexander. The next event was the 1910 visit to South Africa by British labor and socialist leader Tom Mann. Like Kier Hardie before him, Mann called on the white labor movement to seriously consider organizing among African workers and denounced the South African Labour Party (SALP) for its disregard for African workers. His presence sparked a wave of global worker solidarity that culminated in a large-scale May Day march in which members of the labor movement from all backgrounds took part.
The advent of the First World War in August 1914 had a significant impact on South Africa’s socialist labor politics’ evolution. Colonel Cresswell’s Labour Party was the main political voice of organized white labor in South Africa prior to the war. The Party had been successful in winning over most English-speaking working class people by 1914.
Both the middle class and the Afrikaans working class were being affected. The Labour Party grew as a result of the 1913 “July Strike” by mineworkers and the January 1914 railwaymen’s strike, and it went on to win a landslide majority in the Transvaal Provincial elections held in March 1914. In by-elections, it also won seats from the administration, and in the next general election of 1915, further progress was anticipated.
However, the August 1914 declaration of war led to a significant breach within the party, preventing its “spectacular growth.” The party split into those who advocated for war support and those who opposed it. An antiwar majority prevailed at its annual convention in East London in January 1914.
Pressure to back the British war effort grew as the governments of Britain and Germany intensified their war propaganda. The party’s head, Cresswell, supported going to war, and on August 22, 1914, at a special convention in Johannesburg, his viewpoint gained a majority. David Ivon Jones, S.P. Bunting, Colin Wade, and W.H. Andrews were among those who rejected the war motion.
In September 1914, members of this group established the War on War League, with S. P. Bunting serving as treasurer. The War-on-War League planned a May Day march through Johannesburg’s streets in 1915. It concluded with a gathering in Market Square when socialist speakers took the platform. Those who eventually refused to support the war motion either quit or were kicked out of the Labour Party. May Day was a modest event in 1916, marked by a social and a visit to the graves of laborers slain during the 1914 strike.
Members of the War-on-War League started to consider alternatives to the Labour Party at the same time. The Internationalist Socialist League (ISL) was established on September 22, 1916, with David Ivon Jones serving as secretary, W. H. Andrews serving as chairman, J.A. Clark serving as vice-chairman, and G. Weinstock serving as treasurer. The Russian Revolution gave May Day a newfound international significance in 1917.
Horatio Mbelle, an articled clerk, was the first African to be scheduled as a speaker at a May Day demonstration organized by the ISL in South Africa. However, the demonstration was never held because of crowds of military and people that clogged the streets. The ISL created history by letting two Black speakers speak at its May Day demonstration the following year (1918), which was held in the colored neighborhood of Ferreirastown, Johannesburg, Transvaal (now Gauteng). They were African People’s Organization (APO) members William Thebedi and Talbot Williams.
The white labor movement saw a resurgence of militancy after the war, and May Day was observed annually—but it remained a white labor celebration. African laborers will not celebrate May Day in large numbers until 1928. That year, a massive May Day march including hundreds of African workers outnumbered the small Labour Party protest, which was limited to white workers. May Day attracted laborers of all ethnicities and became an annual event between 1928 and 1948.
The Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA) called for a May Day strike in 1950, the 64th anniversary of the holiday, as a protest against the Suppression of Communism Act. 18 people died in Soweto as a result of police brutality following the strike. Nelson Mandela, who went on to become the first democratically elected president of South Africa, spent the night hiding from the gunshots in a nurses’ dormitory.
Less than two months later, the African National Congress (ANC) assumed responsibility for organizing a “Day of Mourning” in remembrance of those who perished in the May Day strike after the regime forced the CPSA to disband. They also demanded that the day be observed going forward as Freedom Day. The National Party had just won the 1948 general election and was consolidating its hold on the Black majority of the nation, making it the “new kid on the block” at this time (1950).
The Defiance Campaign, spearheaded by the African National Congress (ANC) and the South African Indian Congress (SAIC), was the first large-scale nonviolent resistance movement in South African history. It occurred in June 1952, nearly two months after May Day, and was the first time all racial groups had united behind a single cause.
The Congress of the People (CoP) came next, and it was there that the Freedom Charter was created in 1955. The majority of South Africa’s liberation forces came together to support the Congress of the People and the Freedom Charter. Nothing in South Africa’s history of the liberation movement has captured the public’s attention as much as the Congress of the People campaign. The ANC, the SAIC, the South African Colored People’s Congress, the South African Congress of Democrats, and the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU) formed an alliance against apartheid in the 1950s, and this alliance was later consolidated into the Congress Alliance, a non-racial united front.
The administration stepped up its efforts to prohibit Alliance-affiliated political activists. Due to their leadership in the Defiance Campaign, Walter Sisulu, Nelson Mandela, James Moroka, and other prominent figures were put on trial under the Suppression of Communism Act. All 20 defendants received sentences of nine months hard labor followed by a two-year suspension.
On May 1, 1986, the 100th anniversary of May Day was observed. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), a labor federation founded in December 1985, called for a stay-away on May Day and asked that it be recognized as a public holiday.
Many traditionally conservative organizations, including the African Teachers Association, the National African Chamber of Commerce, and the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of South Africa (SEIFSA), the employers’ organization for the metal industry, supported it. Of these, the National Education Crisis Committee (NECC) and the United Democratic Front (UDF) were particularly supportive.
More than 1,5 million workers then responded to COSATU’s call, with the addition of thousands of students, hawkers, shopkeepers, taxi drivers, domestic workers, self-employed individuals, and unemployed people. The call was met with a large reaction in the industrial core of Gauteng Province, the Pretoria-Witwatersrand-Vereeniging (PWV) area, while it was less effective in other regions. All of the main cities hosted rallies, despite the fact that the government had previously prohibited several of them.
The majority of South African employees abstained from work on the day, unilaterally declaring it a public holiday. The first major employer to designate May 1 and June 16 as paid vacations was Premier Foods. A lot of other businesses then did the same.
Premier Foods became the first major business to announce 1 May and 16 June paid vacations, and the media accepted that the majority of South African workers had unilaterally declared the day a public holiday. Many other businesses then gave in to what was inevitable.
Is Workers’ Day a Public Holiday in South Africa?
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) demanded that May Day be recognized as a national holiday dubbed Workers Day on May 1st, 1986, the centennial of the celebration, and they also urged employees to abstain from work. The call was heeded by most South African workers, who unilaterally proclaimed the day a public holiday, with 1.5 million workers abstaining from work.
Thousands of students, employees, retailers, hawkers, taxi drivers, domestic helpers, jobless individuals, and independent contractors also joined them. The media also reported that despite official prohibitions, rallies were organized in all of the country’s main cities on a day that most South African workers had designated a public holiday.
Following South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994, Workers’ Day was declared a national public holiday.
Is South Africa’s First May Worker’s Day the Same as International Labour Day?
Indeed. Since the 1890s, several nations have observed International Labor Day, also known as May Day, International Workers Day, or Labor Day. It honors the bravery and dedication of the labor movement and trade unions, who banded together to defend their entitlement to better working conditions and their vital roles in society.
International Labor Day has been designated a public holiday in more than 80 nations across the globe. Although it is observed differently in each country, it is typically observed around May 1st of each year. The popularity and significance of Labor Day demonstrate the value that working people have to society on a global scale and honor their contribution to maintaining global productivity.
International Labor Day serves as a reminder of the value of laborers in the community and the need to keep pushing for a society in which all workers receive fair treatment, recognition, and favorable working circumstances.
When did South Africa’s Workers’ Day begin?
Workers’ Day was originally observed as a public holiday on May 1, 1995.
What is the South African way of celebrating Workers’ Day?
May 1st is a public holiday in the country. Most people spend it with friends or family at home. As a token of appreciation for all of their hard work, kids will occasionally make cards for their teachers or other staff members.
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