Do you know the origins of the eight-hour workday? It all started when the Stonemasons Society in Sydney issued an ultimatum to employers on 18 August 1855 saying that after six months masons would work only an eight-hour day. Stonemasons working on the Holy Trinity Church and the Mariners Church decided not to wait and pre-emptively went on strike, thus winning the eight-hour day. They celebrated with a victory dinner on 1 October 1855 which to this day is commemorated as the Labour Day holiday, the first Monday each October in the state of New South Wales. Agitation was also occurring in Melbourne where Stonemasons working on Melbourne University organised to down tools on 21 April 1856 and march to Parliament House with other members of the building trade. The government agreed that workers employed on public works should enjoy an eight-hour day with no loss of pay and Stonemasons celebrated with a holiday and procession on Monday 12 May 1856. Theses initial successes led to the decision to organise a movement, to actively spread the eight-hour idea, and secure the condition across the country. It took further campaigning and struggles by trade unions to extend the eight-hour day to all workers in Australia, and was achieved nationally in the 1920s. Celebrating the Australian labour movement and specifically the achievement of a working day limited to eight hours, the Labour Day public holiday is fixed by the various state and territory governments, so varies considerably, especially as they all have different histories. It is the first Monday in October in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales and South Australia. In both Victoria and Tasmania, it is the second Monday in March (though the latter calls it Eight Hours Day). In Western Australia, Labour Day is the first Monday in March. In the Northern Territory, it is the first Monday in May. This year the State LNP Government in Queensland changed Labour Day from the first weekend in May to October. The first Labour Day procession took place in Barcaldine on 1 May 1891 and the first Monday in May was a much-celebrated day for unions as a public holiday since 1901 where is coincided with May Day – the international day for workers. Unions see Campbell Newman’s decision to change this holiday as ideological and are refusing to celebrate Labour Day in October. They continue their long tradition of celebrating it in May.
Posted on: Mon, 06 Oct 2014 03:08:49 +0000
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