Okay....today is Labour Day...so what? I was talking to my wife today about what today means. Maybe the government should put a explanation in the paper or something. After doing some research, because I think its important to know why we are having a public holiday, the succint answer came from Wikipedia.
"Labour Day is an annual holiday celebrated all over the
world that resulted from efforts of the labour union movement, to
celebrate the economic and social achievements of workers.
The celebration of Labour Day has its origins in the eight hour day movement,
which advocated eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight
hours for rest. On 21 April 1856 Stonemasons and building
workers on building sites around Melbourne, Australia, stopped work and
marched from the University of Melbourne to Parliament House to achieve an eight
hour day. Their direct action protest was a success, and they are noted as the
first organized workers in the world to achieve an eight hour day with no loss
of pay, which subsequently inspired the celebration of Labour Day and by May Day."So there you go, relax today in peace....
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6 comments:
4:58 pm
Melbourne University refuses to observe Labour Day because the workers who were building it went on strike. Just one of many protests in its history. So the students still have to go on the public holiday (although most Arts students don't have classes on Mondays...or Fridays, or most mornings...)
1:58 pm
So as a Liberal voter, whose party dislikes unions, maybe you shouldn't take it as a public holiday!
2:26 pm
How do you know if I am a liberal voter??
And how do you know I dislike unions?
I actually think Unions have their place....and I think Rudd's apology was a great thing.
And...does Australia have a liberal party at the moment??
BTW...does this mean you wont be taking the Queens birthday off as a holiday???
4:56 pm
How do I know you're a Liberal voter?
What about all the stuff you said about Rudd and Labour last year before the election.
I'm not really fussed about whether we're a monarchy or republic, so I'll take the Queen's birthday, especially now I live in a state that celebrates it on the proper day.
6:00 pm
aaah. I dont think that makes me a liberal voter....not at all.
1:07 pm
there's nothing wrong with being a liberal voter (that a bullet wouldn't fix) ;-)
it's about time we took back the 8 hour day cos i don't think there's many people left who do that anymore.
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