Labour Day 2018:  Workers and activists of variegated hues marked May Day today with rallies to put a pressure on governments to address labour issues. Every year on May 1, the day is celebrated as International Labour Day or International Workers' Day to fete labourers and the working classes. In India, 5.5 million women and 22 million men are part of the organised public and private sector labour force. The day, which is known as the Antarrashtriya Shramik Diwas or Kamgar Din in India, finds its origins in the initial industrialization period, when industrialists used to exploit the labour class who were put to work for up to 15 hours a day.
 
The labour class gradually united against this exploitation and took the courage to raise their voice and demanded paid leaves, proper wages and breaks for the workforce. The first Labour day or May Day was celebrated in India in 1923. The Labour Kisan Party is credited to have organised the May Day celebrations at Triplicane Beach and at the beach opposite Madras High Court in Chennai, then called Madras. 
 
The search engine Google is also celebrating 'International Labour Day' with purple coloured doodle, including rubber gloves, stethoscope, safety helmets, batteries, nuts and bolts, painting roll-ons, wires, glasses and light torches. 
 
Modi greets workers 
 
Greeting the workers on the occasion of "May Day", Prime Minister Modi took a dig at Congress president Rahul Gandhi for not acknowledging the contribution of workers towards 100 per cent electrification of villages achieved under his government. "April 28th is a day that will be written in golden" letters in country's history, because our hardworking people" made electricity reach the last unelectrified village Leisang in Manipur. "But the new leader of the Congress did not utter two words of praise for the workers who made it possible," Modi said, while launching his campaign blitzkrieg in Karnataka.
  
Wage Code Bill
 
Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar said that a parliamentary standing committee has finalised its report on first labour code, Wage Code Bill 2017, and the legislation would be pushed for passage in the monsoon session of Parliament after the document is submitted. The law will enable the central government to set benchmark minimum wages for different regions across the country. The bill's provision provides that states cannot set minimum wages below the benchmark set by the Centre.
 
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the International Labour Day function today in Delhi, Gangwar said, "I have spoken to the chairman of the committee (regarding finalisation of its report on Wage Code Bill). He told me that everything is completed and it will be submitted soon. We will push (the bill) for passage."

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The draft code on the bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha in August 2017, thereafter, it was referred to the committee for scrutiny which is expected to submit its report in the upcoming monsoon session. The bill seeks to combine Payment of Wages Act, 1936, the Minimum Wages Act, 1949, the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965, and the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976, into one code.
 
(Inputs from Agencies)