Workers' International Solidarity Day

President John Agyekum Kufuor would for the last time as Head of State, join Ghanaian workers to celebrate their 42nd May Day during their 51st year of attainment of nationhood as part of the 118th celebration of the global solidarity day on Thursday May 1, 2008. The theme for this year's celebration is: Deepening Democracy in Ghana - The Role of Organised Labour. On the 113th day after his assumption of office in 2001, President Kufuor had his maiden solidarity encounter with Ghanaian workers at a national parade at the Independence Square on the theme: "Consolidating Democracy in Ghana - The Role of Trade Unions." It is significant to note that as President Kufuor prepares to end his two-terms in office the country's labour force is enjoying a unique functional organised labour that enhances democracy and good governance in Ghana. Organised labour is made up of the Ghana Trades Union Congress (GTUC); the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT); Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL); Civil Servants Association of Ghana (CSAG); Judicial Service Staff Association of Ghana (JUSSAG) and the Ghana Registered Nurses Association (GRNA). The global celebration of May Day was first observed on May 1, 1890, after the first International Congress of Socialist Parties in Europe decided on July 14 1889, in Paris, France, to dedicate May 1 every year as: "Workers' Day of International Unity and Solidarity". It must be noted that the Paris Congress had its roots in certain labour related incidents between May 1- 4, 1886, when some gallant workers' leaders in the States of America called for a general strike to back their demands for a legal guarantee for eight working hours per day. It was reported that in the pursuit of the strike, a violent incident erupted at the famous Haymarket Square in Chicago in the USA, where armed policemen fired shots into the workers resulting in the killing of many of the workers and eight policemen. Following the May 1 - 4 1886 disturbances, ringleaders of the workers, namely, August Spies, George Engel, Adolph Fischer and Albert Richard Parson were arrested, convicted and hanged on November 11, 1887. Others including Oscar W. Reebe and Michael Scwab were sentenced to life imprisonment. The Haymarket Square martyrs were later honoured with a special monument at their graveside in Chicago on June 25 1893. The following day the Governor of Illinois overruled the court's judgement in the case and ordered that the surviving workers' leaders serving life sentence be freed. As a sequel, a boom befell American workers in February 1889 when the American Federation of Labour (AFL) eventually petitioned and obtained their desired minimum wage and eight-hour working day. This was later incorporated into an International Convention on Safety at Workplaces and adopted at a conference attended by France Trade Unions and other national institutions at Bordeaux, France. Subsequently, this workers' revolt against excruciating capitalism spread to many European countries culminating in the convening of the first International Congress of Socialist Parties in Paris, France on July 14, 1889, which gave birth to the "International Workers' Day". The first May Day celebration was under the theme: "For Peace and Against Threats of War".