People continue to be our greatest and most precious resource as a country. And today, May Day, we salute our people and our workers.
This day could not have come at a better time in the juncture of our country when the welfare of workers has been under the microscope. We need not look past the recent strike involving workers at Andrews Sugar Factory, as well as the lay-offs which continue to occur in the public sector.
Just yesterday, this newspaper carried an article stating that 194 workers from the National Conservation Commission would be laid off. They joined hundreds of others who got their walking papers over the past few months.
While lay-offs are a bitter pill to swallow, especially in these hard times, we still must celebrate our workers who toil and put in the hours and the effort to make sure this country stays afloat.
There is, therefore, no doubt that today must be a celebration of not just where we are as a people and a country, but certainly how far we have come. It is indeed a long way from the 19th century when there was a struggle in some states in the United States among the working class to gain an eight-hour day.
At that time working conditions were severe and it was quite common to work between ten- to 16-hour days, often in unsafe conditions, which occasionally led to injury and sometimes death.
In the 1860s, working people agitated to shorten the workday without a cut in pay, but it wasn’t until the late 1880s that organised labour was able to garner enough strength to declare an eight-hour workday.
This is not our struggle today.
Today, we look to make a better Barbados.
Pastor Kevin Hunte of the Abundant Life Assembly summed it up as he addressed the May Day Thanksgiving Service last Sunday, saying there was a need for all hands to be on deck to help Barbados overcome economic and other problems.
Sir Roy Trotman, general secretary of the Barbados Workers’ Union, echoed a similar sentiment, with a plan to underscore the point in today’s May Day message. He said: “If each of us will reach out a helping hand, then perhaps we will make our nation Barbados a better place.”
At the end of the day, that’s what it is all about.
If we dig deep enough, each of us will realise that we all do want to make Barbados a better place, because this is our home, our past and our future. It is about pride of self, pride of place and pride of country.
Let’s live by our motto: Pride And Industry. We salute the workers of Barbados today, and every day.
