The message of May Day

Once again in the midst of protracted aspirations for an "ideal" labour policy, the observance of May Day, today, is bound to leave many wondering about its actual significance.
Much has changed since the times when, devoted to the memory of Chicago workers killed while agitating for their rights, it gained political overtones following the Russian Revolution, which resulted in the creation of the Soviet Union, as the first workers' and peasants' state.
It will be noted that, much earlier, it had been traditionally celebrated to mark the coming of spring in the West, often with dancing around a maypole, sports, and other festivities. However, it was that change in Russia that marked the beginning of the May Day celebrations with demonstration of solidarity of workers.
Needless to point out, in its new form, it sparked the imagination of trade unionists with political motivations all along the struggle for independence in the colonies of imperialist powers as also in various newly freed, and haphazardly industrialising countries, Pakistan included, in our part of the world too.
However, that kind of a pursuit will appear to have started fading, following the break-up of the Soviet Union, an event that also witnessed a perceptible change in the dogma of Communism, in so far as the overblown concept of rights of workers is concerned.
This should leave little to doubt, in view of the incontrovertible fact of the socialist world now trying to catch up fast with the private enterprise system and all that goes with it.
As such, the celebration of May Day, today, in Pakistan, will certainly be marked with a holiday ritual, to the satisfaction of government and workers alike, with its official recognition of the role of labour in the economy, along with the concept of their rights. Needless to point out, they will have all the reason to pride in this country figuring among the numbered few countries in which it is distinguished as a public holiday. Of course, this is one common perception that is shared by both the workers and the government, both celebrating them in their own right.
However, it is just another matter that of late quite a great deal in the industrial scheme of things the world over happens to be in a state of flux in developed and developing countries, including Pakistan, from more pronounced thrusts of science and technology. It goes without saying that the emphasis in the industrial scheme of things has shifted world-wide from conflict on rights of employers and workers, on to harmony in worker-management relations to ensure its harmony in their respective interests.
It will be recalled that this wind of change started blowing across following disintegration of the former Soviet Union, thereby, spelling collapse of the controlled economic system.
It will be noted that the failure of that system also set the pace for an increasingly popular thrust of market-based economic system, thereby, ending the mostly politically inspired confrontation between the private owners of the means of production and the workers. Needless to point out, the new approach has markedly influenced countries, like Pakistan, that had been variously pursuing the mixed economy pattern, but now going all out for the market-based free economy system.
As such, the observance of May Day, which had long remained marked with politically motivated ideas for decades together, can be seen to have undergone understandable changes too. The political government now in power, though yet carried away by populist urges and aspirations on a number of issues, can hardly afford to go the beaten track.
Again, although better deal to the labour remains its objective, it has been trying so to alter its scheme of things as to make the best of the unfolding opportunities of exploitation of the nation's tremendous development potential, more so from judicious use of foreign investment too. However, with all the emphasis on a better deal for industrial workers, unfortunately, conspicuous by its absence is the glaring lack of concern of the peasantry. In a predominantly agricultural economy, the plight of teeming millions in Pakistan beckons it to focus full attention on the farm workers without any loss of time.