INTERNATIONAL LABOUR DAY 2010

MAY DAY MARKED WITH GLOBAL PROTESTS
CELEBRATIONS TURN VIOLENT IN MANY CITIES

Daily Time - Tens of thousands of people have marched in cities from Hong Kong to Istanbul to mark International Worker's Day, demanding more jobs, better work conditions and higher wages. Labour Day, also known as Workers' Day or May Day, the first day of the month of May is observed all over the world as the “International Worker’s Day”. The day originates with the US labour movement in the late 19th century. May Day commemorates the killing by police on May 1, 1886 of several demonstrating workers at Hay Market in Chicago, USA, who demanded that the 12-hour workday be reduced to eight hours. Today is a public holiday, and it is a celebration of the achievements, over the years, of the workers in the struggle for the improvement of their conditions of work. However, not everybody sees trade unions as the answer to the grievances of the workers. Some critics see trade unions as a hindrance to the economic emancipation of the worker. They say that union leaders are used by the employers to reign in on the union members to the detriment of the struggle.

Yesterday, May Day demonstrations have turned violent after police battle rioters in different places, like Greece and Yakarta. In two German cities, police used water cannons to drive back crowds of protestors. In Berlin, police tried to disperse hundreds of left-wing protesters in the west of the German capital late Saturday, as they set cars on fire and demolished police vehicles. In the port city of Hamburg, some 1,500 leftist radicals vandalized banks, overturned parked cars and set them on fire. In Washington DC, about 35 immigrant advocates have been arrested in front of the White House fence, after they sat down and defied orders from police. In Washington DC, about 35 immigrant advocates have been arrested in front of the White House fence, after they sat down and defied orders from police.

There wouldn't be need of Trade Unions, if the owners of factories and business corporations establish the worship and service of the Deity in their companies. Then, they can distribute prasadam (offered food) to their workers and employees. By doing this, any discrepancies between worker and owner will be repair, because both will become karma-yogis.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

If the owners give their laborers and office staff prasadam, then both the givers and the receivers will gradually become purified and more attracted to the Supreme Lord. … On the other hand, by trying to achieve only their selfish interests, the owners create a situation in which any harmony or unity is not only fragile but dangerous. ... When laborers and bosses perform activities that are not intended to please Lord Visnu and are in fact troublesome to the Lord, they end up arguing and fighting with each other, thus creating an awful situation in society. … All these complicated problems have one simple solution: everyone should perform karma-yoga, or work meant to please the Supreme Lord.

Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda :
“Renunciation Through Wisdom” – (Vairagya Vidya)
“Knowledge of the Supreme” – (Bhagavaner-katha)
“How to Cure the Material Disease”
Complete Works of Srila Prabhupada v2.0