History of May Day
In 1889 an international federation of socialist groups and trade unions designated May 1 as a day in support of workers, in commemoration of the Haymarket Riot in Chicago (1886) according to Britannica. Five years later, U.S. Pres. Grover Cleveland, uneasy with the socialist origins of Workers’ Day, signed a legislation to make Labour Day the official U.S. holiday in honour of workers. Canada would soon follow.
In Europe May 1 was historically associated with rural pagan festivals, but the original meaning of the day was gradually replaced by the modern association with the labour movement. In the Soviet Union, leaders embraced the new holiday, believing it would encourage workers in Europe and the United States to unite against capitalism.
In Germany, Labour Day became an official holiday in 1933 after the rise of the Nazi Party. Ironically, Germany abolished free unions the day after establishing the holiday, virtually destroying the German labour movement. Botswana migrant workers have a long history of involvement in May Day struggles in southern Africa according to ‘A history with anarchist roots,’ a 2015 document authored by Lucien van der Walt, Paliani Chinguwo, Sian Byrne and Warren McGregor. This is not surprising. Until the 1970s, most waged workers worked outside Botswana.
‘The achievement of May Day inside Botswana was a long struggle. Independence in 1966 opened a period of stable parliamentary rule, but it did not solve widespread local poverty and inequality. A teachers’ association was formed in 1937 and the first union, the Francistown African Employees Union, was founded in 1948. The 1960s saw the formation of the Bechuanaland Trade Union Congress in 1962 and the rival Bechuanaland Federation of Labour in 1965.
However, unions remained weak into the 1970s. Work places were small; the agricultural sector was large. Trade union legislation created obstacles to unions operating and banned political and sympathy strikes. The Botswana Federation of Trade Unions (BFTU) was formed in 1977, but numbered only eight registered unions and less than 6,000 members a year later. However, the working class in Botswana was growing rapidly, especially in mining and the state sector. The number of waged workers rose from 10,000 in 1960, to 60,000 in 1978 – topping the 40,000 Botswana workers in South Africa.
In 1975, Botswana was shaken by a strike of unprecedented scale and violence at the Selebi-Pikwe copper-nickel mine, opening a new chapter of class struggle. The paramilitary Police Mobile Unit was used; workers were fired and then selectively rehired.
The first campaign for May Day followed. Initiated by the opposition Botswana National Front (BNF), it involved demonstrations. In 1978 May Day saw workers demonstrate in Gaborone.
Banners supported May Day and criticised government. That evening a commemoration at the Botswana Trade Union Education Centre, formed in 1971 called for an Industrial Court, a Ministry of Labour dealing with labour issues and a reduction in wage differentials.# In 1979, BFTU held a May Day event, which presented Public Service and Information Minister, Daniel Kwelagobe, with a memorandum demanding, for example,
May Day as an official holiday and changes to the bargaining system. However, none of these initiatives were successful.
The 1980s saw the unions take a tougher stand as relations with the state worsened. They opposed new laws enabling employers to prosecute union actions, easy dismissals and which gave the Home Affairs Minister extensive powers to intervene in unions – especially politically. May Day celebrations, still unrecognised by the state, continued to be held. In 1989, the public sector Manual Workers’ Union (MWU) used May Day to criticise privatisation plans.
In 1995, the MWU congress demanded that May Day be recognised and that Botswana ratify all International Labour Organisation ILO conventions. Also present were unions from Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe – a sign of the growing power of unions in the region. In the late 1990s, the ILO listed unions in South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe as among the fastest growing in the world.
Finally, in 1996, May Day was proclaimed as a public holiday in Botswana. However, many problems remain. May Day has subsequently been used to fan the flames of discontent. In 2001, for instance, the MWU reiterated the demand that ILO standards be adopted. Wages remain low, causing strikes in the mines and unrest in the state sector. Despite a growing economy, inequality remains high. In agriculture, land and cattle are often centralised in few hands, pushing more people into waged labour. Privatisation plans remain dominant and, as in the SADC region more generally, the eight-hour day is still not a reality.