Kuwait marks Labor Day

Kuwait marks today the international Labor Day, which is an annual global occasion celebrating laborers and workers achievements. As part of the celebrations, the Kuwaiti workers and laborers movements will highlight the long history of labor accomplishments in the country. Speaking on the occasion, chairman of Kuwait Trade Union Federation (KTUF) Salem Al-Ajmi said that the workers and laborers’ movements in the country had always been on the forefront of supporting national causes.

KTUF, along with other unions, federations, and organizations, will stand with the rights of workers and laborers in Kuwait, stressed Ajmi who indicated that the federation during its long illustrious years of operations since the early 1960s - has supported regulations in favor of workers.

About the history of workers in Kuwait, the official revealed that there was a sort of proto regulation issued to protect the rights of pearl divers and people working at the sea back in the 1940s. He added that throughout the modern age, the Kuwaiti constitution came out with several public and private sectors regulations aimed at protecting the rights and wellbeing of laborers in Kuwait.

The first labor unions were established in 1964 and they were dedicated to the protection and promotion of workers in the health and municipality sectors, said Ajmi who pointed out that nowadays there were around 80 labor and workers unions in the country operating under the umbrella of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.

The first international workers day was celebrated in the late 1800s in reaction to the hay market affair, an insidious bomb attack at labor rally in Chicago, which occurred in 1886, sparking a global movement aimed at protecting laborers’ rights and welfare.