Thanks for Your Support for The Workers on Labour Day - Vernon Derby, Consumer/ Citizen Advocate

Many of you have been following my campaign for us to 'Put The Workers Back In The Centre Of Labour Day'. Many of us are just aware of the theme, 'Put Work Into Labour Day' and not the real reason for the Labour Day celebrations. This change came about when former Prime Minister Micheal Manley decided to make this change some years ago. While giving voluntary work on labout day is a laudable thing, we cannot afford not to know our history and for us to understand and know the history of Labour Day. Some of you might have seen my letter to the Editor which was publised in the Gleaner about this matter.

Labour Day was a day set aside for us to celebrate the achievements of the workers. The irony is that while we celebrate these achievements many workers are losing their rights which have been fought for by past leaders such as Sir Alexander Bustamantee, Sir William Grant, Aggie Bernard and others.

Steve Lyston in the Jamaica Gleaner under the headline, "The Real Meaning Of Labour Day".said a bit about the history of Labour Day although I belive he could have said more about the history and real meaning of Labour Day. 

We hear of contract workers such as security guards who work under such conditions which reminds us of the period prior to 1938.Many are not even getting minimum wage I understand. I hear stories of security guards working up to seventy hours each week. We definitely need to put back the workers at the centre of Labour Day and we need to change how we threat some of our workers. 

Vincent Morrison and John Levy from the Union of Technical and Supervisory Employees (UCASE) appeared on a special Labour Day show which I hosted on Nationwide Radio on Labour Day. between 1 pm and 2 pm. After the one hour special Labour Day Show, I went on to contribute my service on Labour Day by giving two hours on air which was dedicated to the workers of this country.. 

Matters discussed on the special Labour Day show formed part of the major news on Nationwide Radio on Friday, May 25. Since then Mr. Levy has been on CVM TV exposing the plight of the contract workers. Recently Danny Roberts head of the Hugh Lawson Shearer Trade Union Institute spoke to this issue which was reported in the Gleaner.

I started this lobby for us to recognize the plight of many workers and specifically so called contract workers after getting a number of complaints. I sent out thousands of messages to my friends, union leader and political leaders. I also spoke to a few person in the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions and other labour related organizations..

The Jamaica Confederation of Trade Union had planned to have a radio broadcast to communicate with the Jamaican people about the plight of workers at this time but they were unable to go ahead with their plan. UCASE which is not a member of the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions decided to sponsor the broadcast on Labour Day.

I must thank the news media, the leadership of the trade unions and my supporters for giving this initiative such a strong support. Due to the support given, many Jamaicans were learning for the first time what is the true meaning of Labour Day. Many became aware also of the events of 1938 which resulted in many changes at the workplace in this country and also about the development of our trade unions and our political parties.

Other information on Labour Day::

• Loop
• National Library of Jamaica
• JIS
• Nationwide 90 FM