Every first day of the month of May is celebrated as Workers day in Nigeria.
The day is one of the very few that is acknowledged worldwide and commemorated with a holiday. Although there is still some doubt as to who first proposed the holiday for workers, some records show that Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, was first in suggesting a day to honor those “who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold.” But many believe that Matthew Maguire, a machinist, proposed the holiday in 1882, when he was serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York.
Here are five facts worth remembering on Workers Day 2017.
1. Hundreds of countries around the world have recognized International Workers’ Day, although only about 60 actually celebrate the holiday.
2. The U.N.’s International Labor Organization has found that as the population of the world approaches 7 billion people, 3 billion are employed and about 240 million are unemployed.
3. According to the ILO, despite the 2008 crisis, the rate of unemployment has been between 5.8 percent and 5.9 percent as a worldwide average this century. This percentage is expected to remain the same through 2019. Even though this means that 61 million more people will be unemployed, some 220 million more jobs will have been created.
4. An estimated 30 million people suffer modern-day slavery conditions, generating some US$32 billion in profit yearly for those involved in human trafficking.
5. There are more than 200 million children working around the world today, with 120 million engaged in hazardous work. Seventy-three million of these children are under 10 years old.
