International Labours’ Day is commemorated worldwide today to mark the introduction of eight-hour work shifts and the labour-oriented social movement that followed. In his message to mark International Labour Day, President Maithripala Sirisena said, on this day the working class world over commemorate the victories won after sacrificing their blood, sweat and tears. “We should take a firm determination to fulfill the aspirations of our people with a firm commitment to make the achieved victories a reality in this May Day in the present context of the Nation entering into a new economic and political process with the new democratic and free approach won on January 08, 2015,” he said. May Day signifies the pain suffered by the working class-labouring in factories, farmhouses and other places of work, even though they are an integral part of the labour force. He said since the SLFP victory in 1956, the working class in Sri Lanka has won most of their rights and now there is a more progressive movement in the country, today.
