The first Labour Day in New Zealand was celebrated on 28 October 1890, when several thousand trade union members and supporters attended parades in the main centres. Government employees were given the day off to attend. It celebrated the struggle for an eight-hour working day, a right that New Zealand workers had been among the first in the world to claim, when in 1840 the carpenter Samuel Parnell had won an eight-hour day in Wellington.
The date, 28 October, marked the establishment of the Maritime Council, an organisation of transport and mining unions, in 1889. The fledgling union movement was decimated by defeat in the Maritime Strike the following year. Despite this, the first Labour Day in 1890 was a huge success. In Wellington, the highlight was an appearance by the elderly Parnell, who died just a few weeks later. The union movement began to recover slowly under the Liberal government from the mid 1890s. The Liberals' industrial conciliation and arbitration system, introduced in 1894, earned New Zealand a reputation as a 'working man's paradise' and a 'country without strikes'.
Early Labour Day parades drew huge crowds in towns like Palmerston North and Napier as well as in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. Unionists and supporters marched behind colourful banners and ornate floats, and the parades were followed by popular picnics and sports events. The Labour Day Act of 1899 created a statutory public holiday. This was first celebrated in 1900 and 'Mondayised' in 1910.
In the first decade of the 20th century industrial unrest re-emerged. The Liberals were in decline, prices were rising, and the Arbitration Court was seen as reluctant to raise wages. Many workers, including miners, wharfies, seamen, farm workers, labourers, and hotel, restaurant and shop employees worked far more than eight hours a day, and endured unpleasant and often dangerous working conditions.
The increasing commercialisation of Labour Day parades, with many floats advertising businesses as well as temperance organisations, theatres, circuses, and patriotic causes was condemned by the militant labour movement in the early 20th century.
By the end of the First World War Labour Day had begun to decline as a public spectacle. For most New Zealanders, it was just another holiday.
Today is labour Day - I am off to me local to see some bands... man I hope the sun is bright and hot as, then I can enjoy the garden bar.
I'm really digging Vorn's album right now, big time.
whoop whoop
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