International Labour Day 2025: Wishes, quotes and images to celebrate workers' rights on May 1
Every year on May 1, people across the globe observe International Labour Day—also known as International Workers' Day—to honour the contributions of workers and commemorate their long-standing struggles for fair treatment, better wages, and safer working conditions.
#Pahalgam Terrorist Attack
A Chinese shadow falls on Pahalgam terror attack case probe
How India can use water to pressure Pakistan
Buzzkill: How India can dissolve the Pakistan problem, not just swat it
It's a day to acknowledge the backbone of every economy: its labour force.
Why is Labour Day celebrated on May 1?
Labour Day traces its origins to the late 19th-century
labour movement
in the United States, particularly the Haymarket affair in Chicago in 1886, where workers rallied for an eight-hour workday. The peaceful protest turned tragic when a bomb exploded during the demonstration, killing several police officers and civilians.
To honour those who fought for workers' rights, May 1 was chosen by international labour unions as a symbolic date. Since then, it has been recognized globally as a day of solidarity, advocacy, and appreciation for labourers in all sectors.
The significance of International Labour Day
Labour Day is more than just a holiday—it's a reminder that the rights many enjoy today were earned through protest, sacrifice, and resilience. From minimum wage laws to workplace safety, many of the protections in place now stem from the labour movements of the past.
Live Events
In 2025, as industries evolve and challenges like automation, wage disparity, and job security persist, Labour Day serves as a call to continue protecting workers' rights and ensuring fair and dignified work for all.
Labour Day 2025: Wishes and messages to share
Here are some heartfelt wishes and WhatsApp messages to send to your colleagues, friends, and loved ones on May 1:
'Happy Labour Day! Your dedication and hard work shape the world—today, we honour you.'
'Let us remember those who fought for the rights we enjoy today. Wishing you a meaningful Labour Day.'
'May your efforts always be respected and your work always be rewarded. Happy May Day!'
'To all the workers out there—thank you for building, growing, and powering our communities.'
'No labour is small. Every effort counts. Today, we salute the strength of workers everywhere.'
Inspirational quotes to mark the day
'All labour that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.' — Martin Luther King Jr.
'Work is not man's punishment. It is his reward and his strength and his pleasure.' — George Sand
'The rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.' — John F. Kennedy
'Without labour, nothing prospers.' — Sophocles
Images to share this Labour Day
Agencies
Labour Day
Agencies
Agencies
Agencies
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
26 minutes ago
- Time of India
JD Vance sends 'veiled threats' to deport 'Menswear Guy' who 'hates his suits'
'You don't like VP's suit, you gotta deal with the consequences'! But what might be the fitting 'punishment' for a man who did not like the suit that the Vice President of the United States of America wore? Turns out, deportation is the answer! After all, isn't that enough to uproot a man from his habitat and deport him for his 'crime'! At least, JD Vance thinks so! In a recent incident that has sparked widespread debate, VP Vance seemingly threatened to deport Derek Guy, a prominent fashion critic known as the 'Menswear Guy', after he criticized Vance's sartorial choices. What happened? Derek Guy, who boasts a significant following on social media platforms, has found himself in the crosshairs of JD Vance. Guy, who has built his reputation by offering detailed analyses of men's fashion, often targeting public figures, recently revealed that he has been living in the United States without legal documentation since his childhood. In a detailed thread, Guy recounted his personal journey, saying his mother brought him across the Canadian border as a baby after his family fled Vietnam during the Tet Offensive. After that revelation, one X account posted, 'The menswear guy just openly admitted on here that he's here illegally.' A second user quote-tweeted that initial post and added, 'JD Vance I know you're reading this and you have the opportunity to do the funniest thing ever.' Now, this X post caught the VP's attention, and he replied with a GIF of Jack Nicholson slowly nodding his head, raising his eyebrows, and flashing his menacing, signature grin. What followed: Although VP Vance did not elaborate further on his 'veiled threat' wrapped in the sinister grin, or issue any statement via his office, Guy responded to the threat with a joke about how tight Vance's clothes can be on occasion. Guy said, 'I think I can outrun you in these clothes,' in a post directed at Vance. Derek Guy's immigration status In the wake of Vance's post, when Guy revealed that he had entered the United States illegally from Canada as a child, he explained that his family had fled Vietnam, and he has been living in the US since his mother brought him across the border during his childhood. Despite not being a DACA recipient, Guy insisted that the US is the only home he knows. But why did Guy expose himself at such a vulnerable moment? Guy said he was inspired to tell his story because of the growing unrest in Los Angeles, which has been the site of recent immigration raids and demonstrations against the crackdown that have not always been peaceful. The past feuds Last year in July, Guy posted that Vance's jackets 'don't hug him very well.' He compared photos of Vance in a jacket with those of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, whom he noted has jackets that are 'properly seated on his neck.' That was just the beginning. In October, Guy posted a thread criticizing Vance for wearing a fuchsia raw silk tie to his vice presidential debate against Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. 'You should also know what you're communicating,' Guy wrote. 'A fuchsia raw silk tie is very casual because of its color and material. To me, this is something you wear with seersucker or cream linen suits to summertime garden parties. The tie says, 'I'm here to have fun. '' He wrote on the eve of the inauguration, 'Vance's sleeves are too slim, causing them to catch on his shirt and ride up. Common problem any time something is too slim—might look good when you're standing still at the fitting, but it will bunch and catch as soon as you move.' Then, a month in, he could not resist taking a jab at Vance for wearing way-too-short pants on stage at CPAC, occasionally exposing part of his shin and calf. 'The second lady should advise him to get wider pants and over the calf socks so that his bare leg doesn't show when he sits down,' he wrote. The aftermath: Now, VP Vance's response to Guy's open admission aligns with the Trump administration's broader stance on immigration, which has emphasized stricter enforcement and the deportation of undocumented individuals, including non-criminals. However, it may be argued that Vance's response was an inappropriate use of political power to silence dissent. Will he really deport Guy? Or has it been just a simple social media banter? Time will tell.
Mint
28 minutes ago
- Mint
China risks overplaying its hand by curbing rare earth exports
China has once again weaponized its dominant position in the supply of rare earth minerals. It has imposed stringent export curbs on these elements that are critical inputs in a range of industries from automobiles to aerospace and defence. The move comes as a response to US restrictions on the export of semiconductor technology to China. These battles are being waged against the backdrop of a broader truce in the once-escalating trade war between the world's two largest national economies. The Chinese chokehold on the supply of rare earth minerals has sent a jolt through many industries in other parts of the world, including India. For example, there are fears that assembly lines in the automobile industry will grind to a halt in the coming weeks unless China starts exporting rare earth minerals again. Also Read: Barry Eichengreen: US export curbs on high-tech enablers have rarely worked This is not the first time that Beijing has restricted the flow of rare earth minerals across its borders. It did so in 2010 after a dispute with Japan on the high seas, and was forced to roll back its export curbs by the World Trade Organization in 2015. Even though China's export ban was targeted at Japan, other countries naturally saw it as a signal of what could happen in the years ahead. The effectiveness of any export restriction depends on three factors. First, how important the input is in the production structure of the country's economy. Second, how easy or difficult it is to increase the production of that input in response to higher prices that naturally follow restricted supplies. Third, how concentrated the production of that input is in one country or in a small cartel of countries. Rare earth minerals are needed in many important industries, their supplies are inelastic and China has a massive share in their production. That suggests that the rest of the world will be at the mercy of China. Also Read: China's export ban on key minerals may have a silver lining for the US However, such events create incentives for governments as well as private companies to respond strategically. There is perhaps a lesson to be learnt here from what happened after the first oil shock to hit the world in 1973. The oil embargo that year brought many economies to their knees, but it also led to a search for new energy supplies as well as incentivized companies in sectors such as automobiles to build more fuel-efficient products. Can that happen in the case of rare earth minerals as well? In a recent paper titled 'Trade and Industrial Policy in Supply Chains: Directed Technological Change in Rare Earths, National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper,' four economists have taken a closer look at the broader consequences of the earlier supply squeeze. Laura Alfaro, Harald Fadinger, Jan S. Schymik and Gede Virananda have shown that export restrictions on rare earth minerals imposed by China in 2010 triggered a surge elsewhere in technological innovations as well as exports in sectors that used rare earth minerals as inputs. More specifically, they found a surge in patents in downstream industries that use rare earth minerals, both in terms of using them more efficiently as well as developing alternatives. This increase in patents in countries outside China exceeded the overall rise in patents in industries that use rare earth minerals. Productivity, as proxied by exports growth, also improved. In other words, technological dynamism helped the rest of the world adapt to Chinese monopoly power in rare earth minerals. Also Read: Ajit Ranade: The success of 'Made in China 2025' alarmed the West This is a more general lesson. Jensen Huang, the head of chip-maker Nvidia, said at a recent technology industry event in Taipei that firm attempts by successive US administrations to deny China access to advanced technology have actually spurred rather than hindered Chinese innovation. 'The local companies are very, very talented and very determined, and the export control gave them the spirit, the energy and the government support to accelerate their development," Huang was quoted as saying by The Guardian. Parsing his statement provides two lessons. First, that there needs to be a private sector innovation ecosystem that has the ability to respond to either higher prices or restricted supplies. Second, there have to be at least some additional government incentives as well as policy clarity for innovators. They complement each other. The point is not to tell a sanguine story about how all will be well in the long run. It is instead to point out that dynamic economies adapt to changing circumstances. 'In capitalist reality as distinguished from its textbook picture, it is not (traditional) competition that counts but competition from the new commodity, the new technology, the new source of supply, the new type of organisation," wrote the prophet of innovation, Joseph Schumpeter, in Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, his classic work. The Chinese dominance in rare earths is undoubtedly a strategic lever that Beijing will use to increase its geopolitical heft in an unsettled world. However, the overuse of such power will create strong incentives for others to adapt by innovation—as everyone from West Asians to Americans have learnt over the years. The author is executive director at Artha India Research Advisors.
Time of India
30 minutes ago
- Time of India
Panama Canal boss says MSC ports deal threatens neutrality, Infra News, ET Infra
Advt The sale of two ports near the Panama Canal to a global consortium led by Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) threatens the canal's principle of neutrality, the canal's head Ricaurte Vasquez told the Financial Times."There is a potential risk of capacity concentration if the deal comes the way it is structured as we understand right now," Vasquez told the FT in a report published on Tuesday."If there is a significant level of concentration on terminal operators belonging to an integrated or one single shipping company, it will be at the expense of Panama's competitiveness in the market and inconsistent with neutrality."MSC is one of the world's top container shipping groups. MSC and the Panama Canal Authority did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. CK Hutchison confirmed last month that MSC, run by the family of Italian billionaire Gianluigi Aponte , was the main investor in a group seeking to buy 43 ports, including the two ports in Panama, for $22.8 clarification follows weeks of scrutiny and criticism in China over CK Hutchison's plan to sell the ports to a consortium, which was previously led by US investment firm BlackRock . BlackRock remains part of the proposed sale has also drawn the attention of US President Donald Trump , who has repeatedly expressed his desire to reduce Chinese influence around the Panama Canal and termed the deal a "reclaiming" of the waterway after it was first April, China's top market regulator said it was paying close attention to CK Hutchison's planned sale and that parties to the deal should not try to avoid an antitrust added that the canal should use the ports deal as an opportunity to become a terminal operator itself by reactivating a project to build a terminal in the Port of Corozal at the Pacific end of the canal, according to the FT.
