Labour Day

1st of May is the Labour Day. A day in celebrating the employees' contribution and dedication, I think. If this is the spirit, then perhaps the celebration should be initiated by the employers and not entirely the responsibility of the employees to organise event for celebration and hence seeking recognition. Then again, if both the divides can celebrate together, it must be a sign of smart partnership and collaboration. People always say no sound is loud enough without clapping both the hand. It means any work or job is the produce of collaboration between the employers and employees. Without anyone will definitely making the job incomplete. Some would like to name the day as Workers Day because the words of labour implying the contribution of employees have been belittle. This is so because in the past they are providing energy and time only in return for remuneration. In present day, this is not true that only energy and time is paid, but rather other services or talent such as consulting or ideas are getting rewards too. Perhaps workers are also not a word to reflect the emerging changes on employment sector. For proper recognition, perhaps we can have a more appropriate terminology such as Employees Day. Previously, we have a chain of production that demarcated clearly the link between different of workers and the boss. For writer, you will need to get a publisher to publish your works. For song composer, the boss of recording company is important to get your song be sang and produced. Whoever artist he decided to sing it will have a bearing on how popular your song can be in the market. The employers and employees relationship is obvious in making the chain of production work effectively. With the advancement of technology especially the ICT which provide plenty of opportunities and platform for all, the relationship between employers and employees are also evolving. The writer does not necessary to secure a contract with publisher first before writing. He can upload it to the web site and market it with the social media for getting readers. And mind you, world is the market size we are talking about. Similarly, for song composer, he can produce a demo and upload it for sharing and listening. In this respect, no clear employers exist. They are the so call freelancers and their own boss. Is this group of people celebrating the Labour Day? I do not think so because they might have no employees to celebrate with. With the growing number of this group whom relying on ICT to be their own boss as mean of living, will the number of people celebrating Labour Day decreasing? Happy Labour Day, anyway before the time comes for us celebrating the contribution of employers and employees together.