Tomorrow is May Day and as usual it will be celebrated the world over, albeit in a different way because of the now feared coronavirus officially known as COVID-19. It seems that it gas to be more of virtual celebrations this year.
Over the years, workers in The Gambia have celebrated workers’ day in different ways and sought to unite and bring together the different staff of various departments – both public and private – in order to maximize benefits.
Workers, mostly the young, used to organize a range of sporting events during this day and hoped that this will increase the needed understanding to foster unity and cohesion. During such occasions speeches used to be delivered and petitions submitted to the relevant authorities demanding one thing or the other.
Unfortunately, whenever such speeches and petitions are delivered that usually marked the end. There was hardly any follow ups to ensure that the resolutions are fulfilled or not. Thus, whatever was demanded was never met as there was no one to compel officials to do the needful.
With this year’s celebration coming at a time of lockdowns which means workers being laid off or being rotated, it is hoped that more efforts will be made to ensure that workers get better conditions.
