Labour Day!

http://www.cute-calendar.com/event/labor-day/16776.html

The JCU Library writes quite alot about various international days, some are silly and some are serious but few have an Australian focus. So, to celebrate that we get Monday off next week (don't worry the Library in both Townsville and Cairns is open 1pm-5pm), here's a bit of information about why we celebrate Labour Day.

 Labour Day is celebrated on various different days in the different states and territories of Australia and sometimes called Eight-Hour Day as the day commemorates the granting of an eight-hour working day for Australians. It is also the day where we recognise worker's rights and the contribution workers make to the nation's economy.

Considering that over 100 years of work place relations was just condensed into two sentences, if you'd like to read more about the topic the following books are a good starting place:

 A divided working class: Ethnic segmentation and industrial conflict in Australia  by Constance Lever-Tracy and Michael Quinlan

Revolutionary industrial unionism: The Industrial Workers of the World in Australia by Verity Burgmann.