Labour Day - a history
Dunedin Labour Day parade, 1894
Labour Day parade in Dunedin, 1894.
Creative Commons License Type:
-None-
Credit:
Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: 1/2-140512-G (see original sterograph image here)
Photographer: William Williams
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.
Samuel Parnell
Labour Day, a public holiday in New Zealand since 1900, is a suitable occasion to
pay tribute to Samuel Parnell, who achieved fame as the founder of the eight-hour
working day in New Zealand.
Further information
This web feature was written by Neill Atkinson and produced by the NZHistory.net.nz team.
Links
- Related feature: 'Black Tuesday': the 1912 Waihi strike
- Samuel Parnell biography
- Labour Day collection (NZOnScreen)
First Labour Day celebrations
The first Labour Day celebrated the struggle for an eight-hour working day. Parades in the main centres were attended by several thousand trade union members and supporters.
New Zealand workers were among the first in the world to claim the right to an eight-hour day. As early as 1840 the carpenter Samuel Parnell famously won an eight-hour day in Wellington. The provision was soon extended to other centres, but it was a custom, not a legal entitlement, and only applied to some groups of workers.
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