The afternoon of the day of 1is May 2023 was an unusual theater in the city of Lomé. A wise mind might wonder what are we really celebrating?
Already around 3 p.m., it was not easy to drive on certain axes of the capital, in particular the boulevard du Mono, the national number 2, the boulevard Félix Houphouët Boigny, from the traffic lights of the Bè district passing by the ‘Hospital of the area, to the Hotel de la Paix and its surroundings. From the Deckon crossroads to the Sancta Maria and Onomo hotel, it’s another ordeal. Users in a hurry to get to the beach or to their meeting place no longer respected the highway code. They no longer made the difference between going and returning on the roadway. Which made traffic complicated with monster traffic jams. Everyone wants to go first. Nobody wanted to let his neighbor pass before him. Drivers of manual vehicles have suffered from playing with both clutch, brake and throttle. Some drivers as well as other motorcycle taxi drivers are obliged to drop off their passengers before the agreed destination. “We walked from around the town hall of Bè to the beach. We waited too long in the taxi and there is no guarantee that we will get out of it quickly. That’s why we made the market decision to get to the beach. It’s better, ”commented Geneviève, apprentice in a nail structure.
From the CIMTOGO roundabout to the beach at the hotel la paix or even on the large city bypass, there are convoys of buses that can be seen well and full of passengers dressed in uniform or even in knitwear made for the occasion of the 1is may. The other fact which holds the attention and which disgusts is the very noticed presence of the tricycles in the streets overloaded at the same time with passengers and luggage. Traffic accidents are likely given the growing incivility on the roads.
Students and children are also invited to the party. Their very noticeable presence at the beach until around 7 p.m. leads to questions. What are they looking for ? What are they celebrating? As we approach the end of year exams.
The extracurriculars met at the beach, among others the dressmakers, hairdressers and hairdressers, really show that no one else can celebrate the 1is May like them. Their very extravagant hair and out-of-the-ordinary outfits command attention. “It’s our party,” replied a hairdresser who did not arrive and explained the meaning of the party or its origin. Even students present on the scene do not succeed.
Claims under certain skies
If the day of 1is is transformed into a purely festive day in certain sectors, others, in particular the Syndicates, do not trifle with this day even if it is a daily battle for them. This is the example of the members of the Union of Higher Education of Togo (SEST) who, meeting in a day of reflection, issued demands on the occasion of this year’s International Workers’ Day. The academics denounced, among other things, the refusal to fully implement the agreement of August 6, 2019 between the government and the higher education unions, in particular, the withholding of four months of salary increases.
For their part, the trade union centers did not parade on May 1 in Lomé, but like every year, submitted their list of grievances to the government.
What are we really commemorating?
Historically a day of wage and union demands, May 1 refers to the anniversary date, in 1886, of the call by American labor unions to demand an eight-hour day. From May 1, 1886, more than 300,000 workers demonstrate peacefully across the country responding to the call of the unions. But, after another demonstration on May 3 which ended in the death of strikers from the McCormick Harvester company located in Chicago, a protest march was organized in this same city on May 4. During this demonstration, the explosion of a bomb was followed by clashes causing numerous victims among the police forces. Several militant anarchist trade unionists are arrested. During the trial, five trade unionists were sentenced to death. After these events, the idea of an annual advocacy day gradually spread throughout the world.
In short, the 1is May, instead of just taking on a festive appearance, should also be a day of reflection for the continuous improvement of living and working conditions in companies and even in apprenticeship workshops, particularly with regard to extracurriculars. The different unions in these different circles must review their copy.
Atha ASSAN