Happy Eight Hour Day!

Happy Eight Hours Day everyone (aka Happy Tasmanian Labor Day). Labor day falls on different dates for different territories in Australia, but the second Monday of March is Tassie’s labor day, which they exclusively call the “Eight Hours Day.” Eight Hours Day is a public holiday, during which all government offices are closed. Since it is currently summer in the Land Down Under, Tasmanians celebrate their labor day similarly to Americans-- BBQ, play or watch sports, camping, wine-tasting at a winery, relaxing.  

As you can probably surmise from the name of the holiday, it is a celebration of the granting of the eight-hour working day for Australians. In the late 1800s Australians worked long hours, up to 12 hours a day, six days a week. On April 21, 1856, stonemasons marched to Parliament House to push for better working conditions. The Parliament decided to grant Australian workers a 48-hour work week (8 hours a day, but still for 6 days). The regulations were adopted by other territories until in 1874 Tasmania was the last territory to adopt the 8-hour working day. In 1979, the Victorian Engish government proclaimed Labor Day a paid public holiday. And as they say, the rest is history!