AUCKLAND, Today: As usual, the M+AD Daily newsletter will not be posted on Labour Day – this Monday (23 October) – although our website will continue to be updated.
In 1890, NZ became the first country in the world to adopt the eight-hour working day.
Celebrated on the fourth Monday in October, Labour Day commemorates the struggle for an eight-hour working day, a right that carpenter Samuel Parnell had famously fought for in 1840.
“Many businesses will close, but most shops, restaurants, bars, and cinemas are likely to remain open.”
Our first Labour Day was held on 28 October 1890, and it has been a statutory public holiday since 1900.
Commercial observation of this public holiday is discretionary. Many businesses will close, but most shops, restaurants, bars, and cinemas are likely to remain open.
Maybe spare a moment for carpenter Samuel Parnell who, in 1840, in the newly founded Wellington colony, famously refused to work more than eight hours a day?
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