All in a day's work: May Day musings

It may seem strange to us that May Day is celebrated as a traditional spring holiday in other parts of the world. It wasn't until late 19th century that May 1 was chosen as the International Workers Day (or Labour Day). This holiday holds a certain appeal in countries where lifelong labour is synonymous with life. The futurists however, are predicting days when Artificial Intelligence will do all the work for us, while we grapple with a lifetime of leisure; Kerala has just contributed to the process by banning the practice of ‘gawking’ charges. Read on…
Curated By: Madhu Kapparath
Published: May 3, 2018
All in a day's work: May Day musings

Image by : Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters

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  • All in a day's work: May Day musings
  • All in a day's work: May Day musings
  • All in a day's work: May Day musings
  • All in a day's work: May Day musings
  • All in a day's work: May Day musings
  • All in a day's work: May Day musings
  • All in a day's work: May Day musings
  • All in a day's work: May Day musings
  • All in a day's work: May Day musings

It doesn't pay to work in Venezuela. After working as a cardiologist for five years, Yolanda Abreu got a severance pay of 156,584.29 bolivars, which is about 0.20 dollars on the black market - barely enough to buy a cup of coffee.

Like her, millions of Venezuelans have seen their salaries decimated due to rampant hyperinflation, which is expected to drive prices up by 13,000 percent this year, International Monetary Fund figures show. The crisis has led to low wages, shortage of basic food, medicine and cash. The decline has been partially attributed by to Hugo Chávez's attempt to turn Venezuela into a socialist paradise; policies that his successor Nicolás Maduro has continued.