SUMMARY
John Stuart Mill once said of the world of work, “It is questionable if all the mechanical inventions yet made have lightened the day’s toil of any human being." Today, automation in manufacturing is raising fears around the world of joblessness while in India the unemployment rate has sharply spiked. A job – for millions upon millions of men, women and children across India – is still not without its challenges and fears. Of low pay, poor working, conditions, little or no social security or medical coverage and the sheer burden of toil. On May Day, the international day of the worker, here is a photographic portrait of the Indian working class who relentlessly toil against great odds.
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A worker catches a break inside a rail wheel factory as the world celebrated International Workers' Day on May 1. Also known as May Day, the day marks the acceptance of a maximum of 8 hours as an employee’s official working hours in a day and honours the sacrifices and protests of workers during the 19th century.
2 / 12A welder at a rail wheel factory in West Bengal as the world celebrated International Workers' Day on May 1.
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