This stamp was issued on the 40th anniversary of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) – a UN agency dedicated to improving labour conditions and living standards throughout the world. Originally an affiliated agency of the League of Nations, the ILO became the first specialised agency of the, then, newly formed UN in 1946. India was one of the founding members of the ILO in 1919 and has been a permanent member of its Governing Body since 1922.

The stamp depicts The Triumph of Labour, also known as the Labour statue, at the Marina Beach in Chennai, India. The statue was raised in 1959 to commemorate the labour leader Mr. Singarvallar Chettiar, who presided over the first ever recorded celebration of May Day on 1st May. The celebration was held at the Triplicane Beach in Madras (as Chennai was known then) where the demand for an 8-hour working day was raised. The stamp also features a modified ILO emblem, referencing the tripartite structure of the ILO; “Workers - Employers - Governments”.

The same year, in 1959, Mr. Naval H. Tata, then the Head of the Tata Group – one of India’s most important business groups – got elected as President for the Employer’s Federation of India. Mr. Tata was, among other things, sent as an Indian employers’ delegate to the International Labour Conference 17 times between 1947 – 1987. Mr. Tata also founded ILO’s family planning programme and was influential in the formation of the National Institute of Labour Management, serving as its President between 1951 – 1980.