Bangladesh workers take to the streets to demand their rights on historic May Day

An alliance of labour unions have once again taken to the streets to reiterate their demands for worker’s rights on the historic May Day, also known as International Workers’ Day.

The workers pressed for their nine-point charter of demands, including the declaration and implementation of the National Minimum Wage Act in consideration of commodity prices and the cost of living, as well as halting the ‘conspiracy’ to pass the Labour Act and the Essential Services Bill while ignoring the opinions of labourers.

Carrying red ribbons on their heads and banner festoons representing their demands, labourers clad in T-shirts arranged by their organisations began to gather outside the National Press Club in Dhaka on Wednesday amid the baking heat. They also carried the country’s national flags.

After a rally and a round of speeches, the labourers marched to the Paltan intersection and joined another rally organised by the Sramik Karmachari Oikya Parishad (SKOP) around 11am. The top leaders of 12 national trade unions of SKOP joined the rally one by one. The SKOP held a short rally and brought out a procession by the leaders and activists.

Outside the National Press Club, Trade Union Sanga President Chowdhury Ashiqul Alam read out the manifesto of this year’s May Day at the SKOP rally. After 138 years, this May Day has brought more challenges to the workers, it read.

Alam said, “About 85 percent of over 73 million in the labour force work in informal sectors. They have no work hours, fair wages, security and safety. Irrespective of sectors and ownership, there have been delays on the long-standing demand of all workers regarding the passage of the National Minimum Wage Act. The rights of labourers to work for an organisation have been curtailed in various ways. The Essential Services Act is the latest attempt to curtail the right of workers to strike, which is the highest means of democratic agitation.”

“The historic responsibility of SKOP, the association that has struggled for the country’s workers and labourers, is to form an uninterrupted movement by uniting the labourers from both formal and informal sectors in the wake of the gross national and international realities.”

Alam also urged the labourers from all classes to be united on May Day.

SKOP’s nine-point charter of demands are:

• Implementation of an 8-hour workday
• Ending outsourcing
• Withdrawal of the Essential Services Act
• Scrapping efforts to curtail the democratic right to strike
• Announcement of the National Minimum Wage Act by legislation and fixing sectoral wages
• Cancellation of undemocratic clauses of labour laws set for workers’ rations and housing and the introduction of a democratic labour law
• Granting freedom to workers to join trade unions in all sectors including EPZ and EDZ, irrespective of institutional, non-institutional and ownership
• Ensuring workers’ health protection and social safety
• Compensation for dead and injured in work sectors

Moinul Ahsan Jewel, joint coordinator of the alliance, moderated the May Day rally. He said, “We celebrate May Day every year and observe that the government changes, but the fate of labourers remains the same. They are not even able to afford two meals a day now due to the high commodity prices.”

“The government is repeatedly saying Bangladesh is floating on a tide of development but they (the government) are still unable to ensure the social safety for workers. We have not been able to pass the National Minimum Wage Act in the 53 years of Bangladesh’s independence.”

The leaders of labour organisations said, when it comes to fixing the wages considering the living cost and current market prices, the industrial crisis, market crisis, the impact of the coronavirus and the war situation are brought to the fore.

The argument pointing out that exploitation, looting, torture, unemployment, and inflation are ‘created and managed by the exploitative groups of society’ is not taken into account.

Demanding the withdrawal of the Essential Services Bill introduced in parliament to ban strikes, the labour unions said if it becomes a law, it will become a tool to protect owners and intimidate and punish workers.

The labour leaders claimed that the country’s government is controlled by the rich and represents them. They added the premier said that she is in favour of the workers, but when laws are made, it goes against them.