May Day and the Workers of Bangladesh

May Day and the Workers of Bangladesh
Every year May Day is observed in our country with some known ceremonies, promises, meetings and seminars. The oldest history of the Day is just reminded and discussed. The day ends and the promise disappear gradually. The woes of our workers remain as their constant companion. Our jute industries witnessed the rich chunk of labourers which now sees a moribund state and many industries have died totally. Garment sector has emerged with promising aspect. Hence, the workers of this sector become the focal point of May Day.
Job opportunities for women in Bangladesh are limited because of cultural barriers and limited mobility. They also lack access to education, skill development opportunities and productive resources, aside from bearing the burden of household responsibilities. With the expansion of the ready-made garment industry in the 1980s, jobs were created for poor Bangladeshi women. About 90%of the estimated 1.8million workers in the 3500 garment factories in Bangladesh are women. Bangladesh presently exports ready-made garments to about 30 countries around the world. The smiling of these workers will make Bangladesh smile. It’s a plain truth. But what we see? The crying of these workers, unrest in this sector and the rift between the workers and owners has thrown this vibrant economic sector into a threatening situation.
It is true that financial constraint grabs both the owners and the workers. So, there should be a reasonable negotiation between these two entities. A good management can ensure it. In absence of these phenomena garment industries see turmoil, catching fire, sudden closure and what not. There are labour laws and factory laws but mostly in theory not much in practice. Only the government or only the owners cannot ensure it. Two sided sincere initiatives can bring calmness here.
In the rainy season or hot summer days or even in the period of natural calamities the garment workers reach their working places walking four or five kilometers. They must reach there by 8:00 am. Six or often seven days a week they are to work. The workers get soaked in the heavy downpours between June and October and suffer from fever and other diseases. Many cannot afford two sets of clothes to change after getting soaked. The situation gets worse at night because of the fear of being raped. The big garment workers or their association may arrange cheap rated transport for picking up and making them get down at some particular spots. In almost all the garment factories very unhygienic toilets diffuse very obnoxious smell. It discourages women workers to drink necessary amount of water to avoid visiting toilets incurring serious physical as well as mental ills. Primary medical care must be arranged for the workers who are the backbone of this industry. Taking these small steps can win the heart of the garment workers and even without big salaries they will digest the small problems. Nothing of this kind is ensured and untoward incidents are just followed by meetings and suggestions.
Another side of the coin is also grim. Our agricultural sector faces serious labour scarcity. During the harvesting seasons, labourers become scare and thus a huge amount of crops are wasted because they cannot be brought home in time. Labourers pay becomes abnormally high crossing the harvesting cost. To minimize this situation more harvesting machineries need to be developed and imported. Our jute industries need to be revived. The problems of the cotton workers are not heard so intensely. The principal sector occupied by our vibrant labouer class is garments industry. This sector needs meticulous designing and planning in the greater interest of our national economy. Making it practical let us see the better days ahead taking oath on this august day.
The Haymarekt affair is related to this day. The Haymarket affair occurred during the course of a three-day general strike in Chicago, Illonis, United States that involved common laborers, artisans, in which police opened fire and killed four strikers at the MacCormick Harvesting Machine Co. plant. A rally was called for the following day at Haymarket Square. The event remained peaceful, yet towards the end of the rally a police moved in to disperse the event, an unknown assailant threw a bomb into the crowd of police. The bomb and resulting police riot left at least a dozen people died, including seven policemen. A trial followed which hanged another four anarchists. Nowadays this sort of Haymarket event has become almost a daily affair in our garment sector. It started several years back. Even during the time of caretaker government. Now it has turned a dangerous shape. What is its next course is uncertain as no pragmatic solution is addressed yet.

May Day has become an international celebration of the social and economic achievements of the lbaour movement . The Day is called International Worker’s Day or Labour Day as it commemorates the fight for the eight hour day. Still our women workers work for more than eight hours. The labour union can address the woes lying in this filed but labour leaders work like middlemen . They extract benefit both from the owners, governments, donor and also from the deprived labourers. These stories are not new. So, despite many problems garment workers are reluctant to unionize and instead have developed their own coping strategies in this sector. Now the reality is the workers are on the streets, in the market, in the cinemas around the roadside ,tea stalls and in the city transports . Everywhere they are. This regular visibility of the labourers calls for organized labour system. Let us vow to extend economic emancipation and social security for them.



Md. Masum Billah
Senior Manager: Brac Education Programme, PACE
Brac Head Office, 75, Mohakhali, Dhaka 1212
Phone: 9355253(home), 01714-091431(cell)
Email: mmbillah2000@yahoo.com