May Day 2011

Let us take pragmatic steps for workers on May Day
May Day representing working class people’s right to work with honour and dignity has been observed across the globe since 1886 when some other workers died by police firing in Chicago when they were demonstrating to establish their rights to work eight hours a day instead of sixteen hours. Since 1886 the status, significance and condition of workers have undergone a tremendous change and have taken different shapes and forms in different countries. In Bangladesh perspective , the days has got some special significance in terms of garment workers, domestic workers, slum workers , the floating workers of the metro-politician cities , agricultural works and the migrant workers working outside the country and sex workers who sell their bodies to survive in this mundane world.
Garment industry, the second most vibrant sector of our economy, has seen serious labour unrest for the last several years without any tangible solutions except police repression when the occurrences take place. The reasonable rise of their salaries, owner worker relations, forming trade union, job security are the unresolved issues which invite unrest in these sector from time to time. Sometimes even the innocent ones become victim of circumstances. The owners also find it difficult to deal with the situations because of worker unrest. On this day of May we must find some solutions so that the owners and workers can really dedicate to this sector in the greater interest of the nation. Probably a third party is involved in creating chaos in this sector. Without identifying it properly, innocent workers also sometimes harassed which calls for serous scrutiny. Our migrant workers are our ambassadors and they keep the wheel of our economy running but they are not treated well by the missions of Bangladesh. They are not treated humanely in the airports. We must not forget their contribution to our economy which they do at the cost of their honest sweat.
The issue of domestic workers has become a debated topic in small urban areas in general and Dhaka city in particular with the increasing march of urbanization. Husband wife have become service-holders to satisfy the increasing financial crisis and to cope with the changing pattern of the society. But it seems ironical that girls getting educated do job for empowering women but the women working as domestic helpers are getting confined to the four walls and left on the mercy of the mistresses. They cannot apply their own will and desire, just to depend on the dictates, orders and wills of the owners. Though the owners and the serving women cannot do without the domestic workers, they inflict torture on these workers. Many of them even meet death as a result of inhuman torture. They remain mentally starved and physically tortured. Agricultural society’s seasonal work, poverty and desire to lead a better life, these workers march from villages to metropolitan cities but many of their dreams remain unfulfilled due to the modern slavery. On this day of May how can we ensure these workers’ mental peace and psychological easiness? Though the neo-modern and metropolitan women doing jobs cannot do without the help of domestic workers, many harrowing scenes and pictures of torture get published in the newspapers and very few of them are shown on TV screen which make us cry as the minor girls who don’t have any knowledge of this cruel world to satisfy the hearts of modern women by their artificial behavior and sincerity are subjected to forced slavery. These girls come to the city from the villages through some broker women. The inhuman torture sometimes makes them maimed and even cause death. When will this brutality will come to an end? How can we change the mindset and attitude of these women? How can we make their hearts change towards the innocent and poverty-stricken domestic workers? What programs do we have for them on this day?
Rickshawpullers don’t have any training either to pull rickshaws or to maintain their usual life. They can develop cooperative society to bring a change in their life and present a beautiful city and ensure a secure life for them and for their future generation. But who will give them this advice and guide them? We don’t have actually any such program or manifesto to guide them to the secure life. Who cares for it? The day remains limited to only some ceremonial functions. Can’t we come out of it?
Agricultural workers have become scarce in villages particularly in the harvesting season. A lot of crops get damaged due to their non-availability. Workers come to the cities and towns to ensure a perennial flow of income everyday as agricultural work is seasonal. There should be a good coordination and well-planned migration so that the harvesting and crop cutting season can see a good flow of agricultural workers and labourers as our country is still agro-based.
What do we think of sex-workers on this day? Do we have any program for them? These women don’t have family life, social life, and peaceful life, don’t have day or night, perhaps don’t have time limit to offer their bodies to the customers at the cost of social, psychological, mental and physical humiliation. Exploitation and complex social fabric have forced them to take up this heinous profession. The more complicated web of this flesh trade cannot allow them to go out of the profession even though they desire. What program do we have to bring them back to normal life except some NGOs have arranged a little bit educational facilities for their kids? On this day of workers we must think of them, their future and bringing them back to normal life.

Md. Masum Billah