THE May Day is commemorated world over to protect workers from employers’ exploitation. However, the occasion in Bangladesh is most conspicuous by slow steps in meeting out justice to over 1200 garment workers who lost their lives and twice as many injured with many more missing in Rana Plaza disasters in April 2014. Bangladesh is observing the occasion with various worker rights groups and Trade Union bodies calling for quick justice to garment workers with other programmes that include rallies and discussions in the capital and other industrial belts. The May Day is the day for taking new pledge by workers to make their workplaces safe and their rights recognized by the employers and the government. It includes creating congenial work environment in mills and factories, shops and other businesses. It is a day for reflection to treat workers properly in the light of domestic laws and international labour standards. As we see, labour safety and workplace standard in Bangladesh are not quite satisfactory, particularly at garment factories, fish processing and such other industries. There are many labour laws and regulations on paper but not fully implemented to claim that we have better workplace and workers are well paid. But it is also true that since the Rana Plaza and Tazreen Garment factory accidents, Bangladesh has achieved significant progress in workplace safety following global outcry to improve workplace and factory standard. So one can safely say that fire incidents at garment factories have reasonably come down. Meanwhile, the government has also amended labour laws and enacted new laws to allow workers rights to trade union at garment factories and Export Processing Zones. But we know workers at many less organized sectors remained much unprotected. Workers in agriculture sector are yet to be organized compared to highly organized transport workers. What it shows is that we have to do much more to protect our workforce to allow them a decent living. On this occasion today, we call upon the labour unions, industry owners and the government to create a congenial working environment at all levels so that peace is maintained to reduce productivity losses from labour unrest and achieve higher efficiency in industrial management. Our economy is growing fast and we must have well disciplined workers particularly in the manufacturing sector. It is unconscionable to use workers as a force of party politics. But we have no conscionable politics. It is easy to ignore economic interest or industrial production to show the might of a political party. This has not served the long term interest of the workers. Investment is not forthcoming except by those whose interest is to cheat bank and become rich in the easy way, the political way.
