DHAKA — Ten days after Eid al-Fitr, I went to Kurigram. In the morning I woke to the sound of voices nearby. Rising, I saw work underway in the flat next door — a new building was going up. Several women and men were working together. I went over to ask about the work and wages. Two or three I asked just turned away. One gestured toward a man working nearby. I understood: speaking up could cause trouble. I waited for an opportunity.
Eventually, one woman quietly told me, while balancing a load on her head, that the daily wage for women was 400 taka and for men 500 taka. She gestured again to say she would explain more if I asked. I thought: the gap is only 100 taka. In many places women are paid even less. Employers assume women do less work. But in reality, women’s workload is often greater than men’s.
Khaleda is a nurse. She had worked at several hospitals in sequence. After her husband took a second wife, her two children stayed with her. For a time the children lived with their maternal grandparents in the village, but concerned about their schooling, she brought them to the city.
Khaleda is now a senior nurse, working at a new and well-known hospital. As a new hospital, many nurses were being hired. But nurses coming from the well-known hospital were paid twice her salary. Yet Khaleda had experience and seniority.
She was shocked to learn what others were paid. When she raised the matter with the office, she was assured of a raise. Two months later her pay was increased, but salaries for nurses from the well-known hospital were raised at double the rate again.
Later, when Khaleda tried to discuss the issue at the office, she lost her job. Khaleda’s complaint: management had many resumes; for what they paid her, they could hire two new employees.
Dilara worked for four years at a non-MPO school. During that time she married. When her delivery date approached she worried whether her job would still be there if she took leave. She later learned the school would give her three months’ maternity leave. But she could return after the leave only without pay for that period; she would have to continue on her previous salary.
Weighing all factors, she decided there was some good in the bad. She took the leave and returned to work three months later. With her mother at home to care for the child, she was able to return to her job.
Tamanna did not have Dilara’s luck. She was not in a position to leave a three-month-old child and return to work. So she could not go back. Two years later she rejoined the same school on a new salary — that is, the starting salary.
Those who work under an employer fall under labor law. Yet in our country most employers do not follow many provisions of that law. A large share of workers are also unaware of their rights regarding work and wages.
Advocate Elina Khan, chief executive of the Bangladesh Human Rights Foundation, said: “Worker recruitment, the relationship between employer and worker, fixing of minimum wages, payment of wages, compensation for workers injured in workplace accidents, formation of trade unions, prevention and resolution of industrial disputes, workers’ health, safety, welfare, working conditions and apprenticeships — all are covered by labor law.”
May Day is observed every year. Of the 365 days in the year, only one is May Day. But the workers whose demands and rights this day commemorates sweat through every day of the year. Factory owners, luxury company industrialists and political leaders give long speeches at May Day rallies, promising to meet workers’ demands and drawing applause. But throughout the year they make many excuses to avoid paying workers fair wages for their labor.
Even where laws exist, workers are deprived in practice. In the 1800s the world saw a major change. Before that time, employers made workers labor 18 to 20 hours a day for token wages. When workers protested, employers began oppressing and torturing rebellious workers. Many workers died in this labor movement. Their main demand was that a worker should work a maximum of eight hours a day. When employers ignored this demand, workers in America launched a strike on May 1, 1886, centered on the city of Chicago.
In 1884-85, many industrial factories closed due to economic downturn and countless workers were thrown out of work. About 350,000 workers joined the Chicago movement. The May 3 movement grew larger. Police fired indiscriminately, killing six workers.
To protest the workers’ killings, a large rally was called for May 4. That day, four more workers were killed in Chicago and 16 were arrested. On Oct. 9 that same year, six more were hanged and three sentenced to life in prison. The workers’ movement intensified, and at one stage employers were forced to concede.
On July 14, 1889, the International Congress decided to observe May 1 each year as “May Day” in memory of the workers who died in the Chicago movement. The day has been observed worldwide ever since.
Although various labor laws have been enacted for workers, in many cases they remain confined to paper; in reality, workers’ fortunes do not turn much.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report