International Workers’ Day, widely known as May Day, was observed across Bangladesh, as elsewhere in the world, on Wednesday to press home workers’ demands including announcement of minimum wages for workers of all sectors, workplace safety, and six-month maternity leave for women.
The other demands of the workers include ensuring eight hours’ work in a day, ration facilities for workers, freedom of trade unions’ activities and stopping termination forcibly.
Trade unions and different labour rights organisations held rallies and discussions and brought out processions where the working class people joined so that they could ensure their rights in the days to come.
The trade unions and labour organisations include, Trade Union Kendra, Garment Sramik Trade Union Kendra, Garments Sramik Samhati and Sramik Karmachari Oikya Parishad. Â
Labour leaders urged the government for fixing Tk 20,000 as minimum wage for workers and workplace safety.
Garment Sramik Trade Union Kendra held a rally at Purana Paltan crossing in Dhaka in the morning.
Leaders of the organisation placed several demands including cancelation of all provisions in the Labour Law that went against labours interest, ensuring rights to do trade union freely, stop termination and wage theft, and ensuring justice for killing all labours.
They also demanded justice for four labourers who were killed during wage movement in 2023.
Addressing a rally as the chief guest, Communist Party of Bangladesh former president Mujahidul Islam Selim said that the workers were suffering from heatwave and high prices of essential commodities.
‘The owners are operating factories secretly on the day. The government has snatched the day designated for workers,’ he said.
Highlighting the prices of essential commodities beyond purchasing capacity, Mujahidul said that they demanded to set the minimum wage of garment workers at Tk 30,000.
Several garment workers’ associations, including National Garment Workers Federation and Sammilita Garments Sramik Federation, criticised the authorities for giving four months’ maternity leave while the government and other private bodies were giving maternity leave for six months.
They demanded to the government for ensuring six months’ maternity leave in garment industries.
The theme of the day in Bangladesh this year is ‘Sramik-Malik Garba Desh, Smart Hobe Bangladesh’ (workers and owners together will build a smart Bangladesh).
Different political parties, including the ruling Awami League, the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Communist Party of Bangladesh, Ganasamhati Andolan and AB Party along with social organisations like Jatiya Mukti Council also chalked out programmes to mark the day.
The ruling Awami League’s labour organisation Jatiya Sramik League organised a rally in front of the party’s headquarters on Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital.
Addressing the rally as the chief guest, AL general secretary Obaidul Quader claimed that Sheikh Hasina government was dedicated for workers and gradually it had increased the workers’ minimum wage to Tk 12,500.
‘Adamjee Jute Mill was closed during the BNP government’s tenure. The people of the country will not forgive them,’ he added.
Addressing a workers’ rally oraganised by Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal in front of the BNP central office at Naya Paltan in Dhaka as the chief guest, BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said that the people across the country were now deprived of their minimum rights.
‘Workers cannot ensure quality schools and quality foods for their children at this moment,’ he added.
Following the rally, they brought out a colourful procession that began from in front of the party’s Naya Paltan office, marched Bijaynagar, Dainik Bangla, Fakirapool crossing, Aramabagh and ended at Naya Paltan.
Leaders of Ganasamhati Andolan blamed the government for making lives of working class people miserable and leaving the country in the hands of syndicate.
Ntional Domestic Women Workers Union held a rally in front of the Natonal Press Club in Dhaka and demanded to shift the case of Preeti Urang, the child domestic help who died after falling from the residence of the sacked executive editor of The Daily Star, Syed Ashfaqul Haque, in Dhaka’s Mohammadpur area, to Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal.
The rally was chaired by the organisation’s president Momtaz Begum.
Jatiya Samajtantrik Sramik Jote held a rally in front of the National Press Club in the morning.
Addressing the rally, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal-Jasod president Hasanul Haq Inu said that fair wage of workers was possible to ensure by stopping corruption, plundering, capital flight, looting banks and wastage of public money.
May Day marks the 1886 uprising of workers at Hay Market in Chicago in the United States for their rights, including an eight-hour working a day.
Several workers were killed in police firing, for which the day was initially marked as a black day.
Jatiya Samajtantrik Sramik Jote held a rally in front of the National Press Club in the morning.
Ricskaw-Van-Easybike Sramik Union brought out a procession with their vehicles demanding to allow them to ply on all roads and stop the corruption of traffic police.
They marched areas of Press Club and Paltan.
May 1 was adopted as International Workers’ Day by socialist delegates in Paris in 1889. More than 400 delegates on the centenary of the French Revolution met in Paris at the Marxist International Socialist Congress, the founding meeting of the Second International.
The 1889 resolution called for a one-time demonstration but it became an annual event in course of time.
May Day was celebrated in Russia, Brazil and Ireland first in 1891.