Working class people on Sunday observed International Workers’ Day, widely known as May Day, across Bangladesh as elsewhere around the globe.
Trade unions and different labour rights organisations held rallies and discussions and brought out processions in open spaces in Dhaka and elsewhere in the country as there was no Covid restriction this year.
Labour leaders said that workers were hard hit by the Covid pandemic as their occupational safety was not ensured in different sectors, especially the labour-intensive garment sector with employment of 4.4 million workers.
They also demanded that the government should set Tk 20,000 as the monthly minimum national wage of a worker as prices of essentials had gone up over time.
RMG trade unions held processions and rallies in different industrial belts like Ashulia, Savar, Gazipur, Narayangaj and Chattogram.
They urged the government not to cut jobs of any worker and demanded housing facilities, health insurance and pension as prescribed by the law.
They also demanded an end to the oppression on workers.
Sramik Karmachari Oikya Parishad held a rally in front of the National Press Club demanding the safety of the workers in their workplaces and realise the nine-point demand of the organisation for the welfare of the workers.
Veteran labour leader Shahidullah Chowdhury chaired the rally.
Labour leaders Wajedul Islam Khan, Mesbah Uddin Ahmed, Razeqzzaman Ratan, Saifuzzaman Badhsa, among others, addressed the rally.
Bangladesh Trade Union Centre held a rally in front of the Communist Party of Bangladesh central office at Purana Paltan where labour leader Manzurul Ahsan Khan, CPB central leader Mujahidul Islam Selim, general secretary Ruhin Hossain Prince and Shahidullah Chowdhury spoke.
Bangladesh Garment Sramik Samhati held a rally in front of the National Press Club, where its president Taslima Akhter chaired.
Labour leaders Bachchu Bhuiyan, Julhasnayyen Babu, among others, also spoke.
Jatiya Garment Sramik Federation held a rally at Purana Paltan Crossing where its president Amirul Haque Amin chaired.
Bangladesh Trade Union Sangha, Socialist Labour Front, Garment Sramik Oikya Forum, Textile Garment Workers Federation, Sramik Karmachari Federation, Textile Garment Workers Federation, Garment Workers Trade Union Centre, among others, held rallies and bought out processions in Dhaka making the day.
Trade union leaders demanded freedom of trade union and other rights of workers.
The day was a public holiday.
Jatiya Samajtranrik Dal – Jasod, held a rally in front of its central office at Bangabandhu Avenue, where president of the party Hasanul Haq Inu, general secretary Shirin Akhter and others spoke.
The day was also observed by Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the Communist Party of Bangladesh, Workers Party of Bangladesh, Jatiya Mukti Council, Jatiya Sramik League, Textile Garments Workers Federation, Bangladesh Sramik Karmachari Federation, Imarat Nirman Sramik Union Bangladesh, Tannery Workers Union and Jatiya Sramik Federation, among others.
Safety and Rights Society, Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust, Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies and Sramik Nirapatta Forum also observed the day.
International Workers’ Day marks the 1886 uprising of workers at Hay Market in Chicago for their rights, including eight-hour working day. Several workers were killed in police firing.
May 1 was adopted as International Workers’ Day by socialist delegates in Paris in 1889. More than 400 delegates met in Paris on the centenary of the French revolution 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.
