A year of agony for workers

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 recognised workers specific rights with due emphasis. According to article (23.1) “Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment”, while article (23.3) says “Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection”. But in case of Bangladesh, neither favorable conditions nor the appropriate fee, workers only came for work from different villages to Dhaka to ensure their livelihood. Last year, Tazreen factory fire and this year Rana Plaza tragedy amongst others were the deadliest workplace disasters in the country killing thousands of workers and injuring number of workers. . Over the years our motherland experienced couple of worst humanitarian crises. These events show us the wretched lives of workers pointing out that we have an arrogant culture of avoiding the importance of workers lives.
Extreme violation of human rights and humanity is not only happened at garment industries but also in case of all the laboring people of the country. Domestic worker Aduri becomes a victim of demonic oppression of her owner and is thrown out to the garbage. Unfortunately she was also a woman. Dozens of domestic workers become victim of oppression and died throughout the year. A number of construction workers and store employees gave their lives to protect the wealth of their owners. It is frequently being reported that tortured bodies of migrant workers are coming back to the country. According to sources of airport, in every week a number of dead bodies of migrant workers arrive here from the land of death.
In this year, workers are being subjected to another cruelty and massacre. Many workers are falling to death at the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital being trapped in the crossfire of political power play. Until the text ends, we can recall the last sacrificed bus helper named Alamgir. We can also remember Sohel, a bus helper, who was burnt alive. Workers tears and the starving children of their families on television made us vulnerable, while our politicians are just silent.
Billion dollar industry that is bringing foreign currencies by exporting its products to world famous super stores, workers of those are taking place to the streets for demanding half of their living wage with having to face down sticks, tear gas and bullets.
Country’s laws say to pay wages within the 7th of the month. When someone violates the law by not giving wages of workers, he needs to be punished. But in this case workers are harassed for demanding their wage and lawful claim. List of pruning or a factory closing notice is hanging in the night. Again, terrors of owners or industrial police are impinging upon the workers gathered for reading the notice.
After 65 years of human rights announcement and 43 years of our freedom, country’s five million workers livelihood and dignity are far away from all of this announcement and our constitution. The biggest helplessness is that those who work in the mainstream of human rights are not making the right of working class as main part of their movement. Employer or the occupier of the workers who are doing a good action, are not tolerating labor unrest, opinions or needs to speak to him. As a result, any attempt to forge a trade union becomes failure. But the trade union rights of workers in article (23.4) of human rights announcement is being recognised as human rights.
Some improvements are seen in the meantime, while wage is increased slightly. The Prime Minister and the opposition leader have rushed to Rana Plaza with sympathy that ensures some assistance. Some compliance factories have been built in this situation. But all are done for business reputation as well as strategies for growing sympathy and mitigation of anger.
Perhaps, we have to wait longer to see favourable work environment as well as human rights for workers, fair wages and their right to organise. Workers, engaged in helping to run the wheel of development in exchange of their sweat and blood, have been suffering from pain at the Burn Unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital. This prevailing situation should be ended without further delay.

The writer is Assistant Executive Director, Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS).