Shoemakers demand May Day holiday, fair wage

Shoemaking factory workers in old Dhaka brought out a rally under the banner of Biplobi Paduka Shilpa Sramik Songhati in front of Jatiya Press Club yesterday, demanding May Day holiday, fair wage and wholesome environment inside the factories.

The workers are paid only Tk 300 for 16 hours of labour daily.

Each factory has three types of workers: upper man producing upper parts of a shoe; sole man who is assigned to making sole; and fitting man who does patchwork.

 "An upper man gets Tk 300 for making upper parts of 12 pairs of shoes.  A sole man earns similar amount for the same number of pairs while a fitting man gets only Tk 100 for a dozen pairs of shoes," said Nur-e-Alam, a shoemaking worker at Siddiquebazar in old Dhaka.

"About Tk 150 is spent every day on buying food and the rest of the money does not suffice to afford the cost of a family…" he added.

"We can't enjoy national holidays or weekends. If anyone speaks anything about the issues, employers often sack them," Alam said.

Hanif, a 17- year-old boy, said he has been working for three years in a factory without any wage.

"They don't pay me as I am still an apprentice," said the boy, adding that there were four others like him working at the factory, who too do not get any wage.

Angur Mia, president of Songhati, said workers were forced to work in a very unhealthy and polluted environment, adding that they regularly handled toxic chemicals without putting on any mask

If shoemaking is declared an industry, then the working condition will be developed and employers could be forced to maintain standard wage and workhours for employees, opined Angur.