No weekend, no government holiday for transport workers

Newspapers report findings of a study of Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS). The study says 90 per cent of transport workers do not get weekly leave and more than 98 per cent of transport workers have to work on government holidays.

Similar situation prevails for the security workers. The report says two-thirds (66 per cent) security workers have no weekly holiday while 86 per cent security workers are discharging their duties even on government holidays.

The findings indicate how laborious lives these workers are leading.

The workers of hotel-restaurants, rerolling mills and hospital-diagnostic centres also work hard, the study hints. More than 98 per cent hotel-restaurant workers work more than eight hours.

Of all the workers, 14 per cent work more than 13 to 14 hours everyday and more than one-fourth (26 per cent) work without any break. This is an alarming condition of the workers of the country.

There is no doubt a weekly holiday makes one rejuvenated for the next week. Weekend gives one an opportunity to complete personal and family tasks. One can visit near and dear ones on the weekend. These workers--covered in the survey of BILS--are deprived of these opportunities. They are serving us relentlessly and they rarely get personal time for themselves.

How many more years do we need to respect each and every profession?

We urge all to ensure leave and standard working hour for the workers of the country.

M A Islam

Dhanmondi, Dhaka