NARAYANGANJ: \'Ora kaj kore shohore bondore\'. The historic May Day (today) hardly makes any difference for day labourers who work day in and day out for a paltry sum of money. — Focus Bangla
JHENIDAH, Apr 30: It has been 127 years since workers in United States of America (USA) demonstrated together at the Haymarket in Chicago to press homer their charter of demands, including an eight-hour workday. However, all is not rosy with the workers' fate in Jhenidah, as, they, indeed, unaware of their rights, are still unorganized here.
Most of the workers in the district somehow take part in the rallies on May 1 and remain inactive all the year round as their respective trade unions bring nothing useful to them.
Workers in most of the sectors in the district have no rights, no job security, and no unions of their own to protect their interests.
While visiting various workplaces in Jhenidah both in the town and suburbs, this correspondent came to know that the workers would be kept in work on May Day.
The correspondent also found that wage structure for man, woman and child workers had been set arbitrarily by owners for lack of sturdy bargaining agents.
In fact, absence of trade union movements holds the workers in a dire strait in Jhenidah.
Child workers are really very cheap in the region. They have been engaged in many of the workplaces including wielding workshops where they are to do risky work.
Employers pay a child labour Tk. 1200 to Tk. 1400, taking advantage of a pool of cheap child workers who drop out of schools due to acute poverty in the families.
Workers in various sectors, including rice mills and terraces, brickfields, hotels and restaurants, saw mills, furniture factories, tobacco processing centre, wielding workshops, vehicle repairing garages, shops, showrooms, fuel oil depots, are being mercilessly exploited in the arena.
Though some of the working communities have trade unions of their own, the organizations do not serve the interests of the general workers. The elected leaders and members of the executive bodies have been involved in irregularities and corruption. As a result, they misappropriate the funds exploiting the whelming majority.
Eventually, most of the labourers lost interest in trade union movement in Jhenidah district and turned their faces from it.
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