Dr. Muhammad Mahtab Hossain Mazed

Today, Wednesday, the first of May, is the great 'May Day 2024' for the rights and demands of billions of working people of the worldThis year's theme of the day is ``Owners and workers will build the country, Bangladesh will be smart.'' It is a day to celebrate the International Labor Movement. Working people and labor organizations in different countries of the world celebrate the day through organized processions and processions on the streets. May 1st is a national holiday in about 80 countries of the world including Bangladesh.

In post-independence Bangladesh in 1972, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman recognized May 1 as 'May Day'. At the same time, he announced a public holiday.

In many other countries it is celebrated privately. In 1886, the market workers of the city of Chicago in the United States organized a mass movement to demand decent wages and eight hours of work per day. The factories were swallowing the whole life of the workers. They had to work 16 hours a day in unbearable conditions. The health of the workers was completely broken by working throughout the week. The laboring children became skeletons. Then the demand arose that the whole life of the worker in the factories cannot be bought. During the movement that began with the demand for an 8-hour working day, the workers called a strike on May 1 of that year, about three lakh hardworking people participated in the rally. In order to stop the protesting angry workers, the police force fired indiscriminately at the workers' procession. In this, 11 unarmed workers were killed by police fire, many more workers were injured and arrested. Later, six of the arrested workers were hanged and executed for participating in the movement through a mock trial. A labor leader was injured while in prison. The protests spread all over the world in a more visible form.

> May Day's significant contribution keeps the working class alive today. The spirit of struggle against any injustice is now the reward of the workers. The bloody 1st May of 1886 is now a day for everyone to take an oath of struggle against injustice and oppression. The motto of moving forward. 1886 to 2024. 138 years of movement for not only the dignity, value and fair wages of labour, but also reasonable working hours. Human society and civilization have changed a lot in the last 138 years. But, the answer to this question is still to be found, even though so much progress has been made, have the rights of the workers been established?

Labor identity:
The literal meaning of the word labor is toil, physical labor, physical labor, etc. In terms of economics, "all physical and mental efforts of people engaged in production in exchange for wages is called labor. And all physical and mental energy employed in the welfare of humanity, moral development, service and production of creation is called labor." Externally, whether this labor is used in production or without remuneration or whether that remuneration is in cash or something else, and labor has no earthly value, it has an earthly value.

Types of Labor:
Labor can generally be divided into three categories in Islam. Namely:
1.Manual Labour: Manual labor is physical labor to earn a living without capital. Eg: daily labor of rickshaw pullers, daily labourers.
2. Artistic labour: Artistic labor is the work in which art and technique are applied to a greater extent. For example, painters, handicrafts, installations etc.
3.Intellectual labour: Intellectual labor refers to all those uncapitalized labors which involve the mind more than the body. For example, teaching, doctor, legal profession etc.

Worker Identity:
The English equivalent of worker is labor and in Arabic it is called amel. In general, those who work are called workers. In the conventional sense, those who work for money under others in society or the state are called workers. Allah Rabbul Alamin created every human being to serve Him. And the name of acting according to Allah's law is action. In a sense every Muslim labors as a worker. A president also gives labor, and a day laborer also gives labor, in this sense everyone is a worker. In general, workers are those engaged in manual labor in factories, rickshaw pullers, porters, and millions of workers engaged in thousands of occupations who are primarily engaged in manual labor. But whether everyone is a worker in the labor law or whether everyone falls under the labor law deserves considerationSection 2(65) of the Bangladesh Labor Act states that "employee" means any person, including apprentices, irrespective of the express or implied terms of his employment, who works directly or through a contractor (by whatever name called) in any establishment or industry; Any skilled, unskilled, manual, technical, in exchange for wages or moneyEmployed to perform business development or clerical work, but does not include any person primarily responsible for administrative (supervisory) or managerial work.
Owner Identity:
In terms of economics, those who work as workers under officials in public and private institutions and factories are workers. And those who employ workers, collect work from them properly and pay wages or salaries in exchange for labor, are the owners.

The day of realization of working people's rights passed on 1st of May again shaking the conscience of the country and the world. Many questions but far from answers. Can't forget the extreme tragedy of Rana Plaza. Hundreds of workers died that day when the multi-storied building of Rana Plaza in Savar collapsed. Many people were crippled and missing. Which still exists in all of our minds like a burning wound. The life safety of the workers of this country has not been given by the owners of the organization before, after so many protests, resistance movements and struggles, the picture of the situation has not changed satisfactorily. A vicious tendency to work compulsively at extreme risk still prevails. Safe working environment, lack of safety and efficient training for accident prevention and rescue and lack of adequate up-to-date rescue equipment are repeatedly questioning the image of the industry and the working environment of the garment industry.

Total population in the country as per available data
17 crore 15 lakh 90 thousand. Where women are 8 crore 73 lakh 90 thousand and men 8 crore 42 lakh. 65 percent of the country's people are working. At the end of 2023, only the youth labor force is 2 crore 62 lakh 80 thousand. In a span of one year, nearly 300,000 youths entered the workforce. Recently, these data have emerged in the updated report of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) quarterly labor force survey.

The aggregate of the employed and unemployed population aged 15 and above is called the labor force. Among them, those between the ages of 15 and 29, are considered as the youth labor force. According to the survey data, 7 crore 34 lakh 60 thousand people are currently under the labor force in the country.

According to the latest census, the 15 to 29-year-old population in Bangladesh is close to 475 million, but the youth labor force is only 262 million 80 thousand; That means almost half of the youth are out of the labor force.

The labor force in the country is increasing every year. In the last quarter of 2022, the labor force in the country was 7 crore 33 lakh 50 thousand. This labor force has increased by 1 lakh 10 thousand in a span of one year. At present, 7 crore 34 lakh 60 thousand are the majority of the labor force. At the end of December, the male labor force in the country has increased to 4 crore 8 lakh 10 thousand, while the number of female labor force is 2 crore 54 lakh 50 thousand.

As the total labor force increased. The youth workforce has also increased in the country. Currently, men and women are almost equal among the 2 crore 62 lakh 60 thousand youth labor force in the country. At the end of December, the male labor force among the youth is 1 crore 31 lakh 80 thousand. Last year this number was 1 crore 33 lakh 30 thousand. At the same time, there are 1 crore 31 lakh female labor force in this age group in the country. Last year this number was 1 crore 29 lakh 40 thousand.

And there are nine crore 62 lakh workers in various sectors. Out of this 7 crore 12 lakh are male and 2 crore 50 lakh are female. According to the survey of BBS, the number of farmers and fishermen in the workplace is the highest in terms of occupation. According to the data of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, two crore 74 lakh farmers and fishermen are engaged in this profession in the country. Next are production and transportation workers. The number of workers in this sector is one crore three million. And one crore 37 thousand officers and employees work in government institutions. However, in autonomous institutions, this number is 887 thousand. In addition, 368,000 people work at the local government level. 32 lakh 84 thousand people are employed in private institutions. And 688 thousand people are working in various NGOs. One crore 18 lakh men and women work in Gersthali. And 90 percent of the labor force engaged in work are not satisfied with their profession. The effect of this labor dissatisfaction is not only negative impact on the production capacity of the organization or the quality of service, but its extensive negative impact is reflected in social life, political life, family life and individual life. In our country, a worker can have many logical reasons for his dissatisfaction at work. But if we say the reasons for fatness are - not getting work according to qualifications, not getting wages according to hard work, not getting wages at fixed time, not being able to meet daily expenses with received wages, forced to overwork, not getting holidays, not getting safe working environment, Not getting the dignity, necessaryLack of rest and recreation and above all no job security.Later, the United States government was forced to accept the demands of the agitating workers. On 14 July 1889, the International Labor Conference held in France declared May 1 as Labor Day. The following year i.e. since 1890 May 1 has been observed globally as 'May Day' or 'International Workers' Day'.

And with the international recognition of May Day, there has been a great change among the working class all over the world. The impact of this day on employer-employee relations is far-reaching. As a result, the daily working time of workers is reduced from 16 hours to 8 hours. The workers of all the countries of the world started to get due status of their labor through this. They move forward to claim their rights. The hardworking people started to be freed from their shackled lives. Another new chapter of social change is added to the history of the world. May Day is a day to announce revolutionary changes in the working class of the world. When their lives were imprisoned in the web of caste discrimination, their chains were opened by the establishment of May Day. As a result, the class discrimination in the society started to disappear slowly. Millions of workers were spared the aggressive sting of illegal money-grubbers who capitalized on the weaknesses of capitalism. A society free from discrimination and exploitation is a gift to the whole world this May Day. The up-and-down relationship that the workers had with the owners came to an end only as a result of the recognition of May Day. Bangladesh is a lower middle income country in South Asia. There are many working people in this country. Currently, May 1 is a public holiday in Bangladesh in honor of May Day. On this day, workers celebrate May Day with great enthusiasm and enthusiasm. They organize various events in memory of their predecessors. Labor organizations organize various cultural and welfare programs on May Day. The workers of Bangladesh celebrate the Great May Day in a joyful atmosphere on this day.

Finally, I would like to say that workers' rights are not well established in our country, they are neglected in many ways. In many workplaces, workers are insecure and deprived of fair wages. Minimum wages for workers in the garment sector, the country's most labour-intensive industry, are not being followed in all cases. The situation in other industries is more fragile. After a long wait, a labor law has been enacted in the country where agricultural workers have been recognized. There is a policy to recognize both male and female domestic workers as workers. These are words of hope. However, many workers in the informal sector remain disenfranchised. There is no substitute for ensuring fair wages, safety at work, necessary facilities and better quality of life for workers to create healthy conditions in industries and increase worker productivity. Our expectation today is that the industrial owners, the government and all concerned will be committed to ensuring the proper implementation of the labor laws in order to establish the dignity and fair rights of the workers for the sake of healthy industrial development. Ensuring trade union rights of workers in garment industry, one of the major labor sectors, is the need of the hour. Another major driver of the country's economy is remittances sent by migrant workers working abroad. The state must also take a responsible role in protecting the rights and facilities of those workers abroad and at home. Therefore, on May Day, all working people try to pledge to initiate changes towards development by strengthening their fraternal bonds. Let equality win, let hard work winAnd our congratulations and best wishes to all the working people of the country on the great May Day.

Author, columnist and researcher Founder Chairman,Jatiya Rogi Kallyan Society.