The world has undergone a sea change since 1886 when the workers in the US city of Chicago launched the blood-stained agitation to establish eight-hour working day. That was the first organised workers' rights movement in the world. More than a century and three decades have gone by, but the appeal of that epoch-making incident has not diminished even an iota. Every year on the first day of May, workers organise rallies, processions and other befitting programmes. Such events commemorate the supreme sacrifices that the Chicago workers had made to establish their just demands. The occurrence does still inspire the workers to wage movements against injustice and unfair treatment and pursue their justified demands.
One can however hardly miss the fact that employment scenario and labour rights situation also have gone through a notable change since the Haymarket massacre. A number of factors, including establishment of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) under the auspices of the United Nations, spread of democratic practices across the continents and achievement of greater economic affluence and technological improvement, have greatly influenced both the employment scenario and workers' rights.
In the 1900s and before, the vast majority of workers used to be engaged in the manufacturing and other industries that were heavily dependent on manual work. The manufacturing sector does still employ a large workforce. But as automation is making deep inroads in developed countries, the demand for workers has been on the decline. But the workers have found an alternative; the services sector now employs a substantial number of people, including professionals. Thus, composition of labour today is not the same as it was in the past.
The workers' movement in Bangladesh has a glorious past despite the fact that there were a few violent eruptions during the post-independence period and recent years. The export-oriented garments industry, where organised trade union activities are not allowed, does often face labour troubles over wage-related issues. The labour situation in most other sectors of the economy has been otherwise calm and quiet, mainly because of healthy relations between workers and employers. Enactment of laws and rules in line with the requirements of the ILO conventions that protect rights and ensure welfare of the workers has helped to improve the overall working environment in the country.
There prevails a strong opinion that the workers should shun the path of traditional trade unionism and chose an approach that would help boost new job-oriented investments by entrepreneurs, both old and new. The country, where rate of unemployment is very high, cannot afford the luxury of strong and violent trade union activities. However, such a condition cannot be ensured by depriving the workers of their just dues. Truth is that the trade unions need to be both responsible and active and the management, responsive and sympathetic towards the cause of the workers to help maintain a healthy relationship between them.
What, however, is of great import is the workers' productivity level. Poor productivity level of workers is being considered a sore point of Bangladesh's industries. The labour laws and rules have given enough protection to the workers' interests, quite justifiably. But the framers of those laws have, by default or design, bypassed the issues of labour productivity and skill development. And the country is now paying a heavy price on that account. Exporters have been losing their competitive edge in the global market and foreign investors are getting discouraged by low productivity and poor skill level of workers. These deficiencies are also costing the country heavily through employment of foreign workers and consequent outward remittances worth between four and five billion US dollars. There has to be a change in this situation.