The miserable life of the workers in the Corona epidemic
Probal Paul: The miserable life of the workers in the Corona epidemic. Day labourers, agricultural labourers, shopkeepers, pavement traders, car and rickshaw pullers are struggling in the ongoing lockdown to prevent corona infection. They lost their jobs and are now under house arrest. Many garment and industrial workers do not have jobs. in the corona epidemic, it causes The miserable life of the workers.
In such a reality, May Day is being celebrated on Saturday (May 1) as the day of realization of the rights of the working people, while these working people are waiting for their good times to return.
According to a project study by the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and BRAC University’s Maped in Bangladesh (MIB), the number of factory workers fell by more than 50 per cent in September 2020 compared to December 2019. Workers have been laid off in factories due to declining demand. Many factories have also closed. In the case of layoffs and factory closures, most have not complied with the rules for payment of arrears of wages and compensation.
It is learned that the workers working in the limited number of garments and industries are also in fear of losing their jobs. The transport workers have suffered the most due to the closure of public transport during the Corona period. Besides, many workers of housing construction companies and hotels and restaurants have lost their jobs. Workers have also been laid off from the shops. Some floating shopkeepers have left the city for the village. in the corona epidemic, it causes The miserable life of the workers.
Bangladesh Road Transport Workers Federation Chittagong Regional Committee President. Musa said 13,000 CNG-powered autorickshaws and 10,000 tempos used to ply in the city. The livelihood of 30 thousand workers involved in this. They are in trouble after losing their jobs.
Many workers engaged in the ongoing development projects of the city’s fishery ghats, aluminium factories, Upazila brickfields and city corporations do not know about May Day. In their words, what will happen with the day – if there is no rice in the stomach. However, working overtime, the pain of not getting a fair wage makes them lazy. Do not get afraid to lose the courage to protest.
There are not enough judges in the two labour courts in Chittagong. In addition, in some cases, the complication of cases is increasing due to reluctance of employer-worker representatives to be present, delay of lawyers, etc. At present, 2,546 cases are pending in the Labor Court-1 and 2nd Labor Court. Half of these cases have been pending for more than five years.
we hope in the corona epidemic, The miserable life of the workers will take some good situations.
