DHAKA/ISLAMABAD, 2 May 2005 — Thousands of workers in Pakistan and Bangladesh took to the streets yesterday in largely peaceful May Day rallies and marches to demand improved conditions and protest government policies.
In the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, about 5,000 workers rallied to demand a minimum monthly wage of 3,000 takas ($50) and better safety standards, just weeks after a garment factory collapsed, killing 73 workers.
There is no minimum wage in the poverty-stricken nation where inexperienced workers earn on average from 800 to 1,200 takas ($13 to $20; €10 to €15) per month.
“It’s a question of survival. We want the new guideline immediately to save our workers,” Shirin Akhtar, a labor rights activist, said.
“On May Day we reiterate our demand for a safe workplace so the garment workers can at least work without getting killed in fire and construction faults,” the president of the Bangladesh Independent Garments Labor Union, Asma said.
The workers also held protests rallies in Palash Bari where 73 workers were killed last month after a knitting and sweater factory collapsed because of faulty construction.
Fires due to faulty electrical wiring in garment factories have also killed around 200 garment workers since 1990, according to newspaper estimates.
In neighboring Pakistan, workers held rallies in major cities yesterday demanding increased wages, job security and an end to the contract system, witnesses said.
The largest rally was in eastern city of Lahore where some 2,000 workers waving red flags marched in the streets shouting slogans against poor working conditions, a lack of a social security system and low wages.
“We mark this day to demand the government to increase minimum wages, end the contract system and provide health and education facilities,” secretary general of the All Pakistan Federation of Trade Unions, Khurshid Ahmed, told the gathering.
Workers burned tires and blocked traffic on the city’s main Mall road while anti-riot police watched the protest from a distance.
Similar rallies were held in the cities of Karachi, Multan and Faisalabad where trade union leaders condemned the government for turning a blind eye to the plight of the working class. Labor leaders demanded that the minimum monthly wages, currently around 3,000 rupees ($50), be doubled.
May Day this year came amid spiraling prices of food and other items of daily use which has increased pressure on the government.
In Multan hundreds of workers rallied, demanding the implementation of labor laws.
“The contract system of employment should be abolished and all the industrial workers be regularized and the international labor laws should be enforced in Pakistan,” Malik Ghulam Abbas Langrial, leader of Jute and Textile workers’ union, told the gathering.
Pakistan has a work force of more than four million people among a population of 150 million, with total and partial unemployment estimated to be at around eight percent, according to government economic reports.
President Pervez Musharraf in his message promised to ensure the dignity and welfare of the working class. “As we celebrate May Day today, we must also pledge to rid our country of any form of discrimination against laborers and workers”.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said the government had pledged to eliminate forced labor and to amend labor laws to bring them on par with the provisions of the International Labor Organization (ILO). — Additional input from agencies.
