#Worldwide #Information #Blogger #LucSchrijvers: #Part1 #Update : #anarchist #information from all over the #world - 23.02.2020

Today's Topics:

   
1.  France, Union Communiste Libertaire AL #304 - Digital,
      Decentralization: Coronavirus brings down Framatalk (fr, it,
      pt)[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
2.  US, black rose fed: Tenant and Labor Struggles: Get
      Organized this Saturday (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
3.  US, WSA, ideas and action: Washington DC Rent Strikes By
      Ryan V (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
4.  France, Union Communiste Libertaire UCL Montreuil - Webdito,
      Palestine: No truce (fr, it, pt)[machine translation]
      (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
5.  Britain, Class War Daily FRIDAY 16 APRIL 2020
      (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
6.  History: The Growth of the Workers Movement in Bangladesh By
      Bangladesh AnarchoSyndicalist Federation - BASF 
     (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)


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Message: 1



The containment led to a strong and rapid increase in the use of the videoconferencing service of Framasoft, Framatalk. This forced
Framasoft to perform an emergency service migration on a more robust server. The opportunity to recall the need for decentralization. ----
The status.framasoft.org site identifies technical incidents affecting Framasoft's services in real time so that the users of these services
are informed. We consult for example this site when we note with surprise that a framapad was erased overnight and we want to know if
Framasoft is already "on the spot". ---- You can even subscribe to it, for example via an RSS feed, to be constantly kept informed of site
updates and thus never be taken by surprise during a long-term planned service interruption, at maintenance purposes.

Tuesday, March 10, early in the morning, subscribers to status.framasoft.org discovered an ironic and surprising "incident": people being
encouraged by the paranoid climate, even forced by confinement measures, to stay locked up at home, the videoconferencing service Framatalk
(instance of the free software Jitsi Meet) saw its use suddenly multiplied by eight ! This caused bugs and slowdowns that forced the
Framasoft team to carry out an emergency migration to a more robust server, capable of absorbing the shock better.

The migration only lasted five minutes and this whole affair is anecdote ; however, a few lines from the incident report draw attention: "
However, we ask the collectives, institutions and organizations that have the technical capacity to consider hosting the free software Jitsi
Meet [1], our tutorial self-hosting is also here [2]. "

One solution, decentralization
Framasoft therefore invites us, once again and in line with its usual discourse [3], to decentralize instead of replacing one center
(Google, or here Skype - which belongs to Microsoft for the time being) by another (in occurence, Framasoft and its Framatalk), even if the
latter is free and ethical. Deoogloglate the Internet and then realize that the Internet must now be deframasoftized, it's the sprinkler !

Decentralization is not an option and is not just a good political idea: in IT, decentralization is also a guarantee of robustness and
sustainability of the service. This is why Framasoft is also the driving force behind the CHATONS initiative (Collective of alternative,
transparent, open, neutral and united hosts).

Instances of Jitsi Meet is like the kidneys: one can very well live with just one, but in the event of a problem, it is better to have a
second under your elbow !

Léo (UCL Grand-Paris-Sud)

Validate

[1] Read also " Jitsi Meet, Secure, Simple and Scalable Video Conferences ".

[2] Read also " Installation of Jitsi Meet ".

[3] " Framafin de (some) framatrucs ", Alternative libertaire from February 2020.

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Decentralisation-Le-coronavirus-fait-tomber-Framatalk

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Message: 2



In this time of pandemic where millions are unsure how they will afford rent or food, or where others are forced to work under dangerous
conditions - we need to step to the plate and show that collective action and organizing can address our needs. A popular saying in Puerto
Rico in the aftermath of the recent hurricanes, earthquakes and systemic colonial neglect has been, "Only the people can save the people" -
no one is coming to save us, we need to look to each other. ---- With this in mind we wanted to highlight two virtual organizing events
tomorrow, Saturday, April 18 on tenant and labor organizing. The events overlap so you may not be able to attend both but we hope they can
inspire you to organize in your neighborhood or workplace.
Arriba lxs que luchan! / Up with those who struggle!
North American Townhall on Tenant Organizing
Saturday, April 18, 2020 at 10 AM - 12:30 PM PDT / 1:00 pm - 3:30 pm EST

Open to all tenants across the U.S. and Canada, this second training will provide tenants with basic tools for organizing neighbors into
tenant associations and organizing neighborhoods into tenant unions. Facilitation is provided by members of tenant unions from across North
America that are associated with the Autonomous Tenants Union Network (ATUN). The training will be held in Spanish and in English.

ATUN is a North American collaborative of tenant unions who have chosen to remain independent of nonprofits, big foundations, and government
funding in order to build power that is responsive to and lead by tenants. We are committed to base building, taking leadership from the
poorest, and resisting the power of real estate capital to destroy our homes and our communities.

To receive Zoom instructions and be added to the ATUN email list click here: bit.ly/ATUNintake.

Labor Notes 2020 Virtual Conference
Saturday, April 18, 2020 at 1-6 PM EST / 10 AM - 3 PM PST

At this virtual conference, worker leaders and activists will discuss organizing strategies and the state of the labor movement, during the
COVID-19 crisis and beyond.

Panels topics include:

Building Power During the Pandemic
Organizing a Stewards' Network
Talking With Your Co-workers about Trump
Organizing on Health and Safety in the Face of Coronavirus
A Just Recovery: From the Climate Crisis to the Pandemic
For more details and to register for the Zoom call click here: https://bit.ly/LNVirtualConference

Note: The rescheduled in-person conference will be next year, April 16-18, 2021.

https://blackrosefed.org/tenant-and-labor-get-organized-this-saturday/

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Message: 3



Tenants of Holmead Apartments in the Washington DC neighborhood of Columbia Heights have begun withholding their rent from their landlord:
Urban Investment Partners Property Management (UIP). The residents have been complaining of poor housing conditions that have gone unfixed
such as roach infestations, lead and mold. On Friday December 6th over 40 tenants gathered to make their pledge public that they are
refusing to pay rent until conditions in the apartments are improved. ---- UIP owns several rental properties in the DC area and has been
harshly criticized in the past, especially for its "use of voluntary agreements to essentially convert rent-controlled units to market-rate
housing by either buying out tenants or allowing current tenants to raise the rent once they depart" (1). Residents claim that over the
years various companies have purchased the property (UIP acquired it about 8 years ago), always promising renovations and improvements, as
justification for rent increases. But what little they do is never enough, and the problems persist. One resident spoke to a reporter from
ABC7 saying that "there are cockroaches, rats, bedbugs, lead, and mold, and the company doesn't respond to anything. We have paid a lot of
money for something that is no longer inhabitable" (2).

Those involved in the strike (about 40 of the 100 or so individual apartments) have begun working with various organizations such as the
Kalmanovitz Initiative for the Working Poor who helped organize Friday's event. It is also reported that other groups have come out to
support the rent strikes such as local chapters of the Democratic Socialists of America and Stomp Out Slumlords (a DC tenant's union).

Hope lies in the solidarity being shown towards these tenants and in the stubbornness of their resolve. Ongoing, persistent rent strikes
have worked to win gains for tenants in the past. In addition, aside from the obvious moral imperative to provide adequate housing for all,
rent strikes like this also help unite people along class lines.  We can only hope they can remain steadfast and grow large enough to make a
difference.

Sources
1. https://wamu.org/story/19/12/06/residents-are-protesting-by-refusing-to-pay-rent-at-one-d-c-apartment-will-it-work/
2. https://wjla.com/news/local/dc-apartment-residents-go-on-rent-strike
3. https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/tenants-of-dc-apartment-building-go-on-rent-strike-over-pests-damages/2183701/

http://ideasandaction.info/2020/03/washington-dc-rent-strikes/

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Message: 4



Although the epidemic affects both the Israeli and Palestinian populations, it is far from being experienced in the same conditions. The
pressure is still as strong as it is on detainees, Israeli Arabs, residents of the West Bank and those in Gaza. ---- Like the others, the
Palestinian people suffer from the Covid-19 pandemic, but with specificities. In early April, there were approximately 8,000 cases of
Covid-19 in Israel, 200 in the West Bank and 12 in Gaza. ---- The "  Palestinians of 1948  " (Israeli Arabs) treated as second-class
citizens are, in this crisis too, second-class patients. "  Their health will be taken into account after that of people living in Jewish
neighborhoods, mainly because the good hospitals are located there, reports the International Trade Union Network of Solidarity and Struggle
(RSISL) in a summary note. The recent nation-state law requires that all official texts, including emergency instructions during the
pandemic (including the famous barrier gestures), be written in Hebrew only  " [1]. Meanwhile, the destruction of houses and fields in the
Bedouin regions of the Negev desert continues, despite the rules of containment.

Palestinian prisoners are confined in overcrowded cells where the risk of contamination is very high and where living conditions are
horrible. "  The first prisoners infected in Ashkelon, Ramleh and Moscobiya prisons were infected by Israeli doctors or prison guards. The
lack of hygiene products, masks or gloves also raises the question of a deliberate plan to spread the disease in prison which, combined with
other health problems and notoriously bad medical treatment, will lead to a percentage high death rate. » [2]

In the West Bank, many and many Palestinians coming daily to cross checkpoints to work in Israel, mainly for very poorly paid jobs, were
authorized in mid-March by the Israeli government, in agreement with the Ramallah Authority, to remain indoors on Israeli territory for the
duration of the confinement ; 25,000 workers are affected, they have never received protective equipment. In addition, "  whenever one of
these workers is suspected of being infected with the coronavirus (even a simple fever), he or she is brought back to the checkpoint in a
military vehicle  " [3]without any medical treatment. The video of an old man thrown to the ground on the Palestinian side, without further
consideration, shocked many. Further raids on Palestinian homes continue, there was food packages confiscations for families in quarantine
[4]. Settlers near the Jewish settlements took advantage of Palestinian movement restrictions to "  uproot hundreds of Palestinian olive
trees, steal animals, destroy houses and barns, attack people, and annex more Palestinian land ... [5]

The dramatic situation in Gaza
But it is in Gaza, on this 365 km² strip of land where 2 million people are locked up that the concern is greatest. The World Health
Organization has warned that a large number of Covid-19 patients will cause a "  collapse  " of the Gaza health system. Half of the
essential medicines are simply not available, and the other half has less than a month of stock according to the United Nations. Israel
refuses to let medical supplies reach Gaza [6], which is already deprived of all means of treating the population: lack of basic medical
equipment and supplies, few masks and test kits, to which must be added various shortage problems (fuel...).

The quality of water in Gaza is particularly problematic, the water table pumped by Israel for years now being degraded by sea water. Tap
water is unfit for human consumption and electricity is not available. only intermittently. In addition to the blockade, the planned
destruction of Palestinian infrastructure by the Israeli army during its many wars on Gaza, such as the bombing of 17 hospitals during the
war of 2014 [7]further cloud the picture for Gazans ... On March 28, Israeli missiles destroyed several buildings in Gaza, "  in retaliation
for a home-made shell  " who, according to the IDF, fell on Israeli territory without causing any damage or casualties.

Palestinians can only count on themselves, through civil society actors and in popular committees.

For its part, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) conducts campaigns disinfection and awareness among inhabitants and
inhabitants [8].

In a statement of March 17, the PFLP called on the United Nations Office for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) to assume its responsibilities to
contain the virus in the multiple refugee camps. In recent years, this organization has seen its budgets fall, and this worsened when the
United States stopped its endowment of $ 360 million in 2018 ... [9]

The PFLP indicated that it had established contacts in the Gaza Strip, with civil society in Gaza and with the Ministry of Health and the
Force Monitoring Committee, in order to form a national crisis cell. The aim is to provide everything related to the educational, technical
and logistical aspects to contain the virus and facilitate quarantine conditions for citizens [10].

To discover, a great initiative of the Palestine Film Institute in these times of confinement: the free access viewing of Palestinian films
(in Arabic and English).]
Solidarity organization in France
Palestinians must also be able to count on international solidarity. Despite the confinement, it is possible to act. An appeal from the
European Coordination for Palestine (ECCP) was launched on April 6 for "  emergency aid to Gaza  " and demanding the "  immediate lifting of
the siege  " [11].

On March 30, a virtual march for the traditional Earth Day and for the Return March was organized. Earth Day commemorates the 6 dead each
year in 1976 during the general strike launched by the Palestinians of 48 over the confiscation of 20,500 hectares of their land in the Galilee.

In France, the Boycott-Disinvestment-Sanction (BDS) campaign supports Gaza on social networks, with photos and placards. We also welcome and
welcome a recent BDS victory: Microsoft has decided to divest up to 70 million dollars from the company Anyvision and its facial recognition
system "  tested in the field  " to spy on the population of Occupied territories. At a time when security and digital control are
increasingly merging against the backdrop of an epidemic, this salutary victory reminds us of the unity of the combat of the dominated, here
as there.

Al-Awda hospital staff in Gaza call for more solidarity
cc Collective Palestine will win
It is possible to support organizations on site, several online funds have been set up, including one for Al-Awda Hospital . The Union of
Health Workers' Committees (UHWC) is a leading Palestinian health organization. About 300,000 people benefit from its services in the Gaza
Strip each year. Located in Jabalia, in the north of the Gaza Strip, Al-Awda Hospital is administered by the UHWC and provides quality
medical service to thousands of people.

It is also possible to support the Union of Agriculture and Fisheries Workers (UAWC), as does the French Jewish Union for Peace (UJFP). Via
an online support campaign , the UJFP seeks to provide hygiene kits to farmers. Objective: to mitigate / reduce the impact of Covid-19 on 78
rural and fishing communities in the West Bank and Gaza (2,000 families).

Another strong demand of the moment, and in connection with the epidemic risk in overcrowded French prisons, it is necessary to demand that
the revolutionary Georges Ibrahim Abdallah , liberated for twenty-five years, be finally released !

Nicolas Pasadena (UCL Montreuil)

cc Palestine Media Agency

Validate

[1] RSISL, "  Palestine at the time of the Covid-19  " , April 9, 2020.

[2] Ibidem.

[3] Ibidem.

[4] Ibidem.

[5] Ibidem.

[6] Ibidem.

[7] Ibidem.

[8] FB page of the Palestine Collective will win , Toulouse, April 5, 2020

[9] Randah Farah, "  It's time to recover UNRWA  " , Palestine Media Agency, April 8, 2020.

[10] PFLP press release, March 17, 2020

[11] Palestine Media Agency, "  Urgent appeal for emergency aid in Gaza ; immediate lifting of the seat !  " , April 8, 2020.

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Palestine-Pas-de-treve-dans-la-cruaute-colonialiste

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Message: 5



THREE WEEKS AGO, I decided to set up a Facebook group to help people look out for one another in my little corner of south east London.
Though drawing on the anarchist tradition of mutual aid, I didn't think of it as a particularly revolutionary act - I just knew that mine
was a deprived, working-class neighbourhood with a high density of elderly and otherwise vulnerable people, and that neither central nor
local govern-ment would have the will or resources to look out for us. ---- Since then, Covid-19 mutual aid groups have - if you'll excuse
the pun - gone viral, with thousands of groups bearing that name cropping up all over the country. Some appear to be wonderful flowerings of
human solidarity; others, the vanity projects of aspiring Captain Mainwarings who have clearly been desperate for an opportunity to bark
orders ever since they retired from middle management.
I've thankfully managed
to avoid most of the left's
online debates about these
groups, both because I've
been too busy (organising food
deliveries etc), and because -
after a long hard struggle - I'm
finally developing an aversion
to pointless agony. But from
what I gather, opinion is

(predictably) split between
wide-eyed optimists who see
these groups as a wonderful
example of "anarchy in
action" (to borrow Colin
Ward's famous phrase) and
the cantankerous snipers of
the ultra-left who use the real
limitations of these groups as
an excuse to not bother getting
stuck in and help people.
I think both are right and
wrong, in more or less equal
measure, and what follows
is some very quick thoughts
on why. They are not well
conceived, comprehensive or
theoretically nuanced; they
are half-baked observations
banged out in a space of time
I should have been using to
"unwind". For this reason,
they are probably completely
wrong. But I hope they are
at least productively wrong.
If they're not - well, at least
I tried, eh?
Most of the "aid" offered
by Covid-19 mutual aid
groups is not antagonistic to
the logic of capital - it's just
shopping on behalf of other
people. Indeed, whether
such activity even deserves
the name "mutual aid" is,
in my opinion, an open (if
boring) question. After
all: capital still has hold of
what we need to survive,
and we are still paying for
it with the pittance they
haven't (yet) stolen from
us, even if someone else
hands over the money to
the merchant. Indeed, in a
glowing endorsement of our
efforts, ASDA are rolling
out a "volunteer card" that
will make it easier, rather
than harder, for us to offer
"mutual aid".
That said, some Covid-19
mutual aid groups are at
least aiming beyond the limits
of commodity exchange.
Within my local group, we've
begun to see small-scale
acts of direct economic
redistribution and (limited)
free provision of essential
supplies. Elsewhere, mutual
aid networks have mobilised
to defend tenants from the
evictions that we were told
would not be happening.
To my mind, the pressing
question is how to extend
and intensify this tendency.
More specifically: how
can these new mutual aid
groups promote the de-
commodification of the things
we need to live and thrive?

will make it easier, rather
than harder, for us to offer
"mutual aid".
That said, some Covid-19
mutual aid groups are at
least aiming beyond the limits
of commodity exchange.
Within my local group, we've
begun to see small-scale
acts of direct economic
redistribution and (limited)
free provision of essential
supplies. Elsewhere, mutual
aid networks have mobilised
to defend tenants from the
evictions that we were told
would not be happening.
To my mind, the pressing
question is how to extend
and intensify this tendency.
More specifically: how
can these new mutual aid
groups promote the de-
commodification of the things
we need to live and thrive?

Irrespective of whether
or not Covid-19 mutual
aid groups are mounting
a challenge to capitalism,
they are - as a matter of fact
- helping large numbers of
people to survive the present
crisis, and that is nothing
to be sniffed at. Collective
survival is far from revolution
but, as the Panthers taught us,
it is a necessary precondition
for revolutionary possibilities.
Local mutual aid groups
are helping to build - at
incredible speed - links of
friendship and solidarity
that have been worn away

by 40 years of racist neo-
liberalism. In the hundreds

of conversations I've had
with neighbours over the last
few weeks, there has been
a consistent air of surprise
that people are going out of
their way to help one another.
This suggests that mutual
aid groups have the potential
(though only that) to challenge
people's ideas about what is
possible: that they can act
as living proof that things
can be different, that we can
choose care and solidarity
over competition and profit
and - most importantly - that
it is better for all of us when
we do. This is not to say that
mutual aid groups are, on their
own, capable of exorcising the
mistrust and enmity that has
come to permeate so many

of our social relations - they
aren't. But they at least offer
the hopes of a beginning to
that process and, as far as I
can tell, that makes them one
of the few games in town.
If we want the organising
of the last few weeks to
be something that pushes
society in the direction of
liberation, we have a lot
more work to do. We have to
promote democratic structures
within mutual aid groups;
challenge the oppression
and discrimination that is
occurring within them; make

connections with other
struggles (workers' struggle,
the fight for migrant rights,
for prison abolition...) and
promote forms of aid and
solidarity that go beyond
merely buying commodities
on behalf of other people.
This will not only require
huge effort but also the
oft forgotten revolutionary
virtue of patience. Too
many times over the last few
weeks I've seen comrades
flouncing out of WhatsApp
groups because they "aren't
interested in being involved
in a group that isn't explicitly

political", as if caring for
(and with!) those deemed
"expendable" isn't in and
of itself vital work, as if
they wouldn't associate
themselves with people who
don't automatically think like
they do. In giving in to these
puritan impulses (which
exist in many of us, myself
included), we not only doom
ourselves to irrelevance,
but we abandon the people
and ideals we claim to care
so much about.

Anna Kleist
Originally published by
Freedom (freedomnews.org.uk)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MajCTpgtzIpnn_5TlZUbirSu3QEnqsf9/view

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Message: 6



It is true that the labour movement started in Europe during the industrial revolution. Previously, the idea faced great resistance.
However, the labour movement was active in the early to mid-nineteenth century and various labour parties and trade unions were formed
throughout the industrialised world. The labour movement has a very long past in this region, though industrialisation took place very late
in Bangladesh. The beginning of labour agitation in the Indian sub-continent was in Bengal. ---- In 1860, there was a strong protest against
the inhuman working conditions and hardship of cultivation workers. A further organised form of trade union activities in this region was
started thereafter. Unfortunately, illiteracy and disunity among workers, the negative attitude of employers and unnecessary politicization
hampered trade union growth in Bangladesh. This article made an attempt to analyse the historical context as well as the plight of the
industrial workers and trade unions and their impact on the overall productivity of the workers in Bangladesh.

The trade union movement in Bangladesh has a very long history. The beginning of labour agitation in India was in Bengal. In 1860 in Bengal
a noted dramatics and social reformer DinbandhuMitra along with some of his journalist friends protested the inhuman working conditions and
hardship of cultivation workers. He wrote a drama title Nil Darpan. A drama about slave like behavior to worker by the cultivator Nil. This
drama had a great impact in the minds of people and the social elite. People realized the deplorable and inhuman conditions of workers. This
was beginning of the labour movement.

Some years latter, in 1875 SarobjiShapuri in Bombay made a protest against poor working conditions and brought this to the notice of the
Secretary of State for India. The first Factory Commission was, thereafter, appointed in 1875 and as a result the Factories Act,1881 was
enacted. But this Act did not reflect the aspirations of workers. There was no provision for child labour and women workers. Another Factory
Commission was appointed in 1884. In the same year a conference of the Bombay (presently Mumbai) factory workers organised by N.M. Lokhande
had demanded a complete day of rest on Sunday, half an hour recess each working day, working hours between 6.30 a.m. and sunset, the payment
of wages not later than 15th of the month, and compensation for injuries.

In 1889, in Bombay, workers from spinning and weaving mills demanded Sunday as a holiday, regularity in the payment of wages, and adequate
compensation in cases of accidents. But trade union activities in this region of the Indian sub-continent started in the 18th century.

The trade union movement then was generally led by philanthropists and social reformers who organised workers and protected them against
inhuman working conditions. One of them was Anusuyaben Sarabhai. She was daughter of a mill agent in Ahmedabad. She had visited England and
seen for herself trade union activities there. After returning to India in 1914, she began working among textile workers and poorer sections
of the society in Ahmedabad.

She established schools and welfare centres and worked for the betterment of the workers and poor people. In 1917, the workers of Ahmedabad
mills resorted to a strike to demand an increase in wages. Anusuyaben was among the leadership in that strike. Ahmedabad textile workers
organised themselves in a trade union under her leadership on December 4, 1917. it is notable that the Russian socialist revolution also
influenced Indian working people.

The strike was a success and workers got a wage increase. The first regular Union was formed in Ahmedabad in 1920 for the Trestle Department
Workers. This was followed by different trade- or craft-based Unions. The same year another trade union was formed in Madras with the name
of Madras Labour Union. This was formed by B.P. Wadia under the leadership and guidance of Dr. Mrs. Annie Besant. But the growth of the
trade union movement gained momentum at the end of the First World War. Industry and trade had grown following the War. Many trade unions
were formed throughout India. There were a number of strikes during 1919 to 1922. The Russian Bolshevik Revolution created a reaction in
India, as it did elsewhere.

The Bolshevik triumph demonstrated that an organised working-class movement could seize state power. The communist movement in India
organised the workers in trade unions with as objectives: first, to secure immediate goals such as higher salaries and better working
conditions; and ultimate goal to build a long-range movement that would topple the bourgeois state and free India from British rule. This
speeded up the pace of the trade union movement. In 1920 the All-India Trade Union Congress was formed. This was initiated by forces of
different ideology. The communist and also nationalist forces were there.

Later, after the independence of India, the labour leader associated with the National Congress Party left AITUC and formed the Indian
National Trade Union Congress in 1947. The colonial ruler finally introduced the Indian Trade Union Act, 1926. Before that the Indian
workers were denied the fundamental rights of freedom of association. The Indian Trade Union act, 1926 was enacted with a view "to provide
for the registration of Trade Unions and in certain respects to define the law relating to registered trade unions." The right to strike and
lock-out were ultimately recognised in India indirectly under the provisions of the Indian Trade Dispute Act, 1929.

The act provided for an ad-hoc Conciliation Board and Court of Inquiry for the settlement of trade disputes. The Act prohibited strikes and
lock-outs in public utility services and general strikes affecting the community as a whole. In Pakistan era there were three main national
centres in the then East Pakistan:  the East Pakistan Federation of Labour, the Mazdoor Federation and the communist-led Purbo Pakistan
Sramik Federation. Beside these central federations, the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP)-led ChotkalSramik Federation had a great and
significant role in organising jute mill workers. The jute mill workers strikes in 1964 and 1967 were launched by this industrial federation.

In the March 1971 civil disobedience movement against the Pakistani Military rulers, trade unions had played an important role. They
virtually took over management of industry and executed the orders they received from Bangobandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

After the independence of Bangladesh, the government had to take over the industries and establishments that were abandoned when the owners
left Bangladesh for Pakistan. After independence the ownership structure in the industrial sector was: Pakistani Private Ownership: 47%
EPIDC: 34% Bangladeshi Owners: 18% Foreign Owners: 1% Abandoned industries and EPIDC. Together this was 81% and was taken over in March,
1972 of which 77% were kept nationalised and the remaining 4% were offered for sale.

These taken-over industries were put under different sector corporations.

Furthermore Jute, Textile, Sugar and Financial Institutions and big industries were nationalised. Suddenly trade unions found they had to
play a big role to manage and run the industries and establishments in absence of owners and managers, which they were not prepared for. For
time being they became managers of many industries and establishments. Many self-seekers had also joined trade unions to seek personal gain.
In 1972, Bangladesh adopted the Industrial Relations Ordinance 1969 with a view to regulating labour relations and disputes in the country.
May Day, the 1st of May was declared a national holiday. An Industrial Worker's Wage Commission was constituted in 1973 to fix wage levels
and other benefits for the industrial workers in the public sector. The State-owned Manufacturing Industries Workers (Terms and Conditions
of Service) Act was enacted to implement the wage scale and fringe benefits determined by the wage commission.

Restrictions and Bans on Trade Union Activities:

After the liberation of Bangladesh workers enjoyed a great deal of freedom and trade union rights. Most of the plant level trade unions had
joined with the ruling party trade union centerJatiyoSramik League. Many new plant level trade unions were registered. The trade unions were
powerful contenders for authority over factories, mills and establishments abandoned by previous owners and subsequently taken over by the
government. The political local elite had joined trade unions to control and benefit from the taken-over industries and establishments.
Traditionally most of the workers were from outside of the workplace localities and from different districts and now local people wanted to
have jobs there, as industrial workers were better paid than in the informal sector.

There were many riots between locals and non-locals in different industrial districts. The worst situation had arisen in the Chittagong and
Tongi industrial districts. The local ruling party leadership, in order to grab the unions there, had started agitation against non-local
workers, for the trade union leadership were non-locals.  Control over the trade unions would gain the local elite gains much. The first
being that they can buy the products at the mill rates and sell on the market at high rates; second they can supply raw materials to the
mills at high rates, and third by inducting their own people as workers and employees they can have control over the establishment and local
politics. The mill rates and market rates of  cotton yarn, fabric, jute product, butter oil and many other products differ very much. One
could become millionaire overnight by having a dealership of Kohinoor Chemical Company, a cosmetic and toiletries industries, or have an
allotment of the quota for cotton yarn from Muslin Cotton Mills of Kapasia or a quota of the allotment of matches from Dhaka Match Factory
of Postogola.

Agenda and issues of Trade Union Movement:

There was a shift of government in August 1975, which was followed by a shift in economic policy as well. The socialistic policy of the
Mujib government was abandoned and privatisations began, which were initiated by the succeeding government of Ziaur Rahman. Privatisation
started with disinvestment and denationalisation of state owned enterprises (SOEs). All the governments till now continued the same economic
policy. The present Awami League government in order to make the privatisation process of SOE's faster formed a new institution called The
Privatisation Broad, which is entrusted with the responsibility of selling off those SOEs identified for privatisation. Among disinvested
industries a government survey from ministry of industries has found a few of them only running fully, some are partially and a large number
are not functioning at all. The workforce in those industries has been drastically reduced.

The leading sectors like jute and textile where traditionally trade union movement was strong got weakened due to loss of the jobs of their
members. To protect employment and trade union rights trade unions got united, formed SramikKarmachariOikyaParishad (SKOP) in 1983, and
launched a series of action programmes to press their demands including job security, higher wages, trade union rights and others. In 1984,
government and SKOP came to an agreement that a wages commission be set up to recommend a new wage structure. But it was implemented only in
the public sector. Another important issue was the job security of disinvested industries and no further disinvestment without consulting
workers. This part of the agreement was also not respected by the government. There was also an agreement that the government form a
commission to draft a democratic labour legislation.

National Minimum Wage:

At present the main agenda of the Trade Union movement is a National Minimum Wage. But there is tremendous opposition from the employersto
fixing a national minimum wage. They argue it should be sector wise. There are many sectors whose employers have no ability to pay such a
minimum wage. Trade Unions argue that the Minimum Wage has to be looked upon as a basic right, a minimum requirement for leading a healthy
working and social life. This will have to be uniform for all. They further argue that the labour is not a commodity. It is both, input into
production as well as the object of production. Minimum wages are a signal to society that this is what is expected and nobody will fall
under. It is also a veryimportant incentive for business to upgrade, for certain wage structures force competitive high roads by cutting
wages and degrading working conditions. Trade Unions also demand that there should be regular readjustments of wagesin line with the rate of
inflation.

Violation of trade union rights;

 From the beginning of 80's a new non-traditional industry, the garments industry has emerged. And now the growth of employment there nearly
is 45 lakh (4.5 million) and the workforce mostly are women and not organised in trade unions. The employers do not allow workersto form
trade unions. The Ministry of Labour is suspiciously silent about violations of trade union rules. The government also forbids trade union
activities in the EPZ (Export Processing Zone).

Now, government is having pressure put upon it from the USA and also from the ILO to open up trade union activities in EPZ. Industries in
the EPZ's are allowed duty-free imports of raw materials and other components; they do not have to pay excise duty on local goods and are
eligible for tax holidays. The idea is to create an environment that is conducive to facing competition in the export market. So that
investors will be attracted to invest here and it will increase employment, revenue and technology transfer. All most all EPZ's elsewhere
offer similar packages to foreign investors.

Now the questions are these, how much local employment is being generated by these industries in EPZ's and how much transfer of technology
has taken place in reality from these industries? How much port and other charges have we received from them, how much profit sharing we
could make from them? Till now existing two EPZs employ less than one lakh (100,000) workers and most of the industries here are textiles,
shoes and other small scale industries where small number of workers are employed and no high technology is adopted.

But we are offering these investors remarkable amounts of land, power supply, infrastructure facilities etc. The question is also why should
trade union activities be prohibited there? The government cannot restrict human rights of its citizens for the cost of foreign investment?
Moreover, this is not the only issue that investors need. Peace and non-disturbance in worker relations will certainly attract the foreign
investors, but the foreign investors are also need congenial atmosphere, infrastructure like banking, communication support and facilities,
those are more important to them than the benefit of no trade union activities.

The Structure of Trade Unions:

The Industrial Relations Ordinance, 1969 (as amended up or date) is intended to regulate trade union activities and permit workers to
organise themselves into trade unions. The trade union is required to be registered with the Register of Trade Unions. The trade unions in
Bangladesh may be divided in structure into three categories,the first is basic trade union - a primary organisation of workers at their
workplace. The second is the Industrial Federation or trade federation compose of a number of basic trade unions related to the same type of
industry, such as Jute Workers Federation, Textile Workers Federation, Garments Workers Federations, and the third is National Trade Union,
a federation of basic unions irrespective of job categories.

A National Federation may be constituted by two or more basic trade unions irrespective of their trade. Apart from these there are craft
unions, though there are not many. This is organised craft-wise like Railway Karigar Union, an union of technicians of Bangladesh Railway or
Biman Cabin Crew union. Non-employees and non-workers cannot be elected to the committees of a basic trade union but can be elected to the
committee of Industrial Federation and National Federations. But they cannot be more than 20% of the total number of committee members.

Under the rules no unregistered trade union or federation of trade unions can function as a trade union. In case there is only one
registered trade union in an establishment or a group of establishments, that trade union is deemed to be a collective bargaining agent for
that establishment or group, provided it has a minimum membership of one-third of the total number of workers employed in the establishment
or group of establishments. In case there is more than one registered trade union, upon receipt of an application from any trade union or
management of the establishment, the Register of Trade Unions determines the bargaining agent through a secret ballot for a period of two
years. But they have to get a minimum of one-third of the total number of votes of the workers employed in the establishment or group.

There was no restriction before for non-workers to be members of trade unions;the restriction came when the then-military government amended
the Industrial Relations Ordinance on 26th July 1980. The tradition and history of trade unions of Bangladesh was always that non-workers
took leading roles in organising the trade unions. It is always social or political activists who organise the trade unions. The
neighbouring countries of Bangladesh like Sri Lanka, India and others have no restrictions on this, only the proportion of committee members
from outside is defined.

The ILO's conventions also do not have any restrictions on outsiders. Trade unions have to submit an annual statement of their income and
expenditure, assets and liabilities in the prescribed form to the Register of Trade Unions, the changes of office bearers should also be
intimated to the Register of Trade Unions. A person shall not be entitled to be a member or officer of a trade union formed in any
establishment or group of establishments if he is not actually employed or engaged in the establishment or group of establishments.

Registration of Trade Unions:

For the registration of trade unions the applicants have to apply to the Joint Director of Labour and Register of Trade Unions while
fulfilling certain requirements and procedures. For Industrial and national federation or national unions the Director of Labour and
Register of Trade Unions office is responsible for registration. The National Union means those have members throughout the country - such
as banks, railways and others. The trade union executive committee shall consist of 5 to 30 people depending on its membership. Up until l
50 members the committee will consists of 5 persons, and 30 committee members where there are more than 5000 union members. The applicants
for union registration have to submit all the applications of membership of the proposed union in a prescribed form and also the register of
membership, and the resolution of the meeting where the decision was taken to form a trade union, a list of committee members, a list of
general members and the constitution of the union along with the application.

The constitutions should provide the name of the trade union, objects for which the trade union has been established, purpose for which the
general fund of a trade union shall be applicable, the maintenance of a list of the members of the trade union, the admission of who shall
be persons actually or potentially employed in an industry or establishment with which the trade union is connected, the payment of a
subscription by members of the trade union, the executive and the other office-bearers of the trade union shall be appointed and removed,
the manner in which the rules shall be amended, safe custody of funds and audit, the manner in which the trade union may be dissolved. The
State-owned Manufacturing Industries Workers Ordinance, 1985 restricts collective bargaining in the nationalised sector on certain issues
like wages, leave, house rent, conveyance allowances, medical allowances, festival bonuses and provident funds. A number of Acts and
Ordinances provide that the Industrial Relations Ordinance 1969 shall not apply to certain establishments.

Labour Movement:

Labour Movement (to 1947)

Prior to 1947, there were only a few industrial concerns in the eastern part of Bengal (Present day Bangladesh). These included about 25 tea
gardens in Chittagong and Sylhet employing about 12,000 labourers, 6 cotton textile mills (four in Dhaka and one each in Kushtia and Khulna)
employing about 10,000 workers. There were also some workers in Chittagong port. The tea-estate labourers were mainly recruited from
aboriginal tribes of Chhotanagpur region. Others were mostly local people from both Hindu and Muslim communities.

The first signs of labour unrest were seen during the days of the khilafat and non-cooperation movements (1920-22). The striking tea-garden
workers from Chargola Valley in Sylhet (Assam) left the gardens in an exodus. Men of the East Bengal Railways and Chandpur Steamer Services
started sympathetic strikes in May 1921. Striking coolies, stranded at Chandpur, faced great hardships. But it was politically regarded as a
great victory of the Bengal Non-cooperators. Finally in August 1921, at Gandhi's request, the strike was called off. The unrest in
Chittagong by Burma Oil Co workers in April-May 1921 under the leadership of JM Sengupta created quite a stir.

In 1927, the Dhakeswari Cotton Mills Workers' Union was founded. But the union was weakened by a series of strikes called within four months
of its formation. Due to the Great Depression the labour movement, however, slowed down. The communist activists were mainly behind the
movement but the non-communists like the official Congress and anushilansamiti, backed by the management opposed the communists' tactics of
militancy and thus acted as a constraint on any long-drawn movement. The cotton workers' strikes in 1937-40 may be regarded as the turning
point of the movement both in frequency and intensity. Mention may be made of four strikes in Mohini Mills, Kusthia (Feb-May, 1937;
July-September, 1937; August-October 1939 and February-April, 1940) and the strikes in the Dhakeswari Mills (July 1939 and January-February,
1940). The movement failed to generate steam. Naturally it had a demoralising effect on the Communist-dominated Workers' Union and no
further movement was on record up to 1947. The Wartime was a period of 'uneasy calm' in Dhaka. The immediate post-war years witnessed the
revival of militant labour agitation leading to strikes in Acharya Prafulla Chandra Mill, Khulna (December 1945 - January 1946) and the four
mills in Dhaka (February-May 1946).

Since 1942 the Chittagong tea garden workers were connected with the activities of the local Communist Party. They organised a few strikes
around specific economic issues in the post-World War II period, with little success. With the partition, the Communist organisers, mostly
Hindus, left for India. The immigrant tea-labourers of Chhotanagpur had no desire to go back to their place of origin. Left without leaders,
the labour organisation became very weak. The workers of EB Railways were best organised and politically most conscious. But they were
divided between nationalist and Communist dominated unions.

Trade Union Movement

The trade union movement organised activities of workers to improve their working conditions. In the early stage of industrial development
when there were personal contacts between employers (master) and workers (employee), there was no need of any organisation to determine
relations between the two. But under the modern factory system the personal touch is absent and the relations between the employer and the
worker have come under strain. The conflict of interests between buyer and seller of labour power has become conspicuous and this has led to
the rise of trade union movements throughout the world. The tradition of the parallel development of the nationalist and the trade union
movement, which had originated in British India continued through the Pakistan period down to the birth of Bangladesh.

For the first time in India the Bombay Mill Hands Association was formed on 24 April 1890. This gave impetus to the trade union movement in
British India. The establishment of ILO in 1919 provided a source of inspiration for the workers to organise themselves and shape their
destiny. India's membership of the same exerted great influence in the formation of a central organisation of workers called 'All India
Trade Union Congress' (AITUC) in 1920 for the purpose of conducting and co-ordinating the activities of the labour organisations.

The period from 1924 to 1935 may be considered as the era of the revolutionary trade union movement. MN Roy, Muzaffer Ahmed, SA Dange and
ShawkatOsmani led the trade union movements and as a result the political consciousness among industrial workers increased. To control the
movement, the British government adopted ruthless measures (eg, Kanpore Conspiracy Case and Meerat Conspiracy Case) against the militant
workers and trade union leaders, but no strategy could suppress the trade union movement; rather the colonial resistance invigorated the
movement against the colonial power. Later, the trade union movement was closely linked with nationalist movements and the working class
started vigorous struggle for emancipation from extreme repression and economic exploitation by the colonial regime.

At the time of Partition of Bengal (1947), most trade union leaders were Hindus and when they migrated to India, a void was created in
leadership in the trade union movement of Pakistan, especially in its eastern wing. Moreover, the institutions to advance workers' interests
were mostly situated in areas outside Pakistan. There were barely 75 registered trade unions in the whole of Pakistan, compared to 1,987 in
undivided India in 1946. Of this small number of trade unions, the larger share fell to West Pakistan, leaving only a very few for the
eastern wing, where there were only 141 factories with 28,000 workers and 30 unions in all with a total of 20,000 members.

During the Pakistan period most trade union leaders held conflicting views and the trade unions were fragmented and weakened. As a result,
the trade union movement met a setback and the trade union activities passed into the hands of petty bourgeoisie leadership. Moreover, the
trade union movement in Pakistan was characterised by fragmentation of unions, prolonged strikes, retaliatory lockouts and picketing which
sometimes led to violence.

As the trade union movement in Bangladesh originated in British India and Pakistan, it naturally retained its old character of working more
as a nationalist force against colonial domination than as a class force vis-a-vis capitalist exploitation. As a result, the trade union
movement of the region that had gained momentum in the hands of political leaders stood divided along the political and/or ideological lines
in independent Bangladesh.

During this period, the trade union movement was marked by direct interference by the government and the ruling party in its internal
affairs. In many industrial belts terrorism was let loose by the men of the labour front of the then ruling party and these tried to drive
out the honest trade unionists from the leadership of the unions. Moreover, the barring of outsiders from trade union leadership at the
basic union level made the process of union hijacking very easy and turned the workers into a very weak and defenceless community.

In the early 1980s, the military government of Bangladesh banned all trade union activities in the country. Then an alliance of the National
Federation of Trade Unions (NFTUs) emerged in the name of SRAMIK KARMACHARI OIKYA PARISHAD (SKOP) to establish the democratic rights of
workers as well as to fulfil their economic demands. Most NFTUs were in SKOP and since 1983, most trade union movements in Bangladesh have
been organised under the leadership of SKOP.

The opportunism and lenient attitude of the trade union leaders including SKOP gave the ruling regimes a chance to disregard the agreements
signed between the government and the trade union leaders. At present, the leaders of nineteen of the twenty three NFTUs are included in the
SKOP. After its formation, SKOP submitted a 5-point charter of demands for establishing their democratic rights and higher wages through
rallies, torch processions, demonstrations, strikes, hartals, blockades etc.

Ironically, SKOP failed to yield any tangible results for the working class people of the country. The effectiveness of the trade union
movement under the leadership of SKOP gradually weakened because most SKOP leaders have political affiliations and therefore, cannot escape
the influence of their respective political parties. Moreover, the lack of active support by the major political parties to SKOP's
programmes, excessive pressures on government by the private employers and donor agencies to disregard SKOP's demands using repressive
measures to disrupt the trade union movement, forcible occupation of unions, bribing of trade union leaders, opportunistic and compromising
attitude of the union leadership rendered the SKOP demands ineffective. In fact, SKOP has become a moribund forum of the working class with
little to offer to the country's future trade union movements.

Health Care Issue:

For the workers of Bangladesh do not have separate health care facilities like separate hospital or health insurance for them. The proposed
health policy for Bangladesh has recommendedto have separate health care system for workers in Bangladesh. Only workers and employees in the
government or private sector gets cash money at the fixed rate of Tk.150 and Tk.200 for medical care with their wages and salary every
month. This is so meagre it does not help workers when they get sick. Moreover they do not know what to do where to go to get proper medical
care.

At the primary level of sickness they usually go to any pharmacy to get some drugs. If they are not cured by the drugs given by salesman of
drug store they go to any physician either homeopath or allopathic or kabiraj nearby. In many cases if sickness is serious in nature like
cholera, pox, tuberculosis, heart diseases or any mental disorder some patients go to spiritual healers. When sickness gets complications
they try to get admission in government hospitals. But the government hospitals are always crammed with excessive numbersof patient so
without having connections it is difficult to get admission there.

If they are able to get admission to hospital they have to pay for medicine, pathological tests and other examinations done in private
laboratories or clinics. In most cases these have to go to private hospitals; those are expensive. They have to sell their land and other
assets (if they have any) to meet the expenses. Many of them who cannot afford such expenses have to die without having proper medical care.
Health care is primarily provided by the government, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MHFW). Some multisectoral projects in
various ministries having health,family planning,nutrition components are also under MHFW. There are also municipalities, municipal
corporations,army,police and railway departments which have health programmes.Many NGO'S have also health and family planning programme. The
Directorate of Labour has a wing for family planning and nutrition for workers.

There are several workers' welfare centres run by the Ministry of Labour at different industrial estates to provide emergency medical care,
but in reality workers do not get any medical care there. Usually workers also do not visit there for they think it is useless to go there.
Doctors and welfare officers are supposed to be there but they hardlyever can be found. If they are at all available in these centres
medicine and equipment are not there.There is no need to explain why proper health care is not only a basic right of a worker but also it
helps increase productivity.It will reduce mortality rates and thereby enhance the life expectancy as well as improve the efficiency of
labour.It will reduce working days lost for sickness.The workers are also in need of specialised health centres where occupational diseases
can be cured.

A recent study on tannery workers at Hazaribag in Dhaka done by The Society for Environment and Human Development revealed that the average
longevity of a worker is below 50 years.Almost 90 per cent of tannery workers die before they reach the age of 50 due to their unhygienic
work environment and lack of proper medical care. About 58.10 per cent of workers suffer from ulcers,31.28 per cent have high blood pressure
and 10.61 per cent suffer with rheumatic fever. Assistant Director of Health Dr Mohammad Hassan Ali said industrial pollutants, liquid waste
and leather dust are the main cause (reports published in Daily Star on 28 February 2000).

Similar cases are also those of jute and textile workers, who suffer from asthma and other breathing related-diseases from jute and cotton
dust.Trade Unions of Bangladesh are always demanding separate health care systems -clinics, health centres and hospitals for workers. If a
separate health care system can be developed it will reduce the pressure on public health services also. Furthermore these will expand the
facilities of medical care in the country from generating their own resources. A pilot health insurance project for workers was conceived by
German Technical Assistance (GTZ) an autonomous implementing agency of German government for project aid.

While I was catering at first I found that many of us were not very enthusiastic about this idea as it will not provide "cash money to build
hospitals or buy ambulances." The Bangladesh government had also no plan at that stage to have any workers' health scheme. It took some time
to realise the possibilities and future of this kind of health project. The Ministry of Labour and Human Resources had agreed to propose a
pilot health insurance project to the German Government for their assistance. Even the Employers Associations' attitude was positive to the
proposed project.

After long consultations with workers representatives and employers, the Labour Ministry and GTZ had finally came out with a pilot project
scheme The project was intended to start in the second half of 1998 and should cover in its initial phase at least five factories with at
least 2,000 workers, predominantly women and their dependents, approximately 5,000 to 7,000 population. Building on positive experience
gained, documented and disseminated and supported by the Employers' Associations including the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and
Exporters Association-BGMEA, a substantially wider participation of employers was expected to be achieved still with the first phase of the
project.

The project will be jointly implemented by the Ministry of Labour with the involvement of related ministries, Employers Associations and
Trade Unions. The idea was tri-partite approach. Provision for health services will be arranged according to their capability, with GOB,
private sector or NGO service providers. Technical support will be provided by GTZ, Germany, based on jointly developed annual operational
plans and with consideration of local capacity and contributions. But the project did not materialise as the German government finally did
not approve the project. This project could have been a good beginning of a workers health scheme. Out of this project a comprehensive,
larger health scheme could have developed, in the beginning covering industrial workers and later it could further cover informal sector
workers.

A example can be cited here: news published in a Bengali newspaper about a garments industry is being in arrangement with a non-profit
health organisation, Community Health Service, for health services for their workers. India and Pakistan also have health schemes for
workers of industries and in organised sectors. On my recent visit to Pakistan and India I had experienced an impressive health care scheme
for industrial workers in Punjab province of Pakistan while I was going on a study tour on Industrial Relations in Pakistan along with other
trade union friends organised by the Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies. And this health scheme is funded by employers only. No
contribution from the government. Only in initial period of the scheme the government  provided infrastructure support.

The scheme is called the Employees'Social Security Scheme and was introduced in Pakistan in 1967 under the provision of Provincial Employees
Social Security Ordinance. Under this ordinance the Punjab Employees Social Security Institution came into being. The main objective of
PESSI is to provide comprehensive medical cover to the secured workers for work-time injuries. Presently over 498,000 workers employed in
more than 24,000 industrial and commercial establishments and more than 30 lakh (3,000,000) of their family members are receiving benefits
from the scheme. It has 13 local and 14 sub-local offices to give service to workers. The main source of income of PESSI is the Social
Security Contribution collected from the notified industries and commercial establishments at a rate of 7% of the wage paid to their workers
who are drawing wages up to Rs.3000 per month. The workers once covered under this scheme remains secured even their wages exceed the
ceiling of Rs.3000. But in those cases the percentage increase in Social Security Contributions against the wage exceeding the ceiling of
Rs.3000 is not payable by the employer.

PESSI provides comprehensive medical cover to the workers and their family members including consultations, indoor and outdoor medical
treatment, and emergency medical care. There are clinics for primary medical care for outdoor patients; small hospitals have beds for 30 to
50 patients. Large hospitals have more than 100 beds with specialists of medicine, surgery, gynaecology, TB, pathology, orthopaedics,
radiology, cardiology, dentistry etc. Even high-tech medical care like cardiac surgery, dialysis centres are there. PESSI has 117 ambulances
available at different hospitals and primary medical care centres. Every patient admitted to the hospitals is paid diet expenses at the rate
of Rs.40 per day. The TB and cancer patients are paid a rate of Rs.50 per day. The scheme is administrated by a governing body comprise of
employers, workers and government. India has also similar health schemes like Pakistan. The workers who earn RS.3000 or less are covered by
this scheme.

It differs state to state about the coverage of scheme. Some states it is covered to all non-seasonal factories using power and employing 10
or more employees and factories not using power but employing 20 or more persons. Seasonal factories, mines and plantations are excluded
from the coverage. The scheme provides seven types of coverage, maternity care, benefits for dependents, disablement assistance, funeral
expenses and rehabilitation allowance. Except medical care, most of the others benefits are in cash. The ESI scheme is run by the ESI
corporation, comprises representatives of the Central and State governments, the medical profession and the parliament.

A Medical Council advises the Corporation on all matters concerning medical care. Three categories of medical care are provided under the
scheme: restricted medical care, expanded medical care and full medical care. All the insured persons are provided full medical benefits
irrespective of whatever the required facilities in Government or other institutions. Family members get restricted or expanded medical care
but not full medical care. The non-medical benefits are sickness, disablement and dependants' benefit. These are paid in cash as
compensation. The financing of the scheme is mainly through contributions from the employers and employees.

The Government of India does not make any contribution but the State governments share the cost of medical benefits to the extent of
one-eighth of specified items of expenditure on such benefits. The employer contributes 4 percent of the wages and employees 1.5 percent to
the scheme. The ESIS caters service only in organised industrial sectors, it does not provide health security to the large number of workers
engaged in the informal sector. Furthermore, Indian labour leaders complain that the quality of service offered by the ESIS medical centres
is poor.

Present situation

As many as 32 central federations until now are registered. No central federation has such strength that they can launch a nationwide
struggle independently. They do not have such organisational or financial resources either. Almost all political parties have a trade union.
All these except a few trade unions, mostly depend on support and financial help from the political party. That is also a reason that the
ruling party's trade union centre has much more affiliated unions than others. When there is shift of government there will be a shift in
affiliations also. The trade unions here also depend on support from International Trade Union Federations and Foundations. They get funds
from International Trade Union Federations and Foundations for holding seminars, publications and other activities.

They get free passage to go abroad to attend seminars and meetings. Foreign visits are so frequent for some trade union leaders that they
are almost preoccupied with arrangements for travel - procuring visas, preparing seminar papers and others and left hardly any time to do
trade union work. This has become an important aspect of the trade union movement here. An example can be cited here, JatiyoSramik League,
labour wing of Awamy League recently affiliated to the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. Formerly it was with the former
Soviet Union-led World Federation of Trade Unions.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union and socialist states in Eastern Europe WFTU had lost its membership and resources and is now not in a
position to offer free air tickets for foreign trips and hospitality in Hotel Metropole or Hotel Ukraine in Moscow to its affiliates in
developing countries. Though AL chief Sheikh Hasina took a personal initiative in the beginning of eighties to get SL affiliated with WFTU,
SL did lost no time to shift to ICFTU. Though there are mounting pressures for trade union unity from the workers, the trade union movement,
initially set up as an extended hand of a political party, continues to function more or less as an extended hand of the political party of
its affiliation.

Final words:

Human society today stands at a level of development in which man has become the master of human beings. People have become victims of
exploitation, oppression, torture and deprivation.  However, in the hostility of human civilization, human beings were very supportive,
cooperative and very close to each other. The society was a good shelter for all. But the evolution of time has created social classes in
society. One class buys labor and the other sells labor. Those who sell labor are poor and those who buy labor are the owners of the means
of production and the wealthiest. Social power, prestige and domination are all occupied by them. The powerful layer enforces laws, sets
wages, sets the standard for crime and punishment. In all these cases the number of poor people in society is of no value to the opinion of
the working class.

Human society is now doing whatever it pleases them to do, as the animal society is 'insisting on its origin' - that is, wealthy wealth
owners, consuming  more and more living a  life of luxury. On the other hand, the working class is living twice in food. A few people have
secured all their wealth. Whenever poor working people want to protest, this law has come along in the name of law,  in the name of
discipline, and sometimes with the help of religion. Much has happened and this time the change in production relations has become
inevitable through social revolution.

There is no alternative for establishing a new society and an independent socialist society by abolishing the existing  capitalist social
system to protect the health of all people, including the working class, eliminating unemployment, poverty, social unrest. To end the
plunder of capitalism, the state system, imperialism, we have to build a society where there is no human dominance over human beings. People
will not exploit people. They will manage themselves. Non-state, non-capitalist socialist self-managed social system. All production systems
will be owned by people of the society, including mills, factories and agricultural farms. There will be no volatility of personal
ownership. The word employment will disappear forever. People will be completely free.

The Socialist Party - working with and for preparing people for changing existing society by organizing, educating and providing training.
The society is working to establish a system where no unjust working period, no hierarchy, will be able to manage the entire production
system, under mutual Aid.

https://bangladeshasf.org/history-the-growth-of-the-workers-movement-in-bangladesh/


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