Their times pass without work
The continuous spread of Covid-19 and the consequent shutdown have made jobs rare and lifestyle harder for most daily wage earners of the capital.
Day labourers usually collect at certain dots of the location and wait to get hired mostly for contractual careers. Since the pandemic initiated, their waiting time is becoming excruciatingly long.
Visiting one of these places in Mirpur-11 near Purobi cinema hall 1 recent morning hours, some 300 individuals were seen waiting for work. Most got a shovel and a basket with them.
Before the pandemic, most labourers would get hired by noon. Now, days pass by with no work, they said.
"During the first 8 weeks of the shutdown, I did not get yourself a single agreement. Since previous month, I began to get work a few times a week. But, that also is uncertain," explained Shariul Islam, a 35-year-old mason.
"For a day's function, I applied to earn Tk 700 to Tk 800. But, nowadays, I hardly ever bargain. I consent to whatever wage is offered," he said.
Shariful, who lives in Mirpur in a rented quarter along with his wife and 18-month-outdated child, explained he spends the whole day at the gathering spot.
"What is the use of returning residence when you cannot feed your loved ones and fork out the landlord? Most of us possess unpaid house rent for more than 8 weeks," he added.
Jahanara Begum, 55, sometimes gets results as a maid and sometimes as a structure employee on a contractual basis.
She said just work at households has nearly disappeared as much houses have restricted access of outsiders.
Sanitary workers and electricians are facing the same problem, she added.
After the countrywide shutdown ended on, may 31, day labourers likely to get jobs again. However the work situation didn't improve.
"We heard that the disease is spreading. You will see red zones and yellow zones in Dhaka and in these zones there will be lockdown again. Up to now, we aren't seeing any improvement," said Nazrul Islam, a sanitary employee.
"If the government does not help us giving jobs or relief, we will starve to death later on," he added.
Almost all the staff claimed that they didn't receive any government support since the pandemic hit the country.
Construction worker Mazeda Begum, 50, said a couple of guys from Roopnagar residential place, where she lives, took her family's particulars including NID and telephone numbers in least six or perhaps seven times within the last 90 days, mentioning relief. However, they never returned.
"Before Eid-ul-Fitr, we received some special food like vermicelli from differing people, occasionally. That too has halted after Eid," she explained.
Although government declared various stimulus packages for different industries and sectors, there's been no special allocation for the urban poor or the informal sector personnel.
"At the moment, we don't have any fund to greatly help the daily wage earners. I think the existing crisis is temporary. Slowly but surely, they will all be able to get back again to their work, after we make contact with normalcy. Because the lockdown possesses been relaxed, many of them are now getting contracts," KM Abdus Salam, secretary of the ministry of labour and occupation, told The Daily Superstar on July 1.
"Employment of informal sector employees is ensured by various ministries but sometimes there are insufficient coordination and poor control. We want to establish a jobs directorate under our ministry to ensure that we can work on their occupation in a coordinated approach," he said.
There are 48 million informal jobs in the country, in line with the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training, and informal sector workers constitute 87 percent of the country's total labour force, according to the International Labour Organization.
Bangladesh Labour Force Study published in 2017 showed daily wage earners contribute 45 percent of the country's GDP.
Yet, these workers are not recognised under the Labour Act, 2006. Thus, they are not covered by minimum amount wage, receive no settlement in case of any workplace crash and also have no job security or pension after pension.
Source: www.thedailystar.net
