Women's rights activist and photographer Taslima Akhtar said that if the development is not shared by the workers, then that development cannot be called sustainable development. Workers also have to contribute to their development.

The famous photographer and photojournalism teacher who won the 'World Press Photography Award 2014' thinks that the price of everything is increasing due to Russia-Ukraine war, everyone admits it. Cloth-yarn-electricity is being bought at higher prices; only the labor of workers is being bought at lower prices. It can't be.

Taslima Akhtar said these things in an exclusive interview given to Barta24.com on the occasion of Great May Day. Planning Editor Ashraful Islam spoke.

Barta24.com: How much effort has our state been able to protect workers' rights?

Taslima Akhter: 138 years of May Day have passed. This day started with the demand of workers to recognize 8 hours of work. If we look at Bangladesh, try to understand how worker friendly the state is, it will be understood only by looking at the condition of the workers. Even in 138 years, there is still 8 hours work recognition on paper. But in reality, do Bangladeshi garment workers or other workers get a decent living wage for working 8 hours a day? Even after 8 hours they have to do compulsory overtime and the workers have no chance to say, 'I will not work'. If someone says he won't do overtime, he won't have a job. It's a matter he can't live without overtime again. Workers don't actually work 8 hours, they can work 12 hours according to labor law. But the reality is that workers work for 14-15 hours as well. Then such an inhumane life is being led by our workers where 8 hours of work cannot survive with dignity. It is in such a situation that our country is moving forward economically, the owners are moving forward. But the same workers who were seen in Chicago 138 years ago - it seems as if those same workers are different in our country. Workers are seen as mere machines rather than the state's view of workers as human beings, as citizens. Not considered human. This is the current situation.

Barta24.com: Can we reach a developed country without integrating the rights of working people?

Taslima Akhter: Now the definition of development is the same for those who are in power, the same for those who own different institutions. We think that it is not possible to determine the criteria of development with the personal development of industrial owners or those who are in state power. How much a country has developed will not be shown by a big bridge or metro rail. Bridges or metro rails are definitely important for us. But if with them, the workers who are building bridges and metro rails in our country, where are their lives? What conditions are they in? How much are the workers of our country who are contributing to the economy or bringing in foreign currency getting paid? Looking at those places, I think that the quality of life and economic conditions of our industrial owners or members of parliament have improved, but the lives of the working people of the country have not improved. If it had happened, it would have been seen today, we had demanded Tk.  25,000 or Tk. 30,000 wages for the garment workers, we wanted to bargain out of it. But it turned out that Tk. 12,500  was made which is not even close to our proposal. It is difficult for workers to survive on this salary. The salary that the workers are getting is not enough if they work for 8 hours. Now their work pressure-target pressure has been increased so much that earlier I used to see the workers as tired-exhausted by the work pressure; now he/she looks even more terribly tired. Now many times the workers don't even get a chance to see the light of the sun. Workers are in such a situation. This increase in wages did not really change the lives of the workers. He is not able to send his child to school, live in a good house, eat three meals a day or sleep. He has to work for more than 8 hours and in such a situation... he works till night and works at home; then can't sleep at night because there is no electricity. The middle class is in a similar situation. The workers are living in dire straits. Talking about the development, the garment factory owners said, we have made a lot of progress. Factory buildings are more durable and safer than ever before. We also think that these are positive aspects. But improving the quality of life of the worker is not linked to the bricks of the factory. It is also very important whether the workers are getting a dignified life. The definition of development is not only related to buildings. Many big and healthy buildings, plants or metro rails are not changing the life of workers. But the workers cannot go to the expressways. But workers can't go to metro rail - the money has to be paid for the fare. The toll that has to be paid at Padma Bridge is also not less.

Barta24.com: Political parties have organizations to look after workers' interests. How much have they become the voice of the workers?

Taslima Akhtar: A profound question. The regime or environment we have been in for the past 15 years. We ourselves are fighting for a democratic state, if we had the right to vote, the garment workers would have been a huge vote bank. Consequently, where there is no right to speak, there is no hope. We see personal financial development there. Development of workers      not being tapped. If the workers speak up it is not really reflected in this unaccountable state. What happens is that the more fragmented the labor movement is, the better it is for those in power.

Barta24.com: Does that mean political parties create organizations to stifle the voice of workers?

Taslima Akhter: I am not talking about all labor organizations or parties. Organizations all have politics, no problem. But a party that does not speak for the people does not care about the people and only pays lip service - they call the state into question. But we also need to understand what politics divides our movement.

Barta24.com: We see a change in the character of many leftist political parties that currently talk about workers' rights...

Taslima Akhtar: If I speak as people's power or as democracy's power, the name is not important if I do not do the work...If those who join the power and undermine the interests of the people, then there is no chance to claim as a progressive left force. If that is the case, the ruling political party has to do a lot of calculations by trying to gather their own fortune or save their party interests. There the interests of the workers must be violated. Those who are in power as they have been for the last 15 years, those who are associated with them - they also talk about the interests of the workers as much as they speak, but we do not see any reflection of that in reality. If I had seen it, I would not have seen the four workers who were shot dead in the movement in 2023. Where if I speak I will be shot, if I protest I will lose my job - such a climate of fear politics surely does not exist in a democratic country. Workers now live in fear at every moment. We are seeing all sorts of temptations and intimidation and whatever it takes to corrupt the labor leadership so that the workers cannot somehow become aware.

Barta24.com: Many political parties marched on the streets in the capital Dhaka with the slogan of 'Workers of the world-Ek Hao' and disappeared somewhere... their voices disappeared. Whether this erosion of values adds to the frustration of labor activists...

Taslima Akhtar: The slogan finds unity not only in the labor movement but in all the people's movements. The slogan of the labor movement not only of the country but of the whole world. We think that we need to fight both spatially and geographically. The solidarity of this slogan at the global level reminds again and again. If there is democracy, accountability in a country - then the labor movement can be strong. If there is no accountability, there is a politics of fear - there is an attempt to deprive the workers in various ways.

Barta24.com: To what extent has the state managed to ensure a safe working environment for workers after the Rana Plaza accident?

Taslima Akhtar: After that incident many photographers including me took pictures. The whole world came to witness the incident and brought to light the brutal cruelty behind the lives of garment workers. Worker safety is also a big question mark. Even with consumers who are international...buyers get to know the t-shirts they're wearing. We have seen that even after 11 years of that incident, the culprits including Sohail Rana have not been punished. The compensation law has been increased from Tk. 1 lakh to Tk. 2 or Tk. 2.5 lakh.. That is not a dignified compensation. If the government had the will to do so, they would have been punished. Now it is a matter of doubt whether the rule of law works. Who will be arrested, who will get bail - which will not, which case will be fast-tracked, which will not - everything seems to us in the current political environment, the whole thing has become a political issue. Law cannot run by itself. Due to the lack of goodwill of the government there, the punishment of the guilty could not be ensured even after the Rana Plaza incident. If it could be done then the industrial owners could be alerted. If they had to pay a large amount of compensation, they would have been careful. If a garment owner has to pay Tk. 2 lakhs or Tk. 2.5 lakhs then he will not have much problem. Again, if it is seen that the owner of Tazreen can go out on bail and become the president of the Matsya League, then what is the problem? These things need to be taken into consideration. The goodwill of the government is indeed very important. We see that a large part of the garment owners are in the parliament, they control the government and these penalties may put pressure on them. We seem to be stuck in this cycle. We have to find new ways.  We must be united. We have to be careful about who is really on our side (workers) and who is not working for us at the end of the day. Especially in the labor areas, the leadership is being lured and bought and sold, we have to move out of that process unitedly.

Barta24.com: After the tragic accident at Rana Plaza, there has been some improvement in the working environment in the garment factories under the pressure of the outside world, gradually, is it creating any optimism?

Taslima Akhter: I think there have definitely been some changes. After the Rana Plaza accident, the owners said that they will turn it into a 50 billion dollar industry in 50 years, now they are again saying that they will turn it into a 100 billion dollar industry. Now big factories are much better than before. There are also some green factories. I think this is positive. But why the workers are not the sharers of this development is my point. We think the industry needs to be developed, those who are the owners in Bangladesh are running factories with many risks during Corona , so the economy stood still. Garments did not stop even during the Russia-Ukraine war. This is sustaining in the export sector. This is definitely a good thing for us. BGMEA is also working for garment workers. These are good points. A new environment will be created. If that change is only to create opportunities for the owners, how will the industry actually improve the quality of life of the workers? We can only celebrate this change when the quality of life of our workers improves. If we have to sacrifice the lives of our workers for this development, only if we have to waste the youth - the lives are lost in the labor movement, then nothing will really happen. If the workers are not part of this development, then how is it a sustainable development? Workers want their share of development. Workers also have to contribute to development. Everyone agrees that the Russia-Ukraine war is raising the price of everything. Cloth-yarn-electricity is being bought at higher prices; only the labor of workers is being bought at lower prices. It can't be. Hence the development of industry requires dignified wages of labor. So that workers can get it in 8 hours of labor. Apparel industry owners need to be empowered to hold international buyers accountable. International buyers are also responsible for the plight of workers. Many times I see foreign buyers talking about awareness, they want the welfare of the workers - in such a way they say - that the responsibility of keeping the quality of life of the workers is only the responsibility of the domestic owners. They try to deny their responsibility. Certainly workers and owners have an important role to play but since it is part of a global supply chain, the role of foreign buyers is also very important. They take the lion's share of the profits. Efforts should be made to bring them to a place of accountability in that place. Our masters think that only they will be bloated and rich and the workers will be destitute. Most of the workers after 30-35 years or 40 years don't have the will to work anymore, they get old at a young age and we never want to lose energy.