'Commitment from political parties ahead of polls a must'

The discussion was organised by Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS) at its seminar hall at Dhanmondi in the city on the occasion of World Human Rights Day.

The speakers said ahead of national election such a commitment should be made by the political parties. They also discussed state of the workers' human rights under the labour law 2006.

The discussion titled 'Workers' Human Rights: Labour Law 2006' was held with BILS Vice-Chairman Md Mojibur Rahman Bhuiyan in the chair.

Labour leaders Abul Bashar, Shah Mohd Abu Zafar and Md Zafrul Hasan spoke at the deiscussion while BILS Assistant Executive Director Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmed presented the keynote paper.

Trade union activists, politicians, civil society members and professionals also participated in the discussion.

The speakers said the guarantee of human rights is a foremost precondition for a just and democratic society, but the country is yet to ensure the workers' human rights that given through the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948.

About 45 million working people of the country are regularly being deprived of their basic human rights like minimum wages, just working hours, leave, compensation and right to organisation.

BILS also published a poster highlighting the rights of workers on the occasion.