State Minister for Labour and Employment Begum Monnujan Sufian on Sunday said Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was the voice of working people as he fought throughout his entire life to establish the rights of labours, reports BSS.
"Bangabandhu was the voice of working people...He fought through his entire life to make sure the rights of labours, which still inspires people of working-class," Begum Monnujan said after laying a wreath at the portrait of the Father of the Nation at Bangabandhu museum in the city's Dhanmondi-32 this morning.
"With his utmost efforts, Bangladesh became a member of the International Labour Organization (ILO) after gaining great freedom, in establishing the just rights of the workers. Today, Bangladesh is among one of the ratifiers of all the basic conventions of the ILO," said a press release quoting Monnujan as saying.
It was Bangabandhu, who first recognised May 1 as the 'Workers Solidarity Day' in 1972, in independent Bangladesh, she added.
"In 1972, the Father of the Nation ratified 29 conventions, including five basic conventions of the ILO, in a single day, as he was conscious about the workers and their rights...That is why the Ministry of Labour and organizations paid homage to the Father of the Nation on the morning of the great May Day," she said.
Secretary of the Ministry of Labour Mohammad Ehsan-e Elahi, Additional Secretary, Joint-Secretaries, Director General of Labor Department, Inspector General of Factory and Establishment Inspection Department, President of Jatiya Sramik League Nur Qutub Alam Mannan and other leaders of various labour organizations were present during the wreath-laying ceremony.