In the beginning of the world, labor was an unimportant matter. Slavery originated in the ancient Egyptian era, where people were held captive as slaves and forced to work against their will. It was building palaces by cutting mountains or building pyramids by placing stones on stones. Labor was axiomatic to power. In one observational sense, the word "slave" was the root word for labor. Human life is changing and evolving in the course of time. In the development of civilization, work is created as a result of necessity and invention of labor for that work. The whole world becomes labor-dependent. Two clans called owner-laborer emerged based on this labor.
One team needs work, another team also needs work. And from that the concept of selling labor was born. Long before the industrial revolution in the world, the valuation of human labor was cheap. Since the establishment of factories in Europe, the entire social system has largely become dependent on workers. But in the beginning this modern social system was not so worker friendly as it is today. Long working hours, low wages, the urge to over-produce in working hours, all together create two groups, the exploiters and the exploited all over the world. A worker means inhumane life. Colonial theory developed in consumerist society. The poor keep getting poorer. People are affected by hunger, famine and epidemics. The ruling clique started fighting to establish their empire. And these workers and poor class people become their targets.
World War I saw the emergence of a new concept of labor called war labor in Eastern Europe. The ruling class of the countries participating in the war would forcefully send men to the battlefield. For this they were paid a hefty salary. After the war, a different picture emerged across Eastern Europe. That is, Eastern Europe became largely male-free which hurt the whole social system. A kind of silent famine ensued. Women, children continued to leave other parts of Europe. Polygamy, monogamy and prostitution appeared among women. An obscenity filled the social system.
Labor history developed in late 19th century Europe through political movements aimed at securing the rights of the working class. Throughout Europe, the impact of labor rights began to spread worldwide through piecemeal labor protests, strikes and movements. Workers involved in the wool trade started the Luddites movement in Britain, which was considered one of the most talked about events in Britain at the time, centered on the penetration of modern machinery. Haymarket riots in America, Homestead strike, Pullman strike etc. contributed to the promotion of the labor rights movement. As a result, today we celebrate the great May Day.
Complaints of inhumane living and deprivation of citizens were common during the Russian Revolution. Workers joined this revolution in 1917 through labor unrest and riots. The success of the Russian Revolution came with the declaration of the solidarity of workers with people of all classes and professions and the formation of the Bolshevik (communism) government. From time to time, throughout the ages, from pagan to colonial, from colonial to modern, workers have been marginalized and oppressed. And so they fought to survive for centuries by raising the flag of their rights. The fortunes of workers in free market economies have improved somewhat. They get paid for their fixed working hours. He gets the benefits he deserves in the workplace. But the workers who benefit are from first world countries. Workers in third world countries are still neglected today. Labor unrest, death risk of workers due to various errors in the workplace, recession in the labor market, etc. are a daily occurrence in various third world countries including Bangladesh. The tendency of Bangladeshi workers to go abroad today is due to these reasons.
Even though the economic index in Bangladesh is on the upswing, we have not been able to claim ourselves as a worker-friendly country. It is our failure. And so we think of ourselves as the slaves of the workers. That's why the hardworking people like housekeepers, rickshaw pullers, janitors don't have any holiday on the great May day. They don't even know what this day is. Our social system has deprived them of their fair labor rights.
There is a dire message for workers in the world to come. Fourth Industrial Revolution (Four IRs). What is called in English, The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). A combination of the physical, digital and biological realms. Advances in information technology, the Internet of Things, robotics, artificial intelligence and quantum computing are considered by many to usher in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Many economists believe that the fourth industrial revolution will usher in a world of inequality and extreme poverty. Robots and machines will be factory workers. Low-skilled workers will be fired en masse. As a result, the economic condition of developing countries will be extremely disappointing. We want workers' rights, worker's independence. The sweat of the workers has gone from the jungle to the city. The towering skyscrapers has the touch of a worker's hand. So behind the development of the world is the sweat of millions of workers.
And so the best tool for the development of human civilization is the labor of this world. Everyone says, "Be one of the laborers of the world!"