Death knell

Mushfique Wadud finds out about the struggles of construction workers with low wages and extremely hazardous working conditions

photo by Al-Emrun Garjon

Around the afternoon, Shahjahan, a construction worker, had just got off from his shift at a constructed building in the Mirpur 10 area. Although his duty for the day was over, he was waiting around for his day’s salary. While he waited, the contractor was having a cup of tea at a nearby stall.

At one point, Shahjahan, accompanied by some colleagues, went to the tea stall to request the contractor for payment. But the contractor asked them to wait some more. Shahjahan waited till 8pm but did not get his payment. During this time, the contractor sent him to run another errand at the under-construction building.

‘Such strenuous work followed by delays in payment is a daily affair for us,’ shares Shahjahan. ‘We are never paid overtime for the additional work.’ Shahjahan and his colleagues were handed their payment around 9:30pm that day.