Man, not a machine

Every year on May 1, International Workers’ Day, also known as Labour Day is observed in most countries including Bangladesh. It is a big day for workers, as the day also referred as May Day, is a celebration of labourers and the working classes, which is promoted by the international labour movement. 

On this day, workers hold big rallies all over the world. This year May 1 is all quiet, like the previous year as Covid-19 pandemic has led to the shut down all factories and has kept most workers at home. This does not mean though that workers no longer fight for the dignity of human work. On the contrary, because of Covid-19, the importance of human labour has been made clear to all, unlike ever before.

Work is important not only because of the wage connected with it. Work itself is important. Without work for a long time, people can go insane. People are workers by nature. If we do not occupy ourselves with work, we suffer as persons. Work gives us dignity, energy and a meaning to our life. Often, those who have many responsibilities complain of too much work. Their dream is to be totally free from work. However, we should be forewarned. If this indeed happens, and we have been given a taste of prolonged lack of work, we suffer much more. It is not heavenly to be sleeping the whole day, or to watch one movie after another for days, or to be glued to video games every day. Such activities or routine can make you heavily frustrated eventually. 

In most of our minds, work is connected to, and even identified to, salary. Labour is important because for almost all, work brings wages by which workers and their families live. This is indeed true. So being out of work now for 6 weeks, the family income suffers. This is especially true for the daily wage earners. No work, no pay. But this is also true for the regular workers. They are not sure whether there will still be work for them after the situations get a bit easier. Surely many will lose their jobs. There is no answer to how will they help their families. This is a very big problem.

The quarantine has also brought out clearly the importance of labour in our economy. The virus does not affect capital, the machineries, the materials, money in the bank because they are intact. But capital is useless without labour. Everything comes to a halt because there are no workers to make the factories run, to man the businesses, to work in the offices. So, capital remains dead, useless. This is why it is obvious that there is priority of labour over capital. Labour is more important than capital. In fact it is the work of human beings that makes capital grow. By itself capital is inactive.

Labour Day is not externally celebrated this year. But no amount of rallies and shouts could bring out more clearly the importance of labour than Covid-19 does. The prolonged pandemic has made us realize the priority of labour and the labourers. Proper recognition and compensation should be given to them. By nature, the human person is a worker and his work does not only give him money. It gives meaning to his life and it makes the world economy run.

The importance of labour in economics

Labour is the fundamental and active factor of production Labour has important contribution to the production of commodities. Labour is the exertion of mind and body undertaken with a view to some goods other than the pleasure directly derived from the work. Like a commodity, Labour cannot be stored and withdrawn from the market for a favourable time if the wage offered in low.

Further, Labour is inseparable from labourer and has to be be delivered personally, working conditions or environment are of great importance. If the place of work is congenial and the management is kind hearted, even a lower wage can be acceptable. Labour has a weak bargaining power, therefore, the employer has an upper hand in Labour transactions and the wage given is lower than it is due.

The supply of Labour cannot quickly adjust to the change in demand. The wages sometimes rule higher and at other times lower than need be. As the Labour has no calculable cost of production, it has to be satisfied with the wage it can receive or it receives.

The dignity of labor

A labourer differs from a machine in that they have feelings and likings. They work the best when they are happy and put their heart in the work. Rest, leisure, healthy surroundings, recreation and, above all, a fair treatment from officers add to his efficiency. They feel encouraged to do his best. This is high time that the people around the world understand the importance of labour. Without them, the daily life would be unimaginable.