Carrying red flags and banners, male and female workers from various sectors gathered in Gulistan, Muktangan, Paltan, National Press Club, Central Shaheed Minar and Doel Chattar areas virtually turning central Dhaka into a human sea.

They expressed solidarity with the working people of the world and commemorated the workers of Chicago who were killed in 1886 while demanding an eight-hour workday.

Trade unions, labour fronts of the ruling and opposition parties, garment workers and different professional organisations marked the day with meetings, discussions, rallies and cultural programmes.

The trade unions demanded that the owners of the recently collapsed Savar garments factory be arrested immediately and that compensation be paid to the families of garments workers who were killed or injured.

The Sramik Karmachari Oikya Parishad (Skop) in a declaration called on the government not to follow the policy prescribed by the World Bank and IMF as their policies of closing down mills have rendered thousands of workers jobless.

They called on all trade unions to unite under one umbrella.

Jatiya Sramik Federation President Shafiqur Rahman Majumder presided over the rally.

LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan and State Minister for Labour and Employment Amanullah Aman led a May Day procession that paraded through different city streets and ended at Kakrail.

Speaking on the occasion, Amanullah Aman said the government is drafting a labour code to make the labour laws stringent and time-befitting.

BNP-backed Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal, AL-backed Jatiya Sramik League and Jatiya Party-backed Jatiya Sramik Party also took out procession in the city.

At a rally organised by the Jatiya Sramik League at Bangabandhu Avenue, AL leader Tofail Ahmed strongly criticised the government for closing down mills and factories, throwing thousands of workers into uncertainty.

At a discussion, Jatiya Oikya Mancha President Dr Kamal Hossain said development in the industrial sector is being hampered because of the absence of a proper government policy.

He called on the government to eliminate the loopholes in the laws and take stern action against those responsible for the garment factory collapse in Savar.

Bikalpa Sramik Dhara, the labour front of Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh (BDB), organised a discussion at Kachikanchar Auditorium in the city.

Speaking as the chief guest, BDB President Badruddoza Chowdhury urged the politicians, industrialists and businessmen to sit with the representatives of workers to formulate a labour policy to prevent the mills and factory owners from exploiting the workers.

"If we form a government, we will form a consultation committee, comprising industrialists, workers and experts, to fix fair wages for the workers," he said.

Hasnabad Public Library (HPL) in Narsingdi organised a discussion to mark the day.

Presided over by Md Morad, it was addressed by Nazmul Hasan, Abul Hasan Tareque, Iqbal Mahmud, M R Mamun, Rubel Ahmed, Joyonto Ghosh, Kawser Hossain, Mustak Ahmed and KR Das.