Dhaka, June 4 -- Every year on Labour Day, Bangladesh witnesses rallies, speeches, and renewed promises. Yet one fundamental question remains unresolved: what does the nation owe to the workers who keep its economy alive?

They are the garment workers, tea workers, construction workers, transport workers, migrant workers, domestic workers, and millions in the informal sector whose labour sustains families, industries, exports, and national growth. Too often, they are visible only when production stops or tragedy strikes.

For Bangladesh, labour rights are not merely a legal or economic issue. They are also a moral issue. As a Muslim-majority society with a strong Islamic ethical tradition and as a post-colonial state shaped by workers' st...