UNI Global Union and IndustriALL are calling on international fashion brands to continue their long-term commitment to Bangladesh to help secure the country’s democratic and economic future.
The global unions have written to 200 signatories of the International Accord, the factory safety programme in Bangladesh, urging the brands to maintain their engagement in the country during this time of political volatility.
‘The garment sector is the backbone of the Bangladeshi economy. Your commitment to improving health and safety for garment workers through the International Accord has allowed millions of garment workers to be lifted out of poverty, without risking their lives to do so,’ said UNI Deputy General Secretary, Alke Boessiger, and IndustriALL General Secretary, Atle Høie, in their joint letter.
‘The people’s actions in toppling a discredited government, as we have witnessed in Bangladesh, provides hope for a better future. In the immediate term, this has also led to great social upheaval and economic disruption, which trade unions, workers and its new leaders are working to address.
‘As the country strives to restore order and build a new democracy, economic stability is essential… The garment industry has a major role to play in stabilising the country and ensuring a regular income for workers.’
Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country after mass protests against a preferential job quota system for descendants of the 1971 war of independence.
More than 500 people died in the government’s violent response to the peaceful demonstrations.
The global unions call on the brands to be accommodating with their Bangladeshi suppliers as political instability may impact orders; that workers are paid their regular salaries for the months of July and August; and that brands continue to source from Bangladesh during this time of extraordinary change and challenge.
In early June, hundreds-of-thousands of Bangladeshis took to the streets against the government’s reinstatement of the preferential job quota system.
Since then, the prime minister has fled the country, and Bangladesh’s Supreme Court rolled back much of the unfair quota system.
However, the government’s violent response to the protests has resulted in over 560 deaths and an estimated 150,000 total injured. Students and workers have received the brunt of this abuse.
As a signatory to the International Accord, UNI Global Union has a longstanding relationship with the National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF), which is affiliated to IndustriALL.
The NGWF’s members have been greatly affected by this violence. Five federation members have been killed; 50 have been injured and 100 have been arrested.
On behalf of 4.2 million garment workers, the NGWF is calling on the interim government to take the following actions:
1. Immediate justice for the killings of 11 garment workers, including five members of the National Garment Workers Federation. The federation wants those responsible for these killings – as well as the murders of other workers – to be held accountable.
2. Ensure necessary and advanced medical treatment for all injured garment workers.
3. Immediately release, without conditions, all arrested garment workers.
4. Arrange proper compensation for the families of killed and injured garment workers.
5. Immediately increase the wages set for garment workers and change the term ‘minimum wage’ to ‘living wage’ or ‘decent wage.’
6. Immediately announce a national minimum wage applicable and acceptable for all sectors across the country.
7. Immediately introduce a rationing system for 4.2 million garment workers.
8. Immediately abolish the separate law for export processing zones (EPZs) and bring EPZs under the country’s existing labour law – where workers will have the right to express opinions, organise and bargain. The federation calls these separate laws unconstitutional and in violation of ILO (Independent Labour Organisation) conventions.
9. Reform the current labour laws and Labour Rules in Bangladesh considering ILO Conventions 87 and 98:
10. Remove all legal, garment management and social barriers to forming trade unions and conducting trade union activities in Bangladesh’s garment sector.
11. Ensure equal wages and equal rights in the family, state, society and in the workplace for women.
Bangladesh’s interim prime minister Muhammad Yunus said in his first major policy address on Sunday that his government would maintain support for the more than one million Rohingya refugees in the country, adding that reviving the mainstay garment industry, disrupted by the weeks of civil unrest, would also be a priority.
Yunus, 84, returned from Europe this month after the student-led revolution.
Setting out his priorities in front of diplomats and United Nations representatives, Yunus vowed continuity on two of the biggest policy challenges of his caretaker administration.
He said: ‘Our government will continue to support the million-plus Rohingya people sheltered in Bangladesh,’ adding:
‘We need the sustained efforts of the international community for Rohingya humanitarian operations and their eventual repatriation to their homeland, Myanmar, with safety, dignity and full rights.’
Bangladesh is home to around one million Rohingya refugees.
Most of them fled neighbouring Myanmar in 2017 after a military crackdown , which is now the subject of a genocide investigation by a United Nations court.
The weeks of unrest and mass protests that toppled Hasina also saw widespread disruption to the country’s linchpin textile industry, with suppliers shifting orders out of the country.
‘We won’t tolerate any attempt to disrupt the global clothing supply chain, in which we are a key player,’ Yunus said.
Bangladesh’s 3,500 garment factories account for around 85 per cent of its $55 billion in annual exports.
- Approximately 20 journalists were injured after several unknown individuals attacked a press club in Chittagong on August 5th, while journalist Moniruzzaman Monir was seriously injured in an attack by a group of unknown people in Dhaka on August 13.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate, the Bangladesh Manobadhikar Sangbadik Forum (BMSF), have condemned the assaults, and urged the authorities to conduct an immediate investigation into the incidents and hold those responsible to account.
On August 5th, a group of attackers injured at least 20 journalists during an assault on the Chittagong Press Club in south-eastern Bangladesh. In a statement, CPC said the assailants broke into the press club after forcibly opening the main gate.
They proceeded to the main office on the fourth floor, vandalising rooms and stealing cash and documents.
They also attacked journalists inside the club, including senior journalist Nirmal Candra Das, Golam Mortaza Ali, and Helal Sikder.
CPC president, Salahuddin Reza, stated that between 30 to 40 individuals were involved in the attack, with Reza claiming that those responsible were linked to activists and leaders in the Bangladesh National Party (BNP).
This attack comes amidst a recent surge in violence against journalists in Bangladesh in the aftermath of the nationwide protests and the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
On August 13, Moniruzzaman Monir, a correspondent for the daily Desh Rupantar in Raipura and president of the Raipur Upazila Reporters Club, was assaulted and shot by a group of unidentified assailants in Narayanganj, in Greater Dhaka.
The attackers ambushed Monir near his home, striking him with a hammer, before shooting him several times. The journalist was taken to the Raipur Upazila Health Complex, before being transferred to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital for more intensive treatment.
The reason behind the assault is unclear, however some reports claim that the attack was over Monir’s recent coverage of local corruption and injustices. Eyewitnesses identified that approximately 10 individuals were involved in the attack.
The BMSF said: ‘We are deeply shocked and outraged by the violent attack on the Chittagong Press Club, which resulted in this cowardly attack, and demand that the perpetrators be swiftly brought to justice.
‘We stand in solidarity with the injured journalists and call upon the authorities to take immediate action to ensure the safety and security of all media personnel. The freedom of the press must be protected at all costs, and such acts of violence must not be tolerated in any form.’
The IFJ said: ‘The IFJ strongly condemns the unprovoked attack on Chittagong Press Club in which at least 20 journalists were injured, and the attack on journalist Moniruzzaman Monir. Authorities must take immediate action to protect journalists and media workers and ensure that those responsible for these attacks are brought to justice.’
