DHAKA: Human Rights Watch said the Bangladesh government should stop garment factory owners from intimidating and threatening workers for organizing trade unions, and prosecute those responsible for attacks on labor leaders.
The international rights group came up with the urges in its press release posted on its website on February 6.
Foreign buyers, including major US and European retailers, should ensure that their Bangladeshi suppliers respect labor rights.
The HRW team interviewed 47 workers in 21 factories in and around Dhaka. The workers claimed that some managers intimidate and mistreat employees involved in setting up unions, including threatening to kill them.
Some union organizers said they were beaten up, and others said they had lost their jobs or had been forced to resign. Factory owners sometimes used local gangsters to threaten or attack workers outside the workplace, including at their homes, they said.
Bangladesh amended its labor law in July 2013 after widespread criticism following the collapse of the Rana Plaza building, which killed more than 1,100 garment workers. The labor ministry had previously refused to register all but a handful of unions, but the amendments have made it easier for unions to be formed.
More than 50 factory-level unions have been established, but since the law still requires union organizers to get the support of 30% of the factory’s workers before registering a union, employer threats and intimidation make it a difficult task, especially in factories employing thousands of people.
“The best way to avoid future Rana Plaza-type disasters and end the exploitation of Bangladeshi workers is to encourage the establishment of independent trade unions to monitor and protect workers’ rights,” said Brad Adams, Asia director. “The government has belatedly begun to register unions, which is an important first step, but it now needs to ensure that factory owners stop persecuting their leaders and actually allow them to function.”
There are more than 5,000 garment factories in Bangladesh. The US and European Union (EU) have both linked Bangladesh’s continued access to trade preferences to making urgent improvements in labor rights and workplace safety.
The government and the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) should ensure compliance with the labor law, and sanction companies which abuse worker rights. In July 2013 Bangladesh ratified International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions 87 and 98 on freedom of association and collective bargaining, and is required to protect the rights contained in them.
Workers at one large factory told Human Rights Watch that they were trying to form their union without the managers finding out, because they were afraid of retaliation and losing their jobs. Other union organizers described being harassed without the use of threats and violence. Some complained that they were given extra work so they did not have time to meet colleagues. Others said that factory managers refused to meet them.
Labor activists also complained that some of the unions in factories are not genuinely independent, but are so-called “yellow unions” that have been established by the factory owners themselves to control workers and prevent them from establishing or joining the union of their choice.
Recommendations
To the Bangladeshi government:
Effectively enforce the labor law and amend it to comply with international standards.
Ensure workers’ rights to form unions and increase factory inspections.
Investigate allegations against factory owners who engage in anti-union activity.
Investigate all allegations of beatings, threats, and abuse by workers and prosecute those responsible.
To the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association
Support the establishment of independent trade unions in members’ factories and discourage the setting up of so-called “yellow factories.”
Work with the government to ensure that anti-union behavior is eradicated.
Work with the International Labour Organization to educate factory owners in the benefits of having independent trade unions and improved labor relations.
To international apparel brands
Encourage Bangladeshi factories to protect worker rights.
Improve factory inspections and publish findings to ensure factories comply with brands’ codes of conduct and the Bangladesh Labor Law.
Immediately join the Bangladesh Fire and Safety Accord, a legally binding agreement that seeks to involve factory workers in ensuring the safety of factories.
BDST: 1018 HRS, FEB 06, 2014
