Dhaka, 22 June, Abnews: Bangladesh stays in the list of world’s 10 worst countries for workers as a report by labour rights group International Trade Union Confederation or ITUC states that.
According to the ITUC Global Rights Index 2017 report, there are continuous struggle for workers in Bangladesh due to the conflict between the government and employees on trade unions.
That led to only 5 points gain for Bangladesh in the scale that is used to determine overall situation of workers in a country.
This 5 points demonstrate that there are indeed ‘no guarantee of rights’ of the workers.
Apart from the conflict in trade unions police brutality, mass arrests and discrimination are the other main reasons that have played vital role to aggravate the situation in Bangladesh.
The murder of Barguna Road Transport Labourers Union leader Md Haider Ali in September 2016 is also mentioned in the report.
Workers protests in Ashulia in December 2016 was shown as a major example of existing crisis in Bangladesh.
Thirty-five workers and union leaders were detained and complaints were filed against more than 1000 people on that incident.
The Ashulia strike among garment workers in December also led to more than 1,600 workers being suspended or dismissed for refusing to work in seeking a wage increase
The report also states that the level of discrimination against trade unions is so intense that only 10 percent of Bangladesh’s factories have registered trade union.
Bangladesh has more than 4500 factories in total and only a few of them are suitable enough for the workers when it comes to ensuring their rights.
The other countries on the 10-worst list are Egypt, Guatemala, Kazakhstan, Colombia, , the Philippines, Qatar, South Korea, Turkey and the UAE.
ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow said “In too many countries, fundamental democratic rights are being undermined by corporate interest.”
ABN/Latif/Jashim/ML