Labour's right at stake

Human Rights Watch in world report 2015 summarises the key human rights issues in different countries of the world. Among those we addressed the area of labour rights in the context of Bangladesh. April marked one year since the collapse of the Rana Plaza building, in which over 1,100 garment workers died and an estimated 2,500 were injured. Six months prior, a deadly factory fire at Tazreen Fashions killed at least 112 people. Survivors and relatives reported that they continue to suffer from life-changing injuries, psychological trauma, and lost income.

After the Rana Plaza accident, a compensation fund set up through the International Labour Organization (ILO) was designed to raise US$40 million. But one year later, only $15 million had been raised, with most funds coming from just one company. After the Rana Plaza tragedy, the Bangladesh government and Western retailers set up an inspection regime for more than 3,500 garment factories to ensure structural integrity and fire and electrical safety. A group of North American retailers inspected about 587 factories. A second body, formed by mainly European retailers, inspected 1,545 factories.

While they published details of their inspections, at time of writing, the government had not published information on the remaining inspections it had conducted. The government amended its labour laws to make it easier for workers to form and join unions. However, workers said they continued to face tremendous pressure including intimidation, mistreatment, and even death threats from managers, not to do so.

Workers in the tanneries of Hazaribagh, a residential area in Dhaka, continue to suffer from highly toxic and dangerous working conditions. Although some tanneries have begun to build new premises at a dedicated industrial zone in Savar, their planned relocation continued to be delayed. Residents of nearby slums complain of illnesses caused by the extreme tannery pollution of air, water, and soil. The government continues its de facto policy of not enforcing labour and environmental laws with respect to the Hazaribagh tanneries.

Bangladeshi migrant workers, especially in the construction and domestic service sectors in the Gulf, are often deceived by recruiters about their contracts and charged excessive fees that leave them deeply in debt and vulnerable to abuse abroad, including passport confiscation, unpaid wages, hazardous work, and forced labour. Migrants rarely receive effective assistance from their embassies.

Compiled by Law Desk.