HRW urges govt to end violence against garment workers, calls on brands to ensure fair contracts

The Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged the Bangladesh government to end violence and impunity surrounding garment workers' wage negotiations, calling on global clothing brands to ensure their supplier contracts do not encourage workplace abuses or make the payment of living wages impracticable.

In a statement published on November 5, the international rights organisation said police had used batons and tear gas to disperse thousands of garment workers protesting for higher wages, while violence involving alleged hired thugs linked to factory owners and political parties, arson, factory vandalism and attacks on police had also been reported.

HRW said the authorities should ensure that police use force only when necessary and proportionate, in line with international standards, and that those responsible for violence are held accountable.

A garment worker, Toufiq Hossain, died on November 3. A co-worker who had been with him told HRW, “We were returning to the factory [after lunch] when Toufiq got caught between protesting workers and men hired to tackle the protest by another garment factory. When I looked back, I saw Toufiq lying on the ground. The hired men had beaten him brutally.”

The protesting workers are demanding a monthly minimum wage of 30,000 taka, up from the 12,500 taka set in 2023. The government formed a wage board on November 1, which announced that the new pay structure, once determined, would take effect from December.

Highlighting the financial struggles of workers, the HRW quoted a 31-year-old sewing machine operator as saying, “My rent is 6,000 taka ($48). Cooking gas now costs 2,300 ($18.50). I earn 13,500 ($108) [a month]. This year I can’t afford my children’s schooling. Tell me, what’s left for food?”

Instead of addressing workers' demands for living wages, Bangladeshi authorities are blaming the political opposition for instigating the protests, the organisation said.

On November 3, Dhaka police said they had arrested 33 supporters of the former ruling party, the Awami League, on charges of sabotage. Others alleged that members of the ruling BNP's youth wing had marched against protesting workers.

Three labour leaders were reportedly detained in Ashulia on November 3 on allegations of incitement. Police have also filed cases under the Anti-Terrorism Act against thousands of unnamed people.

“They took my husband away,” HRW quoted a 28-year-old woman whose husband was arrested as saying. “He had joined the protest for a short time. He wasn’t involved in any violence.”

The HRW also noted that the BNP government had promised inflation-linked wage adjustments ahead of the February election. An amendment to the Labour Act, adopted in April, provides for wage reviews every three years and prohibits employers from blacklisting trade union organisers.