It's not ok to shoot striking workers in Bangladesh

On 31 October, the Bangladesh Police shot dead three workers from the Nippon Garments Factory in Ershad Nagar in the Tongi Industrial Belt in Bangladesh during a protest over the non-payment of the salaries and other benefits due to them following the Company’s decision to lay them off.

The brazen attacks on workers which led to the tragic deaths send a stark warning to those who challenge the employers in a country where there has been a conspicuous lack of respect for human and employment rights. The TUC, in a protest letter to the Bangladeshi High Commissioner, has urged him to ensure that an impartial inquiry is held into the deaths and that the offenders are brought to justice without delay.

Bangladesh ratified ILO Conventions 87 and 98 in 1972. However, working conditions in garment factories are far from satisfactory and have attracted severe criticism from the international trade union movement.

Please join our protest by writing to the High Commissioner to support Bangladeshi workers. 

Bandula Kothalawala