Six influential US Congressmen, on Monday, have sought ‘personal assurance from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina that all appropriate government authorities will properly investigate and respond to the serious allegations brought by the National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF) following the attacks in Valuka, as well as any other unresolved allegations of intimidation and violence that have been brought to the attention of the government.’ Requesting the Prime Minister to take personal initiative, the six (Senior) Congressmen, in a jointly signed letter, complained to her against Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed and the BGMEA President Atiqul Islam for breach of trust.Signatories to the letter introduced themselves to the Prime Minister saying, “We are writing to you as friends of Bangladesh and as advocates for a strong US-Bangladesh relationship.” The signatories are Congressman George Miller, Congressman Eliot L Engel, Congressman Sander M Levin, Congressman Joseph Crowley (Co-Chairman of the Congressional Caucus on Bangladesh in the House of Representatives), Congressman Grace Meng and Congressman Janice D Schakowsky. The copies of the letter were sent to Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, BGMEA President Atiqul Islam, US Ambassador to Dhaka Dan Mozena and Ambassador to the United States Trade Representative (USTR) Ambassador Michael Froman. A copy of the letter was made available to The New Nation Monday.The Congressmen, in their letter, praised the (Sheikkh Hasina) government for the progress in implementation of (post-Rana Plaza) GSP action plan, saying, “…..We welcome the increase of in the registration of labor unions along with the other changes that have made to improve working conditions in the garment industry. While we acknowledge the work that has been done, we note that there are a number of essential steps that must still be taken.”However, they said, ” In particular, as union registrations have increased, we have also seen as increase in intimidation and harassment of labor activists. This is of serious concern to the United States Government, including the U.S. Congress.”Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed recently visited USA as leader of a Bangladesh delegation, which also included BGMEA President Atiqul Islam, and had a meeting with the six Congressmen seeking their support to prevail upon the Obama Administration to withdraw the suspension of GSP facilities on Bangladesh products in the US market. During the meeting, the Congressmen informed the Bangladesh delegation that a serious violation of labour rights and right to association was taken place at Valuka (Mymensingh) as a trade union leader was seriously tortured and his residence and union office were vandalized and looted by hired goons of factory management. The Congressmen requested the Commerce Minister to take legal action against the violators and resolve the issue back home. Referring to the meeting, the Congressmen wrote to the Prime Minister, saying, “In our recent engagement with your Commerce Minister and the President of the BGMEA, we conveyed our concern over this trend (intimidation) and our hope that senior officials of your government, including yourself and the Commerce Minister, would intervene and make clear that this pattern of intimidation and violence would not be tolerated.” “The visiting (Bangladesh) delegation also asked us to share information we received about anti-labour violence and assured us that your government would promptly look into any claims and seek to resolve them, the congressmen said. “Therefore, you might imagine our shock when we saw several accounts in the press last week reporting that your Commerce Minister and the BGMEA President, rather than calling for the authorities to investigate intimidation, engage in intimidation of labor activists themselves.”The letter continued, saying, “As you are likely aware, a key element of the GSP action plan is “to ensure protection of unions and their members from anti-union discrimination and reprisal.” What is especially troubling in this specific case is that the allegations of violence (violation) cited by the Minister and BGMEA President were those we passed along to them, (as) per their request.” Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed and BGMEA President Atiqul Islam recently brought allegation of ‘treason through secretly sending letter with fake information on Valuka incident’ to US Congressmen. Later, the BGMEA President at a function attended by Commerce Minister on June 22 urged the Minister to immediately take legal action against NGWF President Amirul Haque Amin for ‘treason and hatching conspiracy against the country’In response to the BGMEA President’s request, Tofail Ahmed was critical of the NGWF President, IndustriAll IBC Chairman and BNP leader Nazrul Islam Khan and General Secretary and Awami League (AL) leader Roy Romesh Chandra, holding them responsible for working against the interests of the country.Expressing the hope that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government would take appropriate action against violation of the labour rights as it tries to turn Bangladesh into a advanced and middle income country, in which what the Congressmen said, “…..Workers rights to organize will play an important role in this process.”The Congressmen concluded, saying, ” ……..We look forward to working with you to resolve issues that will ultimately allow the U.S. to restore GSP benefits and to further Bangladesh’s economic development.
