UNB, Dhaka :
Despite significant progress in terms of worker safety, a US-based study suggests the Bangladesh government must do more to protect workers’ human rights, including their freedom of speech and freedom of association.
The government must not cause or contribute to threats, violence and intimidation of workers who seek to defend their rights and safety, according to the recommendations made in the report published this month.
International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF), a Washington-based human rights organization dedicated to achieving dignity and justice for workers worldwide, published the report titled ‘Our Voices, Our Safety: Bangladeshi Garment Workers Speak Out’ based on interviews with garment workers.
“A new phase of social safety reforms is necessary to address the intimidation and violence that keep workers silent, and to ensure current reforms are fully realized and sustainable,” the report states.
Between October 2014 and January 2015, the ILRF interviewed more than 70 workers with the assistance of the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity.
The report said the government must seek to mitigate the risk that any party, including employers, will harm workers who speak out in defense of their own safety, and expeditiously remedy such harm and prevent its recurrence.
“It is responsible for creating safe spaces for unions and respect for collective bargaining – the only legally protected mechanism through which workers can negotiate with owners about safety and other working conditions on equal terms,” said the report. The government must also address the pervasive violence against women that keeps more than eighty percent of the garment workers in a subservient position, fearing rebukes, verbal abuse, physical punishment, or sexual harassment and abuse for speaking “emphatically,” as one worker put it.
Finally, the report said, the government must address the persistent poverty among garment workers.
On role of factory owners, the report said factory owners must respect the human rights of workers, including their freedom of speech and freedom of association and take responsibility for ending the reprisals against workers who speak up in defense of their own safety.
“The first step, for factory owners, is to ensure they fully comply with Bangladesh’s laws on freedom of association and collective bargaining. That requires them to adopt a zero-tolerance policy for managers who threaten or inflict violence against workers.”
Despite significant progress in terms of worker safety, a US-based study suggests the Bangladesh government must do more to protect workers’ human rights, including their freedom of speech and freedom of association.
The government must not cause or contribute to threats, violence and intimidation of workers who seek to defend their rights and safety, according to the recommendations made in the report published this month.
International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF), a Washington-based human rights organization dedicated to achieving dignity and justice for workers worldwide, published the report titled ‘Our Voices, Our Safety: Bangladeshi Garment Workers Speak Out’ based on interviews with garment workers.
“A new phase of social safety reforms is necessary to address the intimidation and violence that keep workers silent, and to ensure current reforms are fully realized and sustainable,” the report states.
Between October 2014 and January 2015, the ILRF interviewed more than 70 workers with the assistance of the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity.
The report said the government must seek to mitigate the risk that any party, including employers, will harm workers who speak out in defense of their own safety, and expeditiously remedy such harm and prevent its recurrence.
“It is responsible for creating safe spaces for unions and respect for collective bargaining – the only legally protected mechanism through which workers can negotiate with owners about safety and other working conditions on equal terms,” said the report. The government must also address the pervasive violence against women that keeps more than eighty percent of the garment workers in a subservient position, fearing rebukes, verbal abuse, physical punishment, or sexual harassment and abuse for speaking “emphatically,” as one worker put it.
Finally, the report said, the government must address the persistent poverty among garment workers.
On role of factory owners, the report said factory owners must respect the human rights of workers, including their freedom of speech and freedom of association and take responsibility for ending the reprisals against workers who speak up in defense of their own safety.
“The first step, for factory owners, is to ensure they fully comply with Bangladesh’s laws on freedom of association and collective bargaining. That requires them to adopt a zero-tolerance policy for managers who threaten or inflict violence against workers.”
