Regressive laws, obstacles to unions, police violence leave Bangladesh one of the worst countries for workers | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Get the Paper
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Tuesday
July 22, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Get the Paper
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
TUESDAY, JULY 22, 2025
Regressive laws, obstacles to unions, police violence leave Bangladesh one of the worst countries for workers

Bangladesh

TBS Report
03 July, 2023, 06:35 pm
Last modified: 03 July, 2023, 06:47 pm

Related News

  • No owner has the right to blacklist workers: Adviser Sakhawat 
  • Why legal literacy should be mandatory in every Bangladeshi school
  • Improve labour rights, drop criminal case against worker leaders: Top US trade bodies write to Yunus
  • Assault on union leaders: Ctg prime mover workers end strike as cops suspended
  • National Charter aims to safeguard citizens' rights: Ali Riaz

Regressive laws, obstacles to unions, police violence leave Bangladesh one of the worst countries for workers

Bangladesh has remained among the top ten worst countries for workers for the seventh consecutive year

TBS Report
03 July, 2023, 06:35 pm
Last modified: 03 July, 2023, 06:47 pm
RMG workers at a factory. File Photo: Mumit M/TBS
RMG workers at a factory. File Photo: Mumit M/TBS

Bangladesh continues to be one of the worst countries in the world for workers owing to regressive laws, obstacles to union formation, and police violence, according to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).

The ICUT has placed the country in the list of the worst 10 nations for the seventh year in a row in terms of workers rights in the latest Global Rights Index 2023 published on 30 June.

In the latest index, Bangladesh scored five in terms of labour rights situation, which means there is "no guarantee of rights". 

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

According to the report, workers' rights in Bangladesh continued to be severely curtailed. 

The country's eight Export Processing Zones (EPZs) prohibit workers from forming a trade union or freely expressing their rights. 

Besides, in the garment sector, the country's largest industry employing over 4.5 million workers, attempts at forming unions were ruthlessly obstructed, while strikes were met with brutality by the country's Industrial Police force, added the report.

It also said the authorities frustrated the establishment of unions by imposing a draconian registration process.

Luc Triangle, the ITUC acting general secretary said, "The 2023 ITUC Global Rights Index provides shocking evidence that the foundations of democracy are under attack. There is a clear link between workers' rights being upheld and the strength of any democracy. The erosion of one amounts to the degradation of the other.

"This is the 10th edition of the index and the 2023 results demonstrate how necessary it is. Across both high-income and low-income countries, as working people have faced a historic cost of living crisis and spiralling inflation driven by corporate greed; governments have cracked down on the right to collectively negotiate wage rises and take strike action.

"From Eswatini to Myanmar, Peru to France, Iran to Korea, workers' demands to have their labour rights upheld have been met with opposition from employers and government indifference, and their dissent has been met with increasingly brutal responses from state forces."

The top 10 worst countries for workers also include Belarus, Ecuador, Egypt, Eswatini, Guatemala, Myanmar, Tunisia, the Philippines and Turkey.

The index scores countries from a scale of 1 to 5+, marking "sporadic violations of rights" at 1 to "no guarantee of rights due to the breakdown of the rule of law" at 5+.

The country's that has scored 1 are: Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Sweden 

Rights violations

The report included incidents of violence against workers, union busting and other rights violations in Bangladesh.

It said on 4 June 2022, Dhaka police in Bangladesh opened fire with gunshots and tear gas, as well as using batons, against protesting garment workers at Mirpur and Azampur, leaving many workers injured.

Citing various workers' associations, the report said more than 50% of the unions registered since the Rana Plaza incident were yellow unions and have remained inactive over the years. Independent trade unions were not being registered by the labour department, while unions backed by factory owners have proliferated in the sector.

In Bangladesh, factory owners were still largely against trade unions and they forced workers not to join any union. In many cases, factory owners hired external forces to threaten workers who joined a union and used the police to harass union members. When an active federation in a factory filed an application for registration, labour department officials often imposed conditions in addition to those specified by the labour laws and rejected the application.

Addressing the situation in the garment sector, the IUTC report said over 500,000 workers employed in export processing zones (EPZs) were not allowed to form or join unions, which left them without any real power to bargain for better working conditions. The situation worsened with the implementation of the 2019 Export Processing Zones Labour Act (ELA), which states that the workers can only join a workers' welfare association (WWA), where they may not be given the full scope of collective bargaining. Workers were prohibited from organising any protest within the EPZ, and protests were often met with violent retaliation from the EPZ authorities.

Top News

labour rights / workers / Rights

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain/TBS
    Students dispersed from Secretariat, now assembling in Stadium Market area
  • Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain/TBS
    Police charge batons, use tear shells to disperse protesters at Secretariat
  • Photo: Collected
    2 advisers, CA's press secretary leave Milestone School 'through backdoor exit'

MOST VIEWED

  • Training aircraft crashes at the Diabari campus of Milestone College on 21 July 2025. Photo: Courtesy
    BAF jet crash at Milestone school: At least 20 including children, pilot dead; 171 hospitalised
  • Flight Lieutenant Md Towkir Islam. Photo: Collected
    Pilot tried to avoid disaster by steering crashing jet away from populated area: ISPR
  • An idle luxury: Built at a cost of Tk450 crore, this rest house near Parki Beach in Anwara upazila has stood unused for six months. Perched on the southern bank of the Karnaphuli, the facility now awaits a private lease as the Bridge Division seeks to put it to use. Photo: Md Minhaz Uddin
    Karnaphuli Tunnel’s service area holds tourism promises, but tall order ahead
  • Bangladesh declares one-day state mourning following plane crash on school campus
    Bangladesh declares one-day state mourning following plane crash on school campus
  • 91-day treasury bills rate falls 1.13 percentage points to 10.45% in a week
    91-day treasury bills rate falls 1.13 percentage points to 10.45% in a week
  • Air Force F-7 BJI training aircraft crashes at Milestone College in Uttara
    Air Force F-7 BJI training aircraft crashes at Milestone College in Uttara

Related News

  • No owner has the right to blacklist workers: Adviser Sakhawat 
  • Why legal literacy should be mandatory in every Bangladeshi school
  • Improve labour rights, drop criminal case against worker leaders: Top US trade bodies write to Yunus
  • Assault on union leaders: Ctg prime mover workers end strike as cops suspended
  • National Charter aims to safeguard citizens' rights: Ali Riaz

Features

Photo: Mehedi Hasan/TBS

Milestone plane crash: Aggrieved nation left with questions as citizens rally to help

2h | Panorama
Illustration: TBS

Uttara, Jatrabari, Savar and more: The killing fields that ran red with July martyrs’ blood

19h | Panorama
Despite all the adversities, girls from the hill districts are consistently pushing the boundaries to earn repute and make the nation proud. Photos: TBS

Ghagra: Where dreams rise from dust for Bangladesh women's football

1d | Panorama
Photos: Collected

Water-resistant footwear: A splash of style in every step

2d | Brands

More Videos from TBS

No scope for hiding information: Air Force chief

No scope for hiding information: Air Force chief

21m | TBS Today
Students complain about not reporting the exact number of bodies

Students complain about not reporting the exact number of bodies

46m | Videos
Education Secretary to be removed in the face of student protests

Education Secretary to be removed in the face of student protests

51m | TBS News Updates
Law enforcement officers clash with students in front of the Secretariat, sound grenades thrown

Law enforcement officers clash with students in front of the Secretariat, sound grenades thrown

1h | TBS Today
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net