We, the undersigned UK organisations, stand with Bangladeshi workers, student groups and the whole labour movement in their calls for justice and an end to violence and repression in Bangladesh.
We condemn the use of lethal force against peaceful demonstrators in recent weeks and call for an independent investigation into the killings, with justice being provided for all bereaved families. People and organisations should be free to speak up and act to protect their own rights and those of others, this must not change with the creation of an interim government.
At the same time, we note that fashion brands who are responsible for the lives and livelihoods of millions of workers in Bangladesh, are already prioritising their business interests over their duty of care for workers in this extreme situation. We recall the failure of brands to provide adequate remedy and compensation for workers when the COVID pandemic shut down production overnight and left millions destitute at a time of unprecedented public health crisis and global need. We also note that brands failed to support Bangladeshi workers in their demands for a fair wage last year, which resulted in lethal, violent repression against workers protesting the poverty wages set by the government. This must not happen again. Fashion brands have a duty to ensure worker wages are paid on time and in full, including this week, and that workers do not pay the cost for order stoppages.
Delays in production due to the protests and the state’s violent response, which has killed at least 300 people, are already being used by brands to justify abandoning workers, by cutting orders, shifting production elsewhere and lowering supplier prices. As organisations based in the UK we call on fashion brands to prioritise the wellbeing of the people on whose labour their profits are built, and commit to stable sourcing and ensuring workers are paid fully in the coming months.
Our movement further rejects the idea that the UK should become a home to tyrants. Former PM Sheikh Hasina, now in exile, must be made to face justice for her crimes. We echo the calls of the people of Bangladesh for a thorough criminal investigation and trial, compliant with international standards, into the former prime minister’s role in the violent and deadly repression of legitimate protests and her complicity in the ensuing deaths of hundreds of people.
SIGNED:
- Rana Plaza Solidarity Collective
- Labour Behind the Label
- War on Want
- No Sweat
- Remake – UK Hub
- Nijjor Manush
- Global Justice Now
- Peace and Justice Project
- Scottish Trade Union Congress (STUC)
- General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU)
- Equity
- Fire Brigades Union (FBU)
- University and College Union (UCU)
- Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS)
- Communication Workers Union (CWU)
- Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB)
- National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT)
- Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU)
- Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW)
- Julie Ward, Labour MEP 2014-20
- Charlotte Osborn
To sign this statement email info@labourbehindthelabel.org with the subject line ‘Bangladesh Uprising Statement’.
Rana Plaza Solidarity Collective 