Global rights body for the apparel industry, Clean Clothes Campaign has called out to the Bangladeshi authorities to immediately release 7 trade union leaders currently being held in jail.
A statement issued by the body on April 8, 2018, they demanded the release of the detainees including Joly Talukdar, KM Mintu, Monjur Moin, Jalal Howladar, Lutfar Rahman and Md Shahjahan, all leaders of the Garment Workers Trade Union Centre.
It also demanded the release of Sazedur Rahman Shameem, a leader of Communist Party of Bangladesh, who was also detained on April 1 after attending the court to request an extension to their bail.
The body said the labour leaders have been implicated in “false cases” filed against them by the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), the garment makers’ platform.
The BGMEA filed the complaint following a protest by workers from the Ashiana garment factory, which took place outside the BGMEA headquarters on January 31, 2018. The unrest led to vandalism at the BGMEA complex and assault on some of their officers.
On February 4, two workers were arrested and detained; they remain in prison. Of the 12 leaders charged, only 3 were actually present at the Ashiana protest; Joly Talukdar – GWTUC General Secretary and Montu Gosh, President of GWTUC – were not even in Dhaka at the time of the alleged events, the statement added.
Labour rights activists believe that these arrests represent an attempt to silence the current campaign to hike the minimum wage in the apparel industry to BDT 16,000 per month, noting that GWTUC has been one of the most vocal and active federations in this campaign.
The statement read: the Clean Clothes Campaign wishes to express its solidarity with GWTUC and its leadership and strongly condemns this attack on an independent trade union, which is legitimately organising and campaigning for a much-needed increase in the Bangladesh minimum wage.
It is concerning that the Bangladesh garment industry would once again choose to silence and imprison union activists and garment workers than take action to provide the decent living wage they are entitled to, the press release added.
