Просмотр кода страницы Английская Википедия:Bangladesh Garment Workers Trade Union Centre

{{Английская Википедия/Панель перехода}}
{{short description|National trade union federation of garment workers in Bangladesh}}
{{Distinguish|Bangladesh Trade Union Centre}}
{{Infobox union
| name         = GWTUC
| image        = 
| full_name    = Bangladesh Garment Workers Trade Union Centre
| native_name  = বাংলাদেশ গার্মেন্ট শ্রমিক ট্রেড ইউনিয়ন কেন্দ্র
| native_name_lang= bn
| founded      = 1994
| members      = 125,000 claimed<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://globalmayday.net/supporters/|title=Supporters|date=|publisher=Global May Day|access-date=2020-11-20}}</ref>
| affiliation  = [[Communist Party of Bangladesh]]
| key_people   = [[Joly Talukder]], General Secretary<br/>[[Montu Ghosh]], President<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.rmgtimes.com/news-article/12583/|script-title=bn:"মজুরি নিয়ে ত্রিপক্ষীয় সভা শ্রমিকদের হতাশ করেছে"- গার্মেন্ট টিইউসি|newspaper=RMG Times|language=bn|date=2020-05-05|access-date=2020-11-24}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/city/garment-trade-union-centre-demands-release-its-general-secretary-1556965|title=Garment Trade Union Centre demands release of its general secretary|newspaper=The Daily Star|date=2019-04-02|access-date=2020-11-20}}</ref>
| headquarters = 
| location_country= [[Bangladesh]]
| website      = {{URL|https://web.archive.org/web/20180406115206/http://www.gwtuc.org/|www.gwtuc.org}}
| footnotes    = 
}}

The '''Bangladesh Garment Workers Trade Union Centre''' ('''GWTUC''') ({{lang-bn|বাংলাদেশ গার্মেন্ট শ্রমিক ট্রেড ইউনিয়ন কেন্দ্র}}, {{transl|bn|bānlādēśa gārmēnṭa śramika ṭrēḍa i'uniẏana kēndra}}) is a [[trade union]] federation of [[Textile industry in Bangladesh#Employment|garment workers]] in [[Bangladesh]]. It is one of the largest trade unions in that sector, with more than 20 factory trade unions affiliated to it. It has enough members to be formally recognised as a trade union, but does not have that status, as is not uncommon for left-oriented unions in Bangladesh. Politically, GWTUC is aligned with the [[Communist Party of Bangladesh]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.himalmag.com/unions-in-bangladesh/|title=State of disunion|last=Long|first=Colin|magazine=[[Himal Southasian]]|date=2019-02-15|access-date=2020-11-20}}</ref>

==Context==
The rate of trade union membership among Bangladeshi garment workers is very low, only around 1.12 percent of the total labour force. Among the reasons for this are restrictive laws on founding unions and trade union centres, together with active intimidation and harassment against union activists. Union organising is altogether banned in export zones, nursing or rural electrification. In 2020, Bangladesh was rated one of the world's ten worst countries for workers in the [[ITUC|ITUC's]] annual Global Rights Index.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/ituc_globalrightsindex_2020_en.pdf|title=2020 ITUC Global Rights Index. The World's Worst Countries for Workers|date=2020-06-12|publisher=ITUC|access-date=2020-11-20}}</ref>

Another reason is that almost all unions in Bangladesh are affiliated to political parties, which weakens their ability to work together in collective bargaining,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.dhakatribune.com/opinion/op-ed/2019/09/20/the-state-of-the-unions|title=The state of the unions|last=Akil|first=Nadim Zawad|newspaper=[[Dhaka Tribune]]|date=2019-09-20|access-date=2020-11-20}}</ref> especially since the majority of Bangladesh's parliamentarians are owners of garment or other factories themselves.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Khanna|first1=Phragya|date=2011|title=Making Labour Voices Heard During an Industrial Crisis: Workers' Struggles in the Bangladesh Garment Industry|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43158407|journal=Labour, Capital and Society / Travail, capital et société|volume=44|issue=2|pages=112|access-date=2020-11-24}}</ref>

==History==
In 2010, GWTUC worked together with the [[Bangladesh Center for Workers' Solidarity]] and the [[Garment and Industrial Workers Federation]] to organise demonstrations calling for a raise of the minimum monthly wage to 5,000 [[Bangladeshi taka|taka]] (~€50/$59). In August, trade union leaders including [[Montu Ghosh]], then an advisor to the GWTUC, were arrested, leading to international reports and condemnation.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/17/business/global/17labor.html|title=Bangladesh Arrests 21 After Rallies|newspaper=[[New York Times]]|date=2020-08-16|access-date=2020-11-24}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release|author=Cotter, John|title=Bangladesh: Human Rights Lawyer Mantu Ghosh|url=https://www.lrwc.org/re-human-rights-lawyer-mantu-ghosh/|publisher=Lawyers' Rights Watch Canada|date=2010-11-11|access-date=2020-11-24}}</ref> Protests were again organised when factories did not pay out the new minimum wage of 3,000 taka. By December, most factories had implemented the new minimum wage and resumed normal production.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/bangladeshi-garment-workers-protest-higher-minimum-wage-2010|title=Bangladeshi garment workers protest for a higher minimum wage, 2010|last=Rashid|first=Jasmine|work=Global Nonviolent Action Database|date=2015-02-28|access-date=2020-11-20}}</ref>

In 2014, GWTUC took part in the coordination of a hunger strike at an occupied Tuba Group factory in Dhaka, demanding the payment of three months overdue salaries for the nearly 1.600 workers. Another demand was compensation for the dead and injured of the [[2012 Dhaka garment factory fire]], who had also been employees of Tuba Group. Protests were attacked by police, and the occupied factory's water supply cut off. The overdue salaries were paid in August. One week later, all five Tube Group factories were closed down, stripping all their workers of employment. In October, workers and leaders forced their way into the office of Tuba Group's owner and locked themselves inside with him. After 18 hours, a bonus was paid to 900 workers and the hunger strike ended. Many workers remained unemployed afterwards due to their involvement in the union action.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/bangladeshi-garment-workers-fight-their-wages-2014|title= Bangladeshi Garment Workers Fight for their Wages, 2014 |last=Kim|first=Rosanna|work=Global Nonviolent Action Database|date=2012-12-02|access-date=2020-11-24}}</ref>

In 2017, GWTUC organised a rally of workers of Multifabs Ltd in Dhaka, demanding legal action against the company. 13 workers had died and others were injured when an expired boiler had exploded inside the company's factory in [[Gazipur]]. The union called for compensation of the dead workers' families and the payment of the medical expenses of injured workers.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2017/07/10/boiler-blast-legal-action-sought-against-multifabs|title=Boiler blast: Legal action sought against Multifabs|website=bdnews24.com|date=2017-07-10|access-date=2020-11-20}}</ref> Two of the injured workers died later. All fifteen families received full salaries and bonuses.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.textiletoday.com.bd/one-year-multifabs-boiler-explosion/|title=One year of Multifabs’ boiler explosion|magazine=Textile Today|date=2018-07-02|access-date=2020-11-20}}</ref>

In May of that year, workers at Ashiana Garment Ind formed a union affiliated with GWTUC. They faced harassment and arrests, while authorities refused the union's registration. In January 2018, workers and GWTUC leaders were invited to a meeting with representatives of the [[Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association|Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA)]], only to find out outside the building the meeting had been cancelled. They were then attacked by a group armed with iron rods that injured 37 workers, who had to be treated at [[Dhaka Medical College and Hospital]]. BGMEA later filed a complaint against 12 GWTUC leaders and 150 workers, alleging they were involved in violence, vandalism and attempted murder of its officials. 2 workers were later arrested and thirty laid off.<ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.14213/inteuniorigh.25.1.0014?seq=1 "ICTUR in action: Interventions"], in ''International Union Rights'' 25 (2018), p. 14.</ref>

On April 1, 2018, GWTUC General Secretary [[Joly Talukder]] and five of its other leaders were arrested based on the BGMEA's charges. Talukder was held in solitary confinement. [[Communist Party of Bangladesh]] leader [[Sazedur Rahman Shameem]] was allegedly arrested when he attended court to request an extension of their bail.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/star-weekend/labour-rights/silencing-the-labour-movement-1561999|title=Silencing the labour movement |last=Jahan|first=Nilima|newspaper=The Daily Star|date=2018-04-19|access-date=2020-11-20}}</ref> The arrests provoked outrage in Bangladesh and abroad,  with the [[Clean Clothes Campaign]] and German union [[ver.di]] calling for the prisoners' release.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/city/release-trade-union-leaders-1560145|title=Release trade union leaders|newspaper=The Daily Star|date=2018-04-02|access-date=2020-11-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Bangladesch weiterhin gewerkschaftsfeindlich|url=https://www.verdi.de/themen/internationales/++co++369c1d7a-38dc-11e8-8956-525400b665de|publisher=ver.di |date=2018-04-05|access-date=2020-11-20}}</ref> All seven were released on April 5 on interim bail.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2018/04/05/joly-talukder-and-six-others-released-on-interim-bail|title=Joly Talukder and six others released on interim bail|website=[[bdnews24.com]]|date=2018-04-05|access-date=2020-11-20}}</ref>

In September 2018, GWTUC organised demonstrations rejecting an increase of the minimum wage for garment workers as "inhumane" and demanding the double of the planned amount.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/national/rmg-workers-stage-demos-rejecting-minimum-wage-at-tk-8000-1536919337|title= RMG workers stage demos rejecting minimum wage at Tk 8,000 |newspaper=[[The Financial Express (Bangladesh)|The Financial Express]]|date=2018-09-04|access-date=2020-11-20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/index.php/national/rmg-workers-to-stage-demo-on-sept-21-1537355482|title= RMG workers to stage demo on Sept 21|newspaper=The Financial Express|date=2018-09-19|access-date=2020-11-20}}</ref> Following the protests, more than 5.000 GWTUC workers were laid off from more than 25 factories.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/star-weekend/spotlight/news/payback-protesting-1702354|title=The Layoffs|last=Khan|first=Maliha|newspaper=[[The Daily Star (Bangladesh)|The Daily Star]]|date=2019-02-15|access-date=2020-11-20}}</ref>

From March to June 2020, [[Dragon Group]] laid off more than 500 of its workers without paying outstanding wages. The layoffs especially targeted employees with more work experience who had demanded the pay of salaries the company already owed them. GWTUC organised the worker's response, including a blockade of Bangladesh's labour ministry. The owner broke an agreement to pay due wages by November 7.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://bdnews24.com/business/2020/11/20/sacked-workers-of-bangladeshs-dragon-sweater-gave-up-half-their-pay.-now-employers-breach-deal|title=Sacked workers of Bangladesh’s Dragon Sweater gave up half their pay. Now employers breach deal|website=bdnews24.com|date=2020-11-20|access-date=2020-11-20}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Portal bar|Organized labor|Bangladesh}}
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[[Category:National trade union centres of Bangladesh]]
[[Category:1994 establishments in Bangladesh]]
[[Category:Trade unions established in 1994]]
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