"Boss Denies Factory ‘Hired Goons’ Who Beat Bangladeshi Union Leader to Death", 28 June 2023

Several hundred garment workers and labor campaigners took to the streets of Bangladesh’s capital in protest on Monday and Tuesday, just days after a prominent union leader was killed and two others injured following an attack by so-called “hired goons” at a factory with which they were trying to negotiate the payment of outstanding wages and Eid-ul-Azha bonuses.

Shahidul Islam, aged 50, was an organizer for the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation (BGIWF), where he spent the past 25 years helping thousands of workers claw back owed wages and severance payments.

“He was never afraid of anything,” said Kalpona Akter, who helped found the organization to which Islam belonged...

It was only on Sunday night that Islam and his colleagues, Mustafa Kamal, 26, and Ahmed Sharif, 35, were sitting down with the management of Prince Jacquard Sweater, a knitwear factory in the Satai area of Gazipur...Akter said that a standoff over the timing of the wage payments, which were due earlier that day, ensued. When Islam and his co-workers left the meeting, saying they would be involving the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishment to break the impasse, the men were set upon by “five, six or 10” people who started hitting them with their fists. Someone was overheard saying, “Until you punish them, they will be non-stop,” she added.

Akter said that Islam was struck in the head by these “mercenaries,” who were working for Prince Jacquard Sweater. Islam managed to escape, calling another one of the union’s organizers for help. He, Kamal and Sharif were later taken to the Tayrunnesa Memorial Medical College Hospital. Though conscious while en route, Islam later succumbed to his injuries and was declared dead soon after arrival.

Akter said that Islam leaves behind two sons—a six-year-old and a 17-year-old—and his wife, a garment worker-turned-housewife who is undergoing chemotherapy for cancer.

“I can’t tell you my feelings; I can’t tell you how I faced them,” she said. “This was my responsibility to save them when they’re working for our organization.”

Akter said this is the second time she couldn’t protect one of her fellow activists. More than a decade ago, in April 2012, another BGIWF leader, Aminul Islam—no relation—then 39, vanished after trying to resolve a similar dispute at a factory. His body was later discovered in the district of Tangail by police, who found evidence of torture, including smashed knees and broken toes. A coroner declared that he had bled to death. No arrests were made...

Abu Ubaida, managing director at the factory, said there was a delay of payment but that it has cleared all unpaid wages, including Eid bonus, “according to the rules of law enforcement agencies and district administration.” He blamed this on buyers who were tardy with their own payments.

He also denied that management was responsible for Islam’s death.

“Prince Jacquard Sweater[’s] owner and/or authority is not involved in such matter,” he told Sourcing Journal. ”We came to know about the incident later from the news. The incident did not happen near the factory premises rather it happened in a different area outside of Prince Jacquard Sweater. Police is still on the case and investigating.”

Ubaida suggested that “internal conflict” could be the impetus for the attack, noting the presence of “at least 30” workers’ organizations in Gazipur.

“Since a conclusive report from the police is yet to be published regarding the death of Shahidul Islam Shahid, Prince Jacquard Sweater shall not tolerate any such defamation regarding this matter,” he added...