"ITUC survey: Bangladesh among top 10 worst countries for workers", 18 June 2020

Workers in Bangladesh cannot exercise their basic rights at work without fear of retaliation and brutal repression, the survey finds

A new survey report by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has mentioned Bangladesh among the world’s ten worst countries for workers in 2020.

Others on the list of ten worst countries for workers in 2020 include Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Honduras, India, Kazakhstan, the Philippines, Turkey and Zimbabwe. 

The report mentioned that in Bangladesh’s garment sector, which represents an overwhelming share of the country’s export economy, over 500,000 workers employed in EPZs were not allowed to form or join unions, which left them without real power to bargain for better working conditions.

...At the same time, the report also observed a new trend in 2020 that showed a number of scandals over government surveillance of trade union leaders in an attempt to instill fear and put pressure on independent unions and their members.

The seventh edition of the ITUC Global Rights Index ranks 144 countries on the degree of respect for workers’ rights...