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Article

26 May 2021

Author:
Clean Clothes Campaign

Bangladesh: Campaign group alleges union-busting at factory supplying Amazon, Kohl's

...Global Garments, a garment factory in Chittagong, Bangladesh, supplying Amazon and Kohl’s, closed in October 2020 leaving 1,200 workers without an income. 

Global Garments had been unionized since 1984; the factory-level union is part of the Bangladesh Independent Garment Workers Union Federation (BIGUF), an affiliate of IndustriALL Global Union. The union and management have concluded four collective bargaining agreements in the factory and the union was collecting dues through a check-off system.

Global Garments laid off workers for a total of 79 days during March to October, paying them half their regular wages for those days. To avert permanent closure of the factory, the union has requested the factory management continue with the temporary lay-off, to safeguard the workers’ jobs and to help the factory survive. However, management rejected the union’s request and is using the Covid-19 pandemic[...].

...

This is not the first time that workers at Global Garments have faced repression of their basic rights. A U.S. Congressman spoke out about an earlier episode of violence inflicted by managers on workers at Global Garments, which was also covered by The New York Times in December 2014 before a resolution was reached in February 2015.