A global right group has called on Bangladesh government to address the health and safety, economic and social impact of Covid-19 on workers.
IndustriALL Global Union, representing more than fifty million workers in the mining, energy and manufacturing industries, including readymade garments, in over 140 countries, on April 30, in a letter to Prime Minister made the call.
It congratulated the Bangladesh government for having taken action to stop the spread of the disease.
However, the confusion caused by the conflicting messages by the RMG industry on the opening of factories led to an unprecedented number of workers having to walk to Dhaka from neighbouring districts in the absence of public transport.
A number of factories, including the chemical and RMG sectors, have started production, the letter read.
"It is now of utmost importance that health and safety measures be followed so that workers’ lives and health are not put in danger."
"We urge you to ensure that factory owners provide hand sanitizers, soap, and PPEs for workers called back for work," it said.
In case workers are diagnosed with the coronavirus, their treatment must be done free of cost.
Several factories declared lay-offs despite the general holiday that had been declared at the same time.
Citing local trade unions, it also feared that there would be large scale retrenchment across sectors.
"We urge the government to intervene and ensure that no worker in any industry should be laid-off/ retrenched/ fired during the period of 25 March to 25 April 2020" the right group requested.
Furthermore, the wages of a number of workers have not been paid for the month of March.
It requested for making sure that all workers in all sectors are paid their wages for the months of March and April.
"No deductions must be made, either in the name of lay-off wages or other, as there was a general holiday declared by the government," it added.
The group called to ensure the payment of the Eid bonus by 15 May 2020 and ensure that immediate food relief reaches workers, who have been rendered jobless at this time.
IndustriALL Global Union called upon the PM to discuss the way forward with trade unions in Bangladesh, including the affiliates of IndustriALL Global Union, represented by the IndustriALL Bangladesh Council (IBC).
Furthermore, it proposed to set up a tripartite committee to monitor and assess the situation and recommend steps as needed.
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