Bangladesh workers face largest crackdown on their rights in 2019

Though much has changed for the better in Bangladesh’s garment industry - the first ever factory map was published in February, for example, leading the way to more transparency in the supply chain - 2019 was also the year of crackdowns on workers and their rights - as many as 11,600 workers were dismissed without legal justification, most of whom have been unable to find other jobs due to systematic blacklisting according to the International Labor Rights Forum (IFLR) who calls it “the largest crackdown on workers’ rights in the last two decades of garment production in Bangladesh”. A report by the Workers Rights Consortium (WRC) published in April noted that “freedom of expression and association have become increasingly stifled by Bangladesh’s government in recent years”.