Workplace injuries, death declined in Bangladesh in 2020

18 Jan '21

2 min read

Pic: Shutterstock

Bangladesh witnessed 433 instances of workplace injury and 729 deaths in workplace last year, lower than 695 cases of workplace injury and almost 1,200 workplace deaths in 2019, according to a report by the Bangladesh Institute on Labour Studies (BILS), which found 593 labour unrests took place last year, mainly due to non-payment of wages and deprivation of rights.

The highest number of labour unrests, 264, took place in the readymade garment (RMG) sector, followed by 49 in jute mills, 46 in sugar mills, 45 in the transport sector and 23 in the water transport sector, the survey based on media reports found.

BILS vice president Amirul Haque Amin demanded 30 per cent risk allowance for RMG workers who are working amid the novel coronavirus outbreak and said the earnings of the workers decreased by 25-30 per cent after the outbreak, according to Bangla media reports.

He also criticised the factory owners’ proposal to hold the provision of 5 per cent yearly increment of workers’ wages for two years.

Naimul Ahsan Jewel, general secretary of Jatiya Sramik Jote Bangladesh, alleged that the government was trying to conceal from the workers who lost their income amid the COVID-19 outbreak the information on funds provided by the European Union and Germany for the export sector workers.

The European Union and Germany have provided a fund worth €113 million to support Bangladesh’s export sectors workers who became jobless and lost income due to the impact of the pandemic.

Jewel demanded including workers’ representatives to the fund implementation committee.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

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