Concerns raised over unpaid wages, mass layoffs, unsafe working conditions in Bangladesh’s garment sector

Paris, July 15 (IANS) A leading international human rights organisation on Wednesday expressed grave concern over widespread labour rights violations and a deteriorating human rights situation in Bangladesh’s ready-made garment (RMG) sector during the first half of 2026.

In its latest report, titled, “Threads Under Pressure: The Ready-Made Garment Workers’ Rights Crisis in Bangladesh 2026,” the Justice Makers Bangladesh in France (JMBF) documented “persistent patterns of delayed and unpaid wages, mass layoffs, factory closures, suppression of peaceful labour protests, excessive use of force by law enforcement agencies, unsafe working conditions, inadequate occupational health and sanitation facilities, and weak enforcement of labour protections.”

As per the findings, around 20,783 workers from 80 garment factories lost their jobs between January and June 2026 across Bangladesh. It further noted that 457 garment and textile factories reportedly ceased operations between August 2024 and June 2026, leaving more than 240,000 workers unemployed.

According to the report, 205 factories were closed due to insufficient work orders, 190 due to financial insolvency, 11 following labour unrest, and 51 due to other reasons, including “political instability, banking constraints, energy shortages, shortages of raw materials, and factory relocation.”

It also documented “widespread delays in wage payments, unpaid overtime, unpaid festival bonuses, arbitrary dismissals, and deteriorating working conditions, leaving thousands of workers and their families facing severe financial hardship”.

Raising alarm over the treatment of garment workers, the report highlighted numerous incidents where peaceful protests over unpaid wages and demanding improved working conditions were met with intimidation, criminal prosecution, and the excessive use of force.

The JMBG alleged that law enforcement agencies used baton charges, tear gas, sound grenades, rubber bullets, and other crowd-control measures against largely peaceful demonstrators.

“These incidents raise serious concerns regarding Bangladesh’s compliance with its obligations to protect the rights to peaceful assembly, freedom of expression, and freedom of association under domestic and international law,” it added.

Drawing attention to serious failures in occupational health and workplace safety in the garment sectors across Bangladesh, the report cited repeated incidents of mass illness among garment workers and poor workplace conditions, including inadequate sanitation facilities, limited access to safe drinking water, poor ventilation, excessive heat, overcrowded production floors, prolonged exposure to hazardous substances, and inadequate workplace medical services.

“These conditions disproportionately affect women, who represent the majority of Bangladesh’s garment workforce,” it added.

The JMBF called on the government of Bangladesh to ensure the timely payment of wages, overtime compensation, festival bonuses, severance payments, and all legally mandated benefits.

It urged the authorities to protect workers’ rights to freedom of association, peaceful assembly, freedom of expression, and collective bargaining.

The rights body also called for an end to the “unnecessary and disproportionate” use of force against peaceful labour protests in Bangladesh, while urging the authorities to conduct prompt, independent, impartial, and transparent investigations into allegations of labour rights violations and police abuses.

–IANS

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