Boss Denies Factory ‘Hired Goons’ Who Beat Bangladeshi Union Leader to Death

Jasmin Malik Chua
·7 min read

Several hundred garment workers and labor campaigners took to the streets of Bangladesh’s capital in protest on Monday and Tuesday, just days after a prominent union leader was killed and two others injured following an attack by so-called “hired goons” at a factory with which they were trying to negotiate the payment of outstanding wages and Eid-ul-Azha bonuses.

Shahidul Islam, aged 50, was an organizer for the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation (BGIWF), where he spent the past 25 years helping thousands of workers claw back owed wages and severance payments.

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“He was never afraid of anything,” said Kalpona Akter, who helped found the organization to which Islam belonged.

Speaking on a call over Whatsapp, Akter was overcome with emotion. It was only on Sunday night that Islam and his colleagues, Mustafa Kamal, 26, and Ahmed Sharif, 35, were sitting down with the management of Prince Jacquard Sweater, a knitwear factory in the Satai area of Gazipur, an hour’s drive north from Dhaka. Akter said that a standoff over the timing of the wage payments, which were due earlier that day, ensued. When Islam and his co-workers left the meeting, saying they would be involving the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishment to break the impasse, the men were set upon by “five, six or 10” people who started hitting them with their fists. Someone was overheard saying, “Until you punish them, they will be non-stop,” she added.

Akter said that Islam was struck in the head by these “mercenaries,” who were working for Prince Jacquard Sweater. Islam managed to escape, calling another one of the union’s organizers for help. He, Kamal and Sharif were later taken to the Tayrunnesa Memorial Medical College Hospital. Though conscious while en route, Islam later succumbed to his injuries and was declared dead soon after arrival.

Akter said that Islam leaves behind two sons—a six-year-old and a 17-year-old—and his wife, a garment worker-turned-housewife who is undergoing chemotherapy for cancer.

“I can’t tell you my feelings; I can’t tell you how I faced them,” she said. “This was my responsibility to save them when they’re working for our organization.”

Akter said this is the second time she couldn’t protect one of her fellow activists. More than a decade ago, in April 2012, another BGIWF leader, Aminul Islam—no relation—then 39, vanished after trying to resolve a similar dispute at a factory. His body was later discovered in the district of Tangail by police, who found evidence of torture, including smashed knees and broken toes. A coroner declared that he had bled to death. No arrests were made.

“We didn’t get justice for that,” Akter said, who spent hours with other BGIWF members filing a case with Gazipur police. “If we cannot stop this, then we all have to face the same fate. We really need justice. Why do we have to die?”

Nandalal Chowdhury, a police inspector in Gazipur told the Dhaka Tribune that “legal action in this regard is under process.”

Abu Ubaida, managing director at the factory, said there was a delay of payment but that it has cleared all unpaid wages, including Eid bonus, “according to the rules of law enforcement agencies and district administration.” He blamed this on buyers who were tardy with their own payments.

He also denied that management was responsible for Islam’s death.

“Prince Jacquard Sweater[’s] owner and/or authority is not involved in such matter,” he told Sourcing Journal. ”We came to know about the incident later from the news. The incident did not happen near the factory premises rather it happened in a different area outside of Prince Jacquard Sweater. Police is still on the case and investigating.”

Ubaida suggested that “internal conflict” could be the impetus for the attack, noting the presence of “at least 30” workers’ organizations in Gazipur.

“Since a conclusive report from the police is yet to be published regarding the death of Shahidul Islam Shahid, Prince Jacquard Sweater shall not tolerate any such defamation regarding this matter,” he added.

Prince Jacquard Sweater describes itself on its website as a “100 percent export-oriented” facility that specializes in a “fully computerized sweater solution.” Available import data reveals that more recent buyers include Global Fashion Icon and N.E. Brands, though they could not be reached for comment.

The factory does not appear on the membership lists of either the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers Export Association (BGMEA) or the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers Export Association (BKMEA). While neither group replied to emails, Faruque Hassan, president of the BGMEA, told local media that Islam will be remembered “forever” for his work. He also urged punishment for those responsible for his death.

Bangladesh’s industrial police reported this week that more than 46 percent of nearly 10,000 factories in seven areas, including Ashulia, Gazipur, Narayanganj, and Chattogram, have yet to pay their workers their Eid bonuses as of Sunday. More than 300 of them have yet to compensate their employees for the month of May, they said.

The BGMEA told the Industrial Standard that nearly 98.5 percent of its members paid May wages for May and more than 70 percent have shelled out Eid bonuses.

“Due to low export earnings owing to the global economic crisis, manufacturers are in a severe financial crisis. That is why our payment [from buyers] is being delayed,” said Shahidullah Azim, vice president of the BGMEA. “We have set up four teams to monitor the situation and are also working to arrange the cash. We believe most of the factories will clear all dues within 27 June.”

Atle Høie, general secretary of IndustriALL Global Union, called the murder “another stark reminder” of labor conditions in Bangladesh, where freedom of association and collective bargaining are deteriorating and workers are desperate for an increase in the minimum wage. Unionization rates in the world’s second-largest clothing exporter after China are strikingly low. Just slightly over 5 percent of the country’s 4.1 million garment workers are members of a union.

“When people are killed for exercising their constitutional right to organize, we are seeing government and employers at their weakest and most dangerous,” he said. “It is the responsibility of the Bangladesh government to investigate the crime and to bring the perpetrators to trial to face the legal consequences.”

The Clean Clothes Campaign, the network of garment industry unions to which BGIWF belongs, said that it joins with all those who grieve Islam’s loss.

“We also stand in solidarity with BGIWF, all those who fight to exercise their rights to freedom of association and the many workers and union members who continue putting themselves at risk to defend workers’ rights and safety in factories across Bangladesh,” said Ineke Zeldenrust, its international coordinator.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs also weighed in, writing on Twitter that it condemns Islam’s murder. “We call for a thorough and independent investigation and for the protection and advancement of union leaders’ human and labor rights,” it said.

The world’s largest trade union federation, whose Global Rights Index rates Bangladesh among the 10 worst countries for working people, with “no guarantee of human rights,” called on brands sourcing from factories in Bangladesh to conduct human rights due diligence in their supply chains.

“The brands must use their leverage to ensure respect for human rights and international labour standards in law and practice,” said Luc Triangle, acting secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, which will be publishing the latest version of its index on Friday. “There is no excuse for doing business with anyone who doesn’t respect basic rights, such as the right to freedom of association. They must hold to account their suppliers for their respect of workers’ rights.”

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