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Commenting today (Monday) on 10 years since the Rana Plaza collapse, in which more than 1,100 workers lost their lives, TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said:

"Ten years after more than a thousand workers died in the Rana Plaza factory collapse, labour rights abuses are still rife in Bangladesh and many are still working in unsafe conditions.

“Relentless union campaigning secured important safety protections and rights for factory workers. But many non-factory workers do not have the same protections.

“Today, Bangladesh is rated as one of the worst countries in the world to be a worker. Thousands of workers die each year because of dangerous conditions at work.

“And trade unions are brutally suppressed – with many workers barred from joining trade unions.

“Workers at Rana Plaza knew they were working in unsafe conditions. But without unions to guarantee their rights, they were left powerless to do anything about it.

“It’s time to do right by every single worker that died – fundamental rights must be respected and workers must be able to join a union without fear of attack.

“And it’s time to introduce mandatory human rights due diligence to clamp down on labour abuses in supply chains and hold companies accountable."

On the UK government’s role, Paul added:

"The UK government should play its part in putting pressure on Bangladesh.

“That means requiring respect for workers' rights as a pre-condition for Bangladesh’s tariff-free access to the UK market."

Editors note

-The ITUC Global Rights Index 2022 which rates Bangladesh as one of the worst countries in the world to be a worker can be found here

- The ITUC suggests 35,000 die each year at work in its 2022 report on Bangladesh

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