Students lead reform movement in Bangladesh (Rayhan9d).

Dear friends,

Over the last two months, massive student-led protests in Bangladesh have resulted in the ousting of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who had ruled the country for the past 15 years. Her government was known for widespread corruption and brutal repression against movements for higher wages, equal opportunities for students and other social demands.

Our partners in Bangladesh are cautiously optimistic about possibilities in this new era, and MSN will continue to support Bangladeshi garment workers and their unions in their demands for decent jobs, safe working conditions and a new era of justice and respect for their rights.

In this issue of the Update, we honour Guatemalan union leader Anastacio Tzib Caal, who was murdered on June 15, 2024, and Bangladeshi union activist Shahidul Islam, who was murdered on June 25, 2023. In both cases, MSN joins with international and national partners in calling for thorough investigations and asking brands and supplier factories to ensure respect for workers’ right to freedom of association and an end to violence against union leaders.

We also profile recent attacks on Cambodian worker rights organization CENTRAL, an important victory by an independent union in Nazareno, Mexico that won an initial collective bargaining agreement, and a victory by the former workers at two Salvadoran factories that have finally won back wages and severance.

Lynda Yanz, for the MSN team

Students organize the "Bangla Blockade" (Rayhan9d).

Will ouster of Bangladeshi Prime Minister open the door to justice for students and workers?

Massive protests by students and their supporters in Bangladesh this July and August led to the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the creation of an interim government headed by Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus, raising hopes of an end to repression and the creation of new opportunities for students and workers.

The murder of at least 300 students and other protesters and the detention of thousands were only the most recent instances of government repression against human and labour rights activists, garment workers and union leaders.

In November 2023, thousands of Bangladeshi garment workers staged massive protests after the government announced the adoption of a minimum wage that would not begin to meet their basic needs. The government responded with a brutal crackdown in which at least four workers were killed and over 100 arrested. Criminal charges were also filed against union leaders and over 2,500 unnamed workers.

The latest crisis has caused further chaos for the garment industry in Bangladesh, among the world’s top three garment-producing countries. A government-imposed internet blackout and curfew, as well as factory shutdowns, meant that workers struggling to get by were not being paid full wages.

International labour rights organizations and multi-stakeholder initiatives are calling on brands that source from Bangladesh to extend order deadlines, drop late order penalties, and ensure long-term responsible sourcing practices. Brands should also ensure that their supplier factories pay workers their full wages for July and subsequent months and withdraw all charges against workers for participating in the wage protests last November.

MSN is working with our Bangladeshi and international labour partners in calling for an end to repression against peaceful protesters and justice for students and workers.

Illustration by Sjoukje Bierma for SKC (CCC Netherlands).

One year after murder of Bangladeshi union organizer, brands fail to act

On June 25, 2024, one year after the murder of union activist, Shahidul Islam, MSN joined with our Bangladeshi and international labour partners in calling for adequate compensation for Shahidul’s family, further investigation to identify all those responsible for his murder, and increased protections for the right to freedom of association for garment workers in Bangladesh.

A long-time union organizer with the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation (BGIWF), Shahidul was brutally attacked and murdered after leaving a meeting with management at the Prince Jacquard Sweaters Ltd factory. He had been supporting workers in demanding their unpaid wages and benefits.

The Clean Clothes Campaign, of which MSN is a member, is tracking which brands have contributed to the compensation fund for his wife and two children and how much. So far, only one of the 50+ brands that sourced from the factory has contributed.

Anastacio Tzib Caal (WRC).

Guatemalan union demands action after leader murdered

On June 15, the General Secretary of the SITRATEXPIA II union in Guatemala, Anastacio Tzib Caal, was murdered by an unknown assailant. Tzib Caal had worked at the SAE-A Trading Corporation’s Texpia II factory that produces clothing for several well-known international brands, including Carhartt, Target, and Walmart.

Immediately following Caal’s murder, MSN joined with Guatemalan and international labour partners in expressing our solidarity with his family, including two children, and his union brothers and sisters in calling for a thorough and transparent investigation of the murder to identify the material and intellectual authors of the crime and hold them accountable.

Since the SITRATEXPIA II union’s founding in 2022, union leaders and members have been subjected to violent attacks and death threats from mobs of anti-union employees. Although factory management has complied with some union proposals to prevent further violence and communicate its support for freedom of association to the workforce, threats had resurfaced in the weeks before the murder.

MSN continues to monitor developments in this case along with our partners at the Solidarity Center, the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) and the Guatemalan Network of Maquila Unions (RSM-GT).

Former Style Avenue and APS factory workers request tax exemption (FEASIES).

Former Style Avenue and APS workers receive back wages and severance pay

As a result of lengthy campaigns by Salvadoran unions and international labour rights organizations, hundreds of workers formerly employed by the Style Avenue and APS garment factories in El Salvador are receiving legally owed back wages, severance and other terminal benefits.

In the case of the May 2023 Style Avenue closure, after months of pressure, the main buyer, Outerstuff, committed to full remediation with a contribution of US$1.8 million, the first two-thirds of which was paid out to the workers in early August.

APS El Salvador closed two years ago in August 2022. Following a series of negotiations, Kellwood, Alwants and Gildan agreed to pay “humanitarian contributions” totaling US$1.34 million, leaving US$659,000 (approximately 33%) still owed to the workers. In the last month, Hanesbrands, one of two brands named as owing funds in a March 2024 WRC report, proposed to contribute $100,000, which was accepted by the three unions representing former APS workers.

Despite significant public campaigning, the other brand buyer, Specialized Bicycle Components, has made no financial commitment to date.

According to Carmen Urquilla of the Salvadoran women’s organization ORMUSA that is responsible, in coordination with the three unions, for the disbursement of funds, former APS workers should receive their payments in early September.

In both cases, ORMUSA and the unions petitioned the government to allow the former workers to receive the total amount owed without a 10% tax. The government did not respond to their request.

ORMUSA and the unions are continuing to provide support on outstanding legal cases and the factory inventory that could result in further payments if they can sell these goods in the future.

Reflecting on the lengthy process to achieve just compensation in these cases, Marta Zaldaña of the union federation FEASIES said: “We believe brands are jointly responsible with their suppliers for ensuring that workers are paid what they are owed when factories close. Why does it always seem to take international pressure to force brands to live up to that responsibility?”

With further factory closures rumored, announced or in process in El Salvador and Honduras, and given the prevalence of wage theft in the industry, brands must take responsibility and ensure workers in their supply chain are paid what they are legally owed.

Representatives celebrate the signing of the initial CBA (La Liga).

Independent Mexican union wins CBA at Nazareno garment factory

On August 14, workers at the Delta Staff Manufacturing garment factory in Nazareno, Mexico voted overwhelmingly in favour of a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiated by their independent union, the Mexican Worker’s League (La Liga). 548 workers voted to ratify the agreement and only 93 voted against it. The factory produces for Gap, Levi’s, Carhartt and Target.

This is only the second case in recent memory in which an independent union has successfully negotiated an authentic CBA with an employer in Mexico’s garment export sector. Mexico’s 2019 labour justice reform granted workers the right to vote by secret ballot on an initial CBA and negotiated revisions to the CBA.

In January, La Liga won the right to negotiate a CBA in a union representation election against the CTM-affiliated union that had previously signed an employer protection contract. 563 of the Delta Staff Nazareno workers voted in favour of La Liga and only 79 for a CTM union.

CENTRAL'S report identified barriers to FOA in Cambodia (CENTRAL).

Cambodian labour rights organization under attack for documenting barriers to freedom of association

The well-respected Cambodian Center for the Alliance of Labor and Human Rights (CENTRAL) is under attack by pro-government unions for a June 2024 report documenting barriers to freedom of association (FOA) in Cambodia’s garment, footwear and travel goods industries. The report calls for improvements in the International Labour Organization’s (ILO’s) Better Factories Cambodia (BFC) monitoring program to more effectively identify FOA violations.

The pro-government unions petitioned the Ministry of the Interior for an investigation into CENTRAL’s activities and foreign funding, alleging that its report could negatively affect Cambodia’s international reputation and investment climate. On July 15, the National Audit Authority commenced a highly controversial audit of the organization.

As part of the research for the June 2024 report, members of two of Cambodia’s leading independent unions, the Alliance of Trade Unions (CATU) and the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Unions (C.CAWDU), provided testimonies of surveillance, harassment, blacklisting, and other FOA violations in their workplaces.

With the administrative and judicial barriers embedded in Cambodia’s legal system, independent unions need the BFC to effectively document FOA violations in order to improve factory conditions in Cambodia.

Cambodian and international human and labour rights organizations, including MSN, have been demanding an end to the harassment and threats against CENTRAL, and have called on brands sourcing from Cambodia to urge the Cambodian government to end the criminalization of legitimate human and labour rights work in the country. On July 13, the Fair Labor Association and American Apparel and Footwear Association published an open letter to the Cambodian government calling for the immediate cancellation of the audit.

Sri Lankan trade unions meet in 2023 regarding proposed reforms (FTZ&GSEU).

Labour rights organizations denounce regressive labour reform proposals in Sri Lanka

MSN is working with Sri Lankan labour partners and international allies to call attention to a set of proposed regressive labour laws in Sri Lanka, where a political and economic crisis has already caused significant hardship for garment workers and their families in the past five years.

In their current version, the proposed labour reforms would seriously weaken worker rights in the country, including removing protections against excessive overtime and unfair dismissal for union participation.

In May 2024, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Clean Clothes Campaign, in which MSN participates, published an open letter calling on the government of Sri Lanka to halt the proposed reforms and initiate a transparent and democratic process to draft alternative labour reforms that respect Sri Lankan workers’ rights and international labour standards.

The future of these proposed reforms, as well as more positive proposals to address corruption, poverty, and fiscal policy, could rest on the upcoming elections scheduled for September 21, 2024. This will be the first regular presidential election since the 2022 crisis that led the former president to flee the country and later resign.

Image from a video about forced disappearances in El Salvador (Cristosal).

Salvadoran human rights organizations call for end to state of emergency

In April, Salvadoran human rights organizations publicly denounced the more than 78,000 arbitrary detentions, 327 forced disappearances and 235 deaths committed during President Nayib Bukele’s harsh, yet widely popular, state of emergency policy, which has been regularly extended since March 2022.

In April 2024, MSN’s women’s labour rights partner ORMUSA and five other civil society organizations presented the report Forced disappearances under repressive security policies and the State of Exception to the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID).

They asked the WGEID to call on the government of El Salvador to end the state of emergency, acknowledge the existence of forced disappearances and take concrete steps to improve methods for tracking, investigating, reporting on and searching for the disappeared.

Human rights organizations have raised concerns that the state of emergency will continue indefinitely.

On June 1, President Bukele was inaugurated for a second term, backed by an earlier court ruling, despite a constitutional ban on multiple terms. The president won 84% of the vote and his Nuevas Ideas party won 54 out of 60 seats in Congress in the February elections, aided by the 2023 electoral reforms that reduced the number of congressional seats by nearly a third.

Employer Guidance tools promote Freedom of Association in Mexico and El Salvador

In July, the Mexico Committee of the Americas Group adopted a guidance tool for employers on their new obligations under the country’s labour justice reform to respect workers’ right to freedom of association and to bargain collectively. MSN has also published an updated summary of the rights and obligations regarding FOA in Mexican law, international conventions, and the trinational trade agreement.

In October 2023, the Central America Committee adopted an FOA guidance tool for employers in El Salvador based on common violations of workers’ associational rights in that country.

Both tools provide employers in Mexico and El Salvador’s garment sector with clear expectations on the actions they should take to ensure that workers’ right to freedom of association and to bargain collectively is respected in their wholly owned and supplier factories.

Both are also useful resources for labour rights organizations and unions.

The Americas Group is a multi-stakeholder forum for which MSN serves as the secretariat.

The Maquila Solidarity Network (MSN) is a labour and women's rights organization that supports the efforts of workers in global supply chains to win improved wages and working conditions. Please consider supporting MSN's important work by making an online contribution or by sending a cheque to the address below.

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