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Bangladesh

Companies from Bangladesh

Foreign companies established in this country.

Economy, tax incentives & labor conditions

In Bangladesh, the minimum wage is 24.3 dollars per month in 2008, still below the minimum wage in 1995, taking into account inflation and inferior at least vital estimated at 70 dollars in this country.
(Labour behing the label , Royaume-Uni , 01/04/2008 , Clearing the hurdles )

The corporate tax rate is 40% on profits.
(Foreign Investment Advisrory Service , Etats-Unis , 01/02/2008 )

Private sector workers are discouraged from undertaking any union activity. The Industrial Relations Ordinance gives considerable leeway for discrimination against union members and organisers by employers. Workers who try to create a trade union are not protected before registration and are therefore often persecuted by their employers, sometimes by violent means or with the help of the police. The names of workers who apply for union registration are frequently passed on to employers who promptly transfer or dismiss them, particularly in the textile sector. Even after registration, workers suspected of carrying out trade union activities are regularly harassed. One popular ploy is to dismiss a worker for misconduct, as they are then no longer entitled to become a trade union officer.
(ITUC-CSI , Suisse , 01/12/2007 , Annual Survey of violations of trade union rights )

Employers in the Export processing zones have been consistently hostile towards trade unions, claiming that many of the companies would be ruined and jobs would be lost if they had to have unions. Some employers in the zones take advantage of the absence of trade unions to commit violations of international labour standards, such as sexual harassment, physical violence, unpaid overtime, child labour, non-compliance with minimum wage regulations and deplorable safety conditions.
(ITUC-CSI , Suisse , 01/12/2007 , Annual Survey of violations of trade union rights )

All over Bangladesh, union leaders and members were routinely harassed, verbally and physically threatened, beaten, suspended, and fired for pursuing union activities. Most employers operated with total impunity and without regard for legal protections for trade union rights.
(ITUC-CSI , Suisse , 01/12/2007 , Annual Survey of violations of trade union rights )

Textile workers outside the zones fare no better. An estimated two million women workers toil for 3,300 employers to make clothes for export in Bangladesh. Workers are regularly sacked, beaten or subjected to false charges by the police for being active in unions. The General Secretary of the United Federation of Garment Workers (UGFW) has been arrested more than a dozen times. Meanwhile, the country’s garment workers are among the lowest paid in the world. They work long hours with very little leave, and face physical, verbal and sexual abuse.
(ITUC-CSI , Suisse , 01/12/2007 , Annual Survey of violations of trade union rights )

Employers in the Export processing zone routinely harassed, intimidated, suspended and fired the leaders of the Worker Representation and Welfare Committees.
(ITUC-CSI , Suisse , 01/12/2007 , Annual Survey of violations of trade union rights )

The right to freedom of association and to collective bargaining at the workplace is not respected in the garment sector or on the tea estates.
(ITUC-CSI , Suisse , 01/12/2007 , Annual Survey of violations of trade union rights )

The Bangladeshi ship recycling industry is based at Chittagong Port. Workers are employed on an as-needs basis, have no contracts and do not sign any documents which could link them to a specific yard. Thus workers have no legal recourse in the event of a dispute. Largely owing to the fear instilled in them – through violence and the precariousness of their employment situation - workers have no way of standing up for their rights or even claiming their dues. Any claim would provoke instant dismissal. Unions are de facto forbidden on the sites and union organisers find it very difficult to gain access.
(ITUC-CSI , Suisse , 01/12/2007 , Annual Survey of violations of trade union rights )

Minimum wage noted (US$/day)
(year, wage and name of the contracting company)

2007 4 US$/day at/for Lafuma
2005 4 US$/day at/for Reebok International Ltd.
2005 4 US$/day at/for Nike Inc.
2005 3 US$/day at/for Yupoong Inc
2005 4 US$/day at/for Russell Corp.
2005 4 US$/day at/for Liz Claiborne, Inc.
2005 4 US$/day at/for Phillips-Van Heusen Corp
2005 4 US$/day at/for The Gap Inc.
2005 4 US$/day at/for H&M (Hennes & Mauritz)
2005 4 US$/day at/for Levi Strauss & Co.
2001 0.67 US$/day at/for Wal-Mart Stores
1999 1.2 US$/day at/for Wal-Mart Stores

Main labor right violations
(year, company name and norm number)

2006 Asda Group 1,26,87,98,
2006 Haesong Corp 87,98
2006 Merchantex BD Ltd 87
2006 New Modern Garments Industries Ltd 87,98
2006 SAS Fashion Wear Ltd 87,98
2006 Shanghai Sum-Sweater Knitting Fashion Co., Ltd 87,98
2006 SQ Group 87
2006 Tesco 1,26, 87, 98
2005 Wal-Mart Stores 1, 29, 138
2005 Wal-Mart Stores 138
2002 H&M (Hennes & Mauritz) 29, 87, 98, 105
2001 Wal-Mart Stores 26, 131
1999 Wal-Mart Stores 1, 26, 131

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