Is your favorite clothing brand complicit in the crackdown?
In December 2018, a new minimum wage of 8,000Tk (US$95) a month for Bangladesh’s garment workers went into effect. In protest of the sub-poverty wage – which is half the amount the labor movement had demanded – workers at dozens of factories took the streets in largely peaceful strikes. The government of Bangladesh’s security forces responded violently. They shot one worker dead on the street on his way home during his lunch break and many others sustained injuries at the hands of the police. Over the next two months, 65 workers were arrested with hundreds more facing unsubstantiated charges at the behest of factory owners. As many as 11,600 workers were dismissed without legal justification, most of whom have been unable to find other jobs due to systematic blacklisting.
This is the largest crackdown on workers’ rights in the last two decades of garment production in Bangladesh.
The table below, updated on March 10, 2020, lists major apparel brands linked to factories that filed unsubstantiated cases against workers who demonstrated for higher wages. As a result of campaign efforts, the charges filed by 14 factories have now been dropped. At least 20 other cases are still underway, however, with no sign yet of the buyers taking sufficient action to press for the dismissal of the charges.
Top Brands Buying from the Factories
Brand |
Factories that pressed trumped-up criminal charges against workers |
Factories that filed a petition to withdraw their charges |
Factories
|
Workers still facing charges |
How consumers can take action |
|
|
3 |
2 |
2 |
25 named and 100-150 unnamed workers |
|
|
|
6 |
5 |
5 |
500-600 unnamed workers | |
|
|
4 |
2 |
2 |
50 named and 260-315 unnamed workers |
|
|
|
5* |
4 |
4 |
500-600 unnamed workers | |
|
|
3 |
3 |
3 |
0 workers |
|
|
|
6 |
5 |
5 |
500-600 unnamed workers | |
|
|
3 |
2 |
2 |
7 named and 20-25 unnamed workers |
* Mango does not disclose its supplier lists publicly. Therefore, the factories supplying Mango were identified from customer information publicized on factory websites, and the actual numbers may vary.
Inditex discloses only its wet-processsing suppliers, which is the information we used here. It is possible that there are additional factories associated with Inditex than those identified in this chart.
Case Information
In the wake of the crackdown, factory owners and the industrial police filed at least 34 criminal cases against workers exercizing their right to protest peacefully. Some of these factories supply to the major brands listed above, but many others supply to lesser known brands or to brands that could not be identified. The list below lists 34 cases identified as attempts to silence worker voices. We are calling upon the brands named here where cases are listed as pending to urge their supplier factories to withdraw the charges immediately. We also urge all brands that are not transparent about their supply chains to check whether they are buying from any of the factories with pending cases. International solidarity and brand intervention has made a difference in getting 14 cases in the supply chains of major garment companies dropped. The brands listed here were buying from the factories in 2018-2019 or are currently buying from the factories. In a few cases, a brand buying from a factory in 2018-2019 may no longer be buying from the factory.
Charges
| Penal Code | Charge | Sentence Term | Description | ||||||
| 143 | Punishment | 6 months | Whoever is a member of an unlawful assembly shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine, or with both. | ||||||
| 307 |
Attempt to murder
|
Life | Whoever does any act with such intention or knowledge, and under such circumstances that, if he by that act caused death, he would be guilty of murder, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine; and, if hurt is caused to any person by such act, the offender shall be liable either to imprisonment] for life, or to such punishment as is hereinbefore mentioned. | ||||||
| 323 |
Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt
|
1 year | Whoever, except in the case provided for by section 334, voluntarily causes hurt, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine which may extend to one thousand taka, or with both. | ||||||
| 342 |
Punishment for wrongful confinement
|
3 years (?) | Whoever wrongfully confines any person, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine which may extend to one thousand taka, or with both. | ||||||
| 379 |
Punishment for theft
|
3 years | Whoever commits theft shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both. | ||||||
| 380 |
Theft in dwelling-house, etc.
|
7 years | Whoever commits theft in any building, tent or vessel, which building, tent or vessel is used as a human dwelling, or use for the custody of property, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine. | ||||||
| 427 |
Mishchief causing damage
|
2 years | Whoever commits mischief and thereby causes loss or damage to the amount of fifty taka or upwards, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both. | ||||||
| 447 |
Punishment for criminal trespass
|
3 months | Whoever commits criminal trespass shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three months, or with fine which may extend to five hundred taka, or with both. | ||||||
| 448 |
Punishment for house-trespass
|
1 year | Whoever commits house-trespass shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine which may extend to one thousand taka, or with both. | ||||||
| 506 |
Punishment for criminal intimidation
|
2 years | Whoever commits the offence of criminal intimidation shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both | ||||||
This page was last updated on March 10, 2020.