US condemns murder of RMG union leader; calls for thorough investigation, arrests
The US supports the rights of workers everywhere to organise and bargain collectively without fear of violence or retribution, said the US envoy
The United States has condemned the murder of union organiser Shahidul Islam and called on the Bangladeshi authorities to thoroughly investigate the crime.
During a visit to the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation, US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas expressed the country's condolences on the loss of the labour leader, a Facebook post by the US Embassy in Dhaka said.
He said the US supports the rights of workers everywhere to organise and bargain collectively without fear of violence or retribution.
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"The United States condemns the murder of union organiser Shahidul Islam and calls on Bangladeshi authorities to investigate this crime thoroughly and hold the perpetrators accountable," he said.
Earlier on 28 June, the US Department of Labor (USDOL) condemned the murder of Shahidul Islam, who was killed in an attack in front of the factory he worked in Gazipur.
"USDOL condemns the murder of Shahidul Islam, a union organizer from the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation. We call for a thorough and independent investigation and for the protection and advancement of union leaders' human and labor rights," USDOL's Bureau of International Labor Affairs said in a tweet.
Shahidul Islam, the president of the Gazipur unit of the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation, was leaving Prince Jacquard Sweaters Limited factory on 26 June following discussions with workers amid dissatisfaction over their dues when miscreants swooped on him and beat him till he was unconscious.
Later, he was taken to Tairunnessa Memorial Medical College Hospital where doctors pronounced him dead.
However, Shahidullah Azim, vice-president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), told TBS that none of the owners were involved in the attack, rather it was an infighting between leaders of two trade unions.
Union leaders, however, said the factory owners had hired goons to carry out the attack.
The manager of the garment factory and 12 others were sued over the murder of the labour leader two days later.
