Ariful Islam Sujan, a cutterman working at Kabir Steel Ship Breaking Yard, died on the spot after being hit by an iron sheet while working on January 31.
In protest of the accident, a human chain programme was organized at Chattogram Press Club premises on Wednesday at the initiative of Ship-breaking Workers’ Trade Union Forum. The programme later took the form of a rally in the face of police obstacles.
Nationalist Workers’ Party Central Committee President Mohammad Anwar Hossain, Ship Workers’ Trade Union Forum joint convener AM Nazim Uddin, Bangladesh Trade Union Center central organizer Fazlul Kabir Mintu, Ship-breaking workers’ leader Mohammad Ali, and BFTUC Chittagong district general secretary KM Shahidullah were present during this time.
Leaders at the rally said that despite repeated accidents in the ship-breaking industry, the owners and the government are indifferent. In 2021, 13 workers died in accidents in this industry. In the last three years, 46 workers have died in accidents and hundreds more have been injured.
The leaders questioned how many more workers have to die and get injured to stop accidents in the shipbreaking industry and ensure the safety of ship-breakers.
The leaders also said that although there is an obligation to release waste, toxic gases and explosives before the ship is cut according to national and international standards, it is not followed properly.
“Due to the geographical location of Bangladesh, most of the world's largest ships are cut here. However, the kind of modern equipment needed to cut large ships is not used in most yards. Although the formation of safety committee is mandatory under section 90 (a) of the Labor Act, no safety committee has been formed in any yard of Bangladesh so far. As a result, workers are constantly working with the risk of death. Sadly, the workplace of ship-breaking workers has turned into a graveyard today,” they said.
Ship-breaking workers are not getting any benefit according to the existing labor law in Bangladesh. According to the Wage Board, the minimum wage for the workers of this sector is Tk 16,000 and Tk 615 daily but the employers are not complying with it. The owners of the ship-breaking industry are so influential that even if they commit one irregularity after another, the concerned government officials cannot take action against them, they said.
The owners do not follow the instructions of the High Court of not making workers work at night. Workers still work through contractors for only Tk 300 to 500 a day. Workers are not given festival bonuses. Wages are not available on time in many yards.
Despite enduring so much irregularity, injustice and torture, the workers are constantly working at the risk of their lives.
Compensation of at least Tk 20 lakh to the family of the deceased was demanded from the rally as loss of year earnings according to ILO Convention 121.
