Bangladesh has been ranked by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) as one of the worst countries in the world in terms of workers’ rights.Countries are in six groups — irregular violation of rights, repeated violation of rights, regular violation of rights, systematic violation of rights, no guarantee of rights. Bangladesh is grouped under the no guarantee of rights title.

ITUC rates 141 countries on a scale of 1 to 5 based on the degree of respect for workers’ rights. Countries with a rating of 5 are the worst countries in the world to work in. While legislation may spell out certain rights, workers have effectively no access to these rights and are therefore exposed to autocratic regimes and unfair labor practices.

In Bangladesh, unions are prohibited by law, allowing only for the establishment of worker welfare associations, which do not have the same rights as unions. In most export processing zones, labor inspections are rare or under the purview of a special inspection rule which does little to enforce the law. Police crush marches and demonstrations where workers demand minimum wages and job security.

ITUC notes serious violations of trade union rights occur in export processing zones throughout Asia including Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Cambodia, and the Philippines.

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