Brands act after murder of Bangladeshi trade unionist
Shahidul Islam, a union leader in Bangladesh, was beaten to death on 25 June 2023.
He was attacked after leaving a meeting at the Prince Jacquard Sweaters Ltd factory to help the workers collect their due bonuses and wages, which the factory management refused to pay.
What needs to happen?
The murder investigation must continue and the perpetrators, including any higher-level management officials involved, brought to justice.
The brands whose products were made at this factory must take responsibility to ensure Shahidul's wife and children, who have lost their husband, father, and breadwinner, receive compensation. International standards prescribe that they should receive at least 24,934,830 Bangladeshi Taka (ca. 212k USD).
We have contacted all of the brands that sourced from this factory to urge them to step up - but the result is depressing.
It is time for these brands to ensure Shahidul's family does not have to struggle to make ends meet.
Let's have a look at who should contribute!
Who are the biggest buyers from Prince Jaquard Sweater? And who are the biggest brands, who could easily pay up?
Brand
Country
Annual revenue (self-reported)
Minimum value of goods bought from PJS June 2022 - March 2024
These are the brands which keep the Prince Jacquard Sweater factory going, because they put in most orders, as well as the richest brands, for whom paying the family what they need would be peanuts. These brands have failed to interact meaningfully with our letters for two years now.
What other brands have failed to take responsibility?
Beyond RD Style, New Yorker, Piazza Italia, Lager 157, Akkerman and DK Company, the brands that sourced from this factory during the year before and after Shahidul's murder and have not taken responsibility, include:
AM London Fashion, Ardene, Astermod (Verywear SAS Groupe), Australian Design Studio S.L., Brand Studio Lifestyle Private Ltd (Get Ketch), Calao, Essenza, Gocco, Holland House Fashion BV, Infiknit, Katag, Malwee Malhas Ltd., Mantra, Martes Moda, Mayoral International, Moodo Urban Fashion Mode-Szyszko, Pick n Pay, Pink Rose Clothing (Paper Cut Clothing LLC), Polinesia Sport, Redefined Fashion (Minus, Beyond Now, Desires, White and More, Peppercorn), Refrigiwear, Ruckfield S.A.S., Salling Group, Sanjeev 1979 LTD., Sports Group Denmark, Stormy Life, Suzy's Inc., Take Off S.P.A., Tessival, TFG, Villanova, VR46 Racing Apparel, Woman Within (Full Beauty), X-ray Jeans (N.E. Brands).
All these brands have failed to take meaningful action to prevent or remediate the wage theft that Shahidul Islam intervened to address, nor ensured that this factory respected freedom of association. None of them have provided any financial support for Shahidul’s family following his brutal murder, and they have also failed to demonstrate any concrete actions taken to protect workers’ freedom of association rights across their Bangladeshi suppliers to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Is violence against organisers and repression of trade union activism an exception in Bangladesh?
The murder of trade unionist Shahidul Islam is a stark reminder of the incredibly repressive environment in which our clothes are being produced in Bangladesh. Only five months after the murder, the announcement of a new minimum wage that amounted to barely half of what workers need, led to a wage of protests and intense repression. Four workers died, dozens were arrested, and thousands face legal charges. This was an exact repetition of the playbook of the country’s previous minimum wage review in 2018.
Ignoring these demands, brands refused to speak out for the workers’ demands, factory owners pushed for a minimum wage that met the low prices that brands are willing to pay, and the government unleashed repression when workers started protesting.
In July 2024, student protests were met with extreme violence. This eventually led to the overthrow of the regime and a new interim government. Union leaders have been involved in drafting recommendations to the new government which include guarantees to freedom of association.
What needs to change?
For actual change to happen in the industry, workers need to be able to organise to drive this change. Right now brands consider freedom of organisation as a tick-box exercise, where it is enough that an auditing company tells them there is no active obstruction. Human Rights Watch showed in a recent exposé that these audits are often bogus. Yet, several of the brands that sourced from the Prince Jacquard Sweater factory are still telling us that their audits ensured them all was fine. It wasn’t. Shahidul Islam was killed in front of the factory gates, over wages that workers were owed. Brands need to accept that their current approach isn’t working out and start taking freedom of association and workers’ rights to a decent wage seriously.
For this cycle of poverty wages and repression to end, brands need to urgently change their purchasing practices and stop pushing for the lowest price at the cost of labour rights.
