Seven shipbreaking workers die in one week

From the International Metal Workers
Seven shipbreaking workers die in one week
Jahangir Alam, a shipbreaking worker who had migrated from the poverty stricken Rangpur district to work at the Habib steel shipbreaking yard in Chittagong, Bangladesh, died as a result of an accident at work on October 12, 2009. He was the seventh Bangladeshi shipbreaking worker to die in one week.

On October 11, three other shipbreaking workers at the Pakija shipyard died from inhaling poisonous gases. On October 8, three other workers were smashed to death by an iron-plate at the Crystal shipyard.

"The labour law is being blatantly violated and the police have recorded these incidents as un-natural deaths," reports Mojibur Rahman Bhuiyan, General Secretary of IMF affiliate the Bangladesh Metalworkers' League.

At a meeting between Sramik Karmachari Oikya Parishad (SKOP), an organization of workers and employees' organizations, and the Bangladesh State Labour Minister, on October 15, Bhuiyan demanded that the Minister investigate and punish the companies responsible for the deaths.

"This is murder by shipyard owners and we demand exemplary punishment. We can not allow this to happen anymore. No one can take advantage of poverty and unemployment. The government has a responsibility to create decent jobs," Bhuiyan said to the Minister.

BML also demanded a mechanism for inspecting the ships before their entrance into the Bangladeshi territory, and that the rights of labour are protected. The union also appealed for international solidarity to "stop these barbaric killings".

The IMF sent a letter to the Bangladeshi State Labour Minister in support of the shipbreaking workers, calling for immediate action to respect the rights and improve the health, safety and welfare of shipbreaking workers in Bangladesh.

To sign a petition calling on the G20 heads of states to do more to protect the rights of shipbreaking workers in Bangladesh, go here: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/677/t/7078/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=2108