Bangladesh, for the fifth consecutive year since 2017, has been ranked among the 10 worst countries where labour rights are not guaranteed, according to a global survey.
The Global Rights Index-2021 cited 'regressive laws, obstacles to union formation, brutal repression of strikes and dismissals' for the worst situation here.
The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) published the rights index on Wednesday.
In Bangladesh, about 46 per cent out of more than 1,100 union registration applications examined between 2010 and 2021 were rejected by labour department, it said.
The nine other worst countries are Belarus, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Honduras, Myanmar, the Philippines, Turkey, and Zimbabwe.
"Workers in Bangladesh were exposed to mass dismissals, arrests, violence, and state repression against peaceful protests. In the garment sector, strikes were often met with extreme brutality by the police, who used batons, gunshots, tear gas, and sound grenades against workers."
The eighth edition of the index ranked 149 countries in one to five categories against 97 internationally recognised indicators to assess where workers' rights are best protected in law and in practice.
Abuses of the right to strike, the right to establish and join a trade union, the right to trade unionism and civil liberties and the right to free speech and assembly are at an eight-year high.
The latest index documented how governments and employers have exploited the pandemic to dismiss workers who exposed vital information about the spread of coronavirus in workplaces, violated collective bargaining rights, increased surveillance of workers and undermined the right to privacy, and restricted free speech and assembly.
ITUC general secretary Sharan Burrow said, "The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated jobs, communities and lives. The Global Rights Index exposed a shameful roll call of governments and companies that have pursued an anti-union agenda in the face of workers who have stood on the front line providing essential work to keep economies and communities functioning."
The ITUC ranked Bangladesh with 34 other nations, including Cambodia, China, India, Pakistan, and Thailand, in the fifth category that is a sign of "no guarantee of rights".
