Labor Rights of Tannery Workers in Bangladesh: An Overview

Tannery in Bangladesh has a long history as a profitable business though it has both environmental and health hazards. The labour rights of tannery workers are disrupted and their standard of living is miserable. Nevertheless, the job of tannery workers is tedious. The aim of this paper is to explore the current status of basic labour rights maintained in tanneries based in the Dhaka and Narayanganj districts of Bangladesh. This study is qualitative in nature. Primary data have been collected from tannery workers through four Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and five observations from five different factory visits in 2021. The findings reveal that tannery workers are exploited by insufficient employment benefits and a lack of welfare facilities as stated in BLA-2006. They also suffer from occupational health, hygiene and safety crises. Long working hours and pay below minimum wage are also common in this sector. In addition, tannery workers have a serious observation on their pay, leave, job security, maternity benefit, etc. This paper concludes with the observations that basic labour rights at tanneries in Bangladesh are not protected, which generates grievances. This study also recommends practicing BLA-2006 in the tannery sector in order to avoid further legal obligations and possible labour unrest.