How are we allowing wage theft on such a massive scale?
We are alarmed that tens of thousands of workers in the shipbreaking industry—which remains one of the most dangerous occupations in the country, with disturbing levels of fatalities, injuries and work-related diseases—are being denied their rightful wages by employers. Although the government declared Tk 16,000 as minimum wage in 2018, a recent investigation by The Daily Star reveals that many workers are receiving only half of what they are legally owed. This essentially means that over the last two years, employers have robbed workers of crores of Taka. Workers and labour leaders report that the wage structure and labour laws are ignored in every single yard of the country, depriving workers of any semblance of dignity. As a result, an overwhelming majority are struggling to make ends meet, despite risking their lives on a daily basis.
Earlier this month, a 35-year-old man died after falling from the engine room of a ship in Chattogram. According to non-profit Young Power in Social Action, about seven shipbreaking workers have died this year, while another 24 died in 2019. Many more were temporarily or permanently disabled in the absence of sufficient protection gears or safety protocols. Meanwhile, with no enforcement of existing labour laws, workers are forced to work long hours, during holidays and without work contracts.
It is now well-documented how ruthlessly workers are exploited in the shipbreaking industry. But why is there so little monitoring of the industry from the government? What is the point of legislating minimum wages if there is no mechanism to ensure implementation? How have employers gotten away with such massive wage theft for the last two years?
We urge the government to take urgent steps to rectify this serious violation. It should ensure that employers not only pay minimum wages to workers going forward, but also back wages for the past two years. It is abhorrent that it is allowing exploitative employers to rob desperate and destitute workers of their dues under the government’s nose. This must end now.
