A total of 593 labour unrests took place in different industrial hubs of the country in 2020, mainly due to non-payment of wages and deprivation of rights, according to a report. The country’s readymade garment (RMG) sector witnessed the highest number of unrests – 264 – followed by 49 in the jute sector and 46 in sugar mills, reveals the report launched by Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS) at a press conference in Dhaka’s National Press Club on Saturday. Besides, according to the report, at least 729 workers died in workplace accidents across the country in 2020. The highest number of such deaths – 348 – was recorded in the transport sector followed by 170 on construction sites and 67 in the agricultural sector, the report adds. A total of 433 workers received injuries during workplace accidents, the BILS report shows. According to the report, out of the 729 workers who died in workplace accidents last year, 723 were men and six were women. In 2019, the BILS recorded 1200 worker deaths during different workplace accidents, while it was 1020 in 2018, 784 in 2017, 699 in 2016 and 363 in 2013, the report notes. Workers last year took to the streets demanding reopening of laid-off factories and arrears, bonus and other allowances, according to the findings of the report. The BILS report, made based on reports in different dailies last year, notes that factory layoff amid the Covid-19 was another reason for labour unrest in 2020.
