International campaign against worker repression

Many months after the 2023 wage protests, 40,000 workers continued to face arbitrary charges that could lead to lengthy prison sentences, including life imprisonment. The largely baseless charges were dating from before the July revolution, but still hanging over workers’ heads. Some workers were charged based on acts that took place far away from their workplaces, in which they could not have taken part. International brands not only failed to publicly condemn the undemocratic wage revision process and include wage demands supported by Bangladeshi trade unions in their statements and price setting processes, but they also stood idly by while the workers making their clothes faced prison time just for protesting. After many months of unsuccessful behind the scenes lobbying towards brands to use their power to convince their suppliers to drop the charges, Clean Clothes Campaign launched a public call out of brands for not doing enough to ensure workers would stay out of jail. This has led to many of the of the charges, involving thousands of workers, being dropped since.