Late last month, over 200,000 ‘naujan’, or river navigation workers, under the banner of the ITF-affiliated Bangladesh Noujan Shramik Federation (BNSF) won major improvements to their working lives after a three-day strike against the Bangladesh Cargo Vessel Owners’ Association.
Among the gains, employers have accepted the maritime workers’ long-standing argument for the payment of food allowances to crew aboard river navigation vessels. Ashiqul Alam Chowdhury, General Secretary of BNSF said,...