The price of power; cops gun down strikers in Bangladesh
Police murders during a recent strike at a new Bangladeshi power plant and its context within shifting global energy policies.
16th April 2021, Banshkhali, Chittagong region, Bay of Bengal, southern Bangladesh:
Last Friday several hundred workers laid down their tools and gathered at the construction site of the Banshkhali power plant. They demanded from plant management a two hour reduction in the working day for the religious holiday of Ramadan to allow breaks for prayers, for wages arrears to be paid in time for the holiday and for a pay rise. Workers normally work a twelve hour day including four hours compulsory overtime. Workers stated that when the demands were put to management they were met with insults and orders to keep working.