Tannery Workers Union (TWU) has demanded a 50-bed specialised hospital for the treatment of workers at Savar tannery hub, as they are suffering severe health hazards from the impact of chemicals used in the industry.

The TWU leaders said this in a press briefing on labour compliance and a safe working environment in the tannery hub, held at the press council auditorium in Dhaka on Tuesday.

They also demand the implementation of the ILO labour conventional Act along with the permission of trade union to protect the industry and its labour, reports UNB.

Speaking in the press conference, the general secretary of TWU Abdul Maleque said the government is giving importance to leather industries, but the tannery workers are being deprived of their minimum rights.

“After working 30 years in the tannery industries, labours were sacked from jobs without paying any financial compensation, although the tannery owners make a huge profit due to the labour of these workers,” he said.

He demanded a 50-bed hospital in the Savar tannery hub for the treatment of tannery workers as the industry workers suffered different physical difficulties including skin disease and cancer.

Maleque also demanded the mandatory use of health safety guards during duty in and operation of machinery in the tannery industries.

There are 20000 workers who are directly involved in the Savar tannery industries, while around 0.20 million workers are engaged in this industry indirectly.

The tannery industries’ local value addition is around 84 per cent, while this ratio in the garments sector is around 20 per cent.

Professor Dr. Belal Ahmed and Mohammad Nazrul Islam of solidarity centre- Bangladesh, an international organisation working on leather industry workers also spoke at the press conference.