The sixth Executive Committee meeting of the Worker-led Climate Action Network (Worker CAN) was held in Dhaka on 20 August 2026.
The meeting began with a minute of silence in memory of the workers who recently lost their lives in a tragic accident in Sitakunda’s shipbreaking industry. Members called on the government to ensure a proper investigation and take legal action against those responsible.
The meeting opened with remarks from Worker CAN Convener Md. Hasan Ali, who also presented the minutes, decisions and progress from the previous Executive Committee meeting. Following a detailed review, the members unanimously approved the previous meeting’s minutes.
Members then discussed the continuing challenges facing Bangladesh’s RMG sector, particularly the worsening energy crisis. They expressed concern that, if prolonged, energy insecurity could harm the national economy and place the country’s leading export sector at risk, while also threatening workers’ jobs, livelihoods and wellbeing.
The Executive Committee emphasised that the sector needs more than short-term responses to the immediate crisis. Electricity and energy must be treated as strategic issues for both national development and workers’ rights. Members called for the government, industry associations, employers and international buyers to work in partnership to identify sustainable and longer-term solutions.
Considering future global environmental and climate-related requirements, participants identified a transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy as the most sustainable and practical pathway for strengthening the resilience and competitiveness of the RMG sector.
In response to the current context, Worker CAN members developed an eight-month advocacy action plan for August 2026 to March 2027. The plan aims to strengthen calls for industrial decarbonisation and a just energy transition in Bangladesh’s RMG industry. It places particular emphasis on coordinated action by government, employers and buyers, alongside engagement with relevant stakeholders at different levels.
The meeting concluded with closing remarks from Worker CAN Convener Hasina Akter.
The Worker-led Climate Action Network (Worker CAN) is an alliance of 14 sectoral trade union federations representing youth and women worker leaders in Bangladesh’s ready-made garment (RMG) industry. The Network works to promote industrial decarbonisation, renewable energy transition, environmental sustainability and just transition, while strengthening and mainstreaming workers’ voices in sectoral and national-level discourse on industry, climate change and just energy transitions.
