Bangladeshi community forms first ever workers union in Britain

The Bangladeshi community in East London made history last week, with the formation of the first ever workers union catering to the rights of Bangladeshi workers in the United Kingdom (UK), reports UNB. Already commanding a membership of over 500, on November 28 the Bangladeshi Workers' Union became an affiliate member of GMB- one of the UK's three largest trade unions- through a ceremony attended by Tower Hamlets lawmaker Jim Fitzpatrick, local Councillor Shiria Khatun, and Labour peer Maurice Glasman at Preem Restaurant in Brick Lane- the heart of East London's Bangali community. The union has managed to recruit members from all over the UK, with workers reportedly travelling into London to attend meeting from far away. Most of the members have been living in the UK for 5-10 years, and the group hasn't yet come across anyone living illegally in the UK seeking membership. Talking to the news agency over phone Saturday, Councillor Khatun, one of the driving forces behind the setting up of the union from its conceptual stage, said a collective bargaining unit for Bangladeshi workers has been 'long, long overdue'. Since the 1970s, with changes in immigration laws, Bangladeshis have been migrating in large numbers to the UK, and number was well over 200,000 now.