[Attachment(s) from Ripan Biswas included below]
Dear Editor, Hope you are doing well and thanks for publishing my previous write ups. This is an article titled "The awful plight of RMG sector in Bangladesh". I will be highly honoured if you publish this article. I apprecite your time to read this article. Thanks Have a nice time With Best Regards Ripan Kumar Biswas New York, U.S.A --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The awful plight of RMG sector in Bangladesh Ripan Kumar Biswas Ripan.Biswas@yahoo.com 100 per cent cotton slim fit t-shirts tagged with made in Bangladesh. I looked at to one of the customers close to me who was commenting on those t-shirts to his friends at H&M departmental store in Midtown, Manhattan, New York. "Wow! these shirts are really nothing short of sumptuous but have unique luster and captivating look." Starting in late 70s, today Bangladesh has more than 5,000 garment manufacturing and exporting units to boost the country's economy that employ about three million workers of whom 90% are women. The garment industries, in addition, support another 10 million to 15 million, or roughly 10 percent of the population. Garment exports, including readymade garments, primary textiles and knitwear, account for more than 80 percent of national export income. Despite the financial melt-down and adverse economic situation to the consumer markets worldwide, Bangladesh Ready Made Garments (RMG) earned nearly 80 percent of 15.56 billion US dollars export earnings in 2008-09 fiscal year (July 2008-June 2009). Each year RMG industries contribute to the national treasury £1.6 billion from Europe, $2 billion from US and is expected to double the figure from $50 million to $1 billion over the next two years from Japan as it is the world's fourth largest garment importer and consumes $23 billion worth of ready-made garments, mostly importing from China. Bangladesh managed to maintain its comparative advantage despite a growing tension on prices. While Bangladeshi RMG is now widely considered as the life line of national income, clashes in the garment producing areas are continuing, the main issues being alleged victimization of militants, back pay, non-implementation of previously agreed concessions. On occasions strikes break out at individual factories, workers nearby stop work to join in the demonstrations. Clashes with police, army and factory security continue, as do attacks on company property. And the recent death of three garment workers and 200 injuries both from workers and police in police firing during a clash at Tongi, Dhaka on Saturday, October 31, 2009 is nothing but one more baneful example of unabated unrest in the garments sectors in the country. According to the news, out of three, two people were killed at the spot as the police fired into Nippon Garment's workers rallying for pay unpaid for three months, arrears, and sudden closure of their factory without prior notice. A similar incident in a violent clash cost two lives and several hundreds injuries of workers of a scores of factories at the Ashulia industrial zone 30 km outside Dhaka over wage cuts and unpaid salaries in June, 2009. Primarily, the workers are allegedly being stripped of their rights, trapped like slaves, paid just a few pennies an hour, working exhausting hours, living in utter misery, and sacked, penniless and worn out, when they reach 35 years of age. Bangladeshi garment workers get the lowest wages in the world with most of them get only 800 to 950 taka (13 to 15 US dollars) per month, while there is a ten-point agreement that was signed between the BGMEA (Bangladesh Garment and Manufacturing Employers' Association), government, and 12 garments workers' federations to ensure the rights of garment workers that ensures a minimum wage fixed at US $25. With overtime, a skilled garment worker can earn up to 150 dollars a month. According to law and international standard, women work is prohibited after 8 pm. But at times the women workers are asked to work until 10 pm or 11 pm. Even in some cases they work the whole night. In many cases maternity leaves are absence. Many factories do not have the day care centers, though as per the agreements they are now trying to catch up. In many cases, management does not pay the monthly wage and overtime payment within 7th of the next month. In hundreds of smaller factories monthly wages and overtime payments remain out standing for 2/3 months. As the garment workers do not have appointment letters to use as proof of employment and the government turns a blind eye to their plight, owners of the garment factories can terminate workers at any time without serving any notice. Besides these allegations against most of the garments factories in Bangladesh, factories in the South Asian nation have been hit hard by the global economic crisis with several reportedly cutting wages to compete for orders with other producing countries, such as Vietnam, China, and India. To sum up with most faced problems and lack of international standards in this sector, we however, were informed a plot hatched by outsiders behind this current unrest. According to BGMEA, the incident was not the result of any worker unrest rather it was a planned sabotage to destabilize the industry on the eve of mega event Bangladesh apparel and Textile Exposition scheduled from November 5 to 7 in the city. They added it might be acts of sabotage by local agents of foreign forces. The same has been echoed by Israfil Alam, member of the parliamentary standing committee on labor and employment ministry while according to police and workers, sudden shutdown without any prior notice fueled the agitation. In response to calm down the situation or to prevent future unrest, the Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, has asked the home ministry to take necessary action against the authorities responsible. "Whoever is found responsible for the incident, will be dealt with severely," the home minister added following prime minister order while an intelligence agency alerted the government a week ago about a possible unrest in the garment sectors. The presence of police at the spot in the previous night cleared the sense that there would be a possible unrest as the owner was going to shut down the factory without any notice. However, government is yet to form a committee to probe the unrest that was ordered by the home affairs ministry on Sunday. But the government has decided to introduce trade union in the garment sector following a meeting attended by ministers, garment factory owners, workers and representatives of BGMEA which always is a question mark to this sector observing the current political cultures in the country. Trade union if it is come with proper safeguard to expedite the workers benefits is always a good initiative. But the behavior of Bangladeshi trade unions is characterized by political activism and momentous strikes. In May 2009, Unite, the UK's largest trade union, signed a joint statement with the US-based union United Steelworkers and the German United Services Union in support of labor standards in Bangladesh. The joint statement is the result of growing international concern about labor standards in the Bangladeshi textiles sector. But it will require concrete action by all of the parties involved if it is to succeed in its aims. Except a very few skeptics, today none will disagree that the garment industry of Bangladesh has been the key export division and a main source of foreign exchange in the country. So something tangible should be done immediately rather accusing one another or leaving the real cause aside. Monday, November 2, 2009, New York Ripan Kumar Biswas is a freelance writer based in New York |
Attachment(s) from Ripan Biswas
1 of 1 File(s)
__._,_.___
