ITGLWF expressed grave concern at the recent unrest in the garment industry and urged Prime Minister Khaleda Zia to take immediate action to 'clean up' the industry.

ITGLWF General Secretary Neil Kearney expressed their concerns through an e-mail to the prime minister on May 23.

The letter said in light of the labour conditions that prevail in the industry, the events of the last few days, while tragic, are hardly surprising.

The organisation had warned repeatedly of the growing frustration at the payment of starvation wages, excessive hours of work, cheating on piece work, falsification of overtime rates, abusive treatment and the appalling health and safety conditions. But unfortunately, instead of trying to resolve the problems and demanding that employers respect the rights of their workers, the authorities have been persecuting the workers, the letter said.

It went on saying, the reality is that the Bangladeshi garment industry owners impose a regime, which is beyond human endurance. Last year the government legalised a 72-hour work week. But the reality is even harsher. Even on Fridays, which is supposed to be their weekly day of rest, workers in hundreds of factories can be found working 18 hours a day. Sometimes workers are forced to work around the clock, it said.

For an example Kearney mentioned, "A leading Bangladeshi retailer recently drew my attention to the situation at a factory owned by a senior member of BGMEA (Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association), where after working 29 days for 12 hours a day, last month a worker earned only Taka 400 (less than $6) a month - less than half the legal minimum wage. This is truly a scandal. No wonder the industry is in uproar!"

"Some of the details are still unclear, but we understand that the unrest started at FS Sweater Factory in Gazipur in Dhaka on May 20. There had been tensions at the factory for months, with workers being forced to work excessive overtime, being cheated on piece rates and facing verbal abuse from supervisors and managers," he wrote.

The letter said workers had gone on strike to press for fairer piece rates, the release of three detained workers and withdrawal of charges against eighty other workers. Actions had been taken against the workers in question following a dispute over piece rates in which the management had called in thugs to terrorise and intimidate the workers.

ITGLWF claimed that some workers reported that they were shot at not only by the Ansars, but also were attacked by armed outsiders and goons. The protest became even more desperate and angry after the shooting and the unrest quickly spread to other areas.

The ITGLWF also rejected the response of the industry employers associations BGMEA and BKMEA (Bangladesh Knitwear and Manufacturers Association), which have claimed that the violence was the result of a 'conspiracy by a neighbouring country'.

BGMEA brushed aside the notion that the violence is the result of low wages and poor conditions, claiming that workers were 'well paid and enjoyed good conditions'.

The ITGLWF letter said such a reaction is so divorced from the reality of the industry that it made the employers of Bangladesh a laughing stock internationally. It is regrettable that when so much effort has been made to try to stabilise and expand the industry in the post-MFA (Multi Fibre Arrangement) climate, employers seem determined to shoot themselves in the foot, the letter added.

The international organisation of garment, leather and textile workers called on the government to undertake an urgent inquiry into the root causes of the riots.

The organisation identified some problems and urged the government to solve those to save the garment industry of Bangladesh. The problems identified by ITGLWF are, excessive long working hours, low rates of basic earnings, abuses in piece rate payments, late payment of wages, child labour, issues of structural and fire safety, corrupt police practice of charging workers on the flimsiest of evidence, the practice of supervisors acting as labour contractors who illegally rake off a percentage of workers' wages, the practice of using hired goons to terrorise and intimidate workers, behaviour of the police and other paramilitary forces when unrest occurs.