Garment industry in shadows of violence
This file photo shows garment workers taking to the streets for better pay.
Complaints are endless. Defence is strong.
Rising prices of essentials, unpaid salaries, the government's inaction and absence of responsible trade unions are the common triggers in the recent unrest in garment factories, said a labour leader yesterday.
According to Sammilito Garment Sramik Federation President Nazma Akter, the list of causes for the prevailing unrest in a sector that exported $10.699 billion worth of products last year is almost endless.
Nazma continued that absence of good relations between workers and owners, misbehaviour of mid-level officials and deferred payments to workers are some other problems that dog the RMG sector.
Opposing Nazma's view, owners and their leaders have said that administrative failures of the government, "conspiracy" from outside and lax implementation of law and order are to blame.
At several press conferences, garment owners and leaders demanded exemplary punishment to the "real culprits" and introduction of industrial police to bring peace to the RMG sector.
In tune with the owners, Nazma, who was a member of the minimum wage board formed after the massive labour unrest in 2006, said unrest must be stopped at any cost as the sector is considered one of the main pillars of the economy.
Unrest in sweater factories originated from anomalies in the count of sweater items made by workers and the records of some mid-level officials. Officials attempted to pay less by forging the actual production list of items produced over the month, she alleged.
On the most recent violence that took place at Konabari in Gazipur on Saturday, Nazma said hundreds of workers took to the streets when they heard that the police had arrested at least 15 workers of Standard Garment, a concern of Standard Group, for their alleged involvement in vandalism.
The police fired about 30 rounds of teargas shells and over 100 rubber bullets in Konabari to tame the demonstrating workers who reacted following news of the arrests of workers. Nazma said the unrest spread like forest fire to other factories.
Asked to comment, a senior official of Standard Group claimed that they had a good reputation of disbursing due payments in time. “Standard Group's exports may cross $145 million this year," the official said.
In the quest for a solution to the seemingly never-ending dilemmas, Nazma said: “There is no alternative to increasing the salaries of workers, as the prices of essential commodities went beyond their reach.”
The minimum wage of Tk 1,662.50 per month for the workers is so minimalist that workers cannot make ends meet, she said. The workers have to spend about 60 percent of their monthly earnings on food.
Nazma said the government, trade union leaders, garment owners and leaders should call immediate meetings to settle the issues, once and for all.
“First of all, we need an effective platform comprising government agencies, owners and leaders to resolve the issues of labour unrest through negotiations," she said.
However, both Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) reached a consensus to increase the salary of the workers. They have already submitted a proposal to Commerce Adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman yesterday.
A senior official of BGMEA said they would announce their food rationing programmes for the workers for Ramadan. An announcement is likely to come today.
"We have a broad plan of action for rationing different food items for the workers during Ramadan," she said.
After submitting the proposal, BKMEA President Fazlul Hoque told The Daily Star that the government would announce the new salary hike soon, in line with the recommendations of both the associations.
"We need better understanding and communication between the owners, workers and labour leaders to find a long-term solution," Hoque said.
The BKMEA said the causes for most of the recent labour disputes were not solely due to demand for salary increments. "The nature of the unrest clearly indicates that there was an involvement of outsiders," he alleged.
Hoque claimed that the compliant factories, worst affected by the violence, actually paid higher wages than competitors.
Industry insiders said most acts of vandalism took place in the hubs of Ashulia, Savar and Maona -- home to 60 percent of the factories.
According to BGMEA President Anwar-Ul-Alam Chowdhury Parvez, the sweater factories accounted for 90 percent of the recent labour unrest.
Parvez also said the sweater factory workers were young and were easily agitated with the slightest trigger.
At a recent emergency meeting with the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), Parvez had said that 147 of the 4,500 garment factories across the country had been affected from January to August 19.
In most cases, groups of outsiders vandalised the factories -- sometimes in the presence of law enforcers -- in the name of workers, he claimed.
Bangladesh earned $14.110 billion in exports in fiscal 2007-08, registering growth of 15.87 percent over the previous fiscal year, according to the Export Promotion Bureau.
Exports were boosted mainly by a rebound in readymade garment sales, the EPB data showed.
Of the total export earnings, only woven and knitwear, the two sub-sectors of RMG, fetched $10.699 billion during the last fiscal year, the EPB data showed.
Of the total RMG products, the knitwear sub-sector fetched $5.532 billion in the July-June period, up 21.50 percent over the past fiscal year.
In 2006-07, knitwear exports were worth $4.553 billion. In 2007-08, woven garments fetched $5.167 billion, registering growth of 10.94 percent over the same period of 2006-07.
The export target for woven garments was set at $5.400 billion in 2007-08 while the total exports of woven in 2006-07 were $4.657 billion.
A relatively peaceful political environment, appreciation of currencies in many countries against the dollar and aggressive marketing drives helped the RMG sector maintain the export boom, industry insiders said.
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