In Bangladesh, garment workers' payday not a sure thing

Syful Islam
Bangladesh - 05/01/2005
  "The garment workers of Bangladesh may be the most deprived labor force in the world. Most are paid between US$14 to US$16 per month, the lowest salary in the world", said Amirul Haq Amin, Coordinator of the Bangladesh Garment Workers Unity Council (BGWUC) on Thursday.

"Although buyers from many countries, including the United States, are pressing the Government of Bangladesh and garment manufacturers to enforce existing labor laws and modernize their garment factories, neither is trying to serve the interests of garment workers", he complained.

Only a few factories here maintain international standards, and many of them do not implement any worker health and safety measures, he said.

The American Reporter observed workers being required to work in awkward positions in sweltering factories that do not have fans or air-conditioning. As a result, they often feel uncomfortable during work, leading to mistakes, accidents and high stress.

Due to the current price of essential commodities, few workers can meet the minimum demands of life with $14 to $16 per month.

And even though the salaries are very low, most of the garment factory owners do not pay workers their salaries on time. There are many garment factories in Bangladesh where the workers may not get their paychecks for two to five months after they are due.

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, and usually do so without paying them any back salary.

Trade union activities in the garment factories of Bangladesh are now strictly prohibited. Many garment workers lose their jobs because they try to form trade unions. Labor laws here are circumvented with ease.

For instance, according to the labor laws, a worker must get paid by the first week of the month, a law that is ignored in most of the factories.

As for the workday, an employee may work a maximum of 10 hours a day and 6 days per week but workers in Bangladesh are allegedly forced to work 14 to 16 hours a day and seven days in a week.

About 90 percent of garment workers in Bangladesh are female. Though most work until after dark, there are no safety measures for them and no residential facilities provided. As a result, they frequently feel insecure, and for good reason: many garment workers are raped and abused by criminals who specialize in preying on them.

Garment workers in Bangladesh usually do not get appointment letters, identity cards or service books (as time cards are called here). Most get no weekly, maternity or other legal leaves.

They do not get tips, pensions or life insurance, and after retirement, many garment workers have to go back home without any money at all in hand.

Currently, Bangladesh has 3,700 garment factories that employ 1.8 million people. Of those workers, 85 to 90 percent are women. Trade unionists fear that almost 1 million garment workers would become unemployed after a quota system that helped Bangladesh garment industry to strength its position is ended.

Moimuna Khatun, 16, a girl from Barishal, a city in the southern part of the country, works in a factory in the capital. She said that she was hired at the factory on January 1, 2004. She received Tk800, or US$16.29, as salary on February 25. Since she was hired on the 25th, she is supposed to be paid on the 25th of each month.

"The factory owner has not given me my appointment letter, even though about eight months have already passed," she alleged. Hamid Miah, 45, a garment worker, said that most of the workers who leave garment factories fail to receive their past due pay from the owners. "Factory owners hardly pay the salary," he complained.

While visiting some garment factories in the city, the American Reporter observed that most of the garment workers were sweating and uncomfortable due to the hot temperatures. Workers, especially female workers, alleged that although there were physicians in some of the factories the level of care is not good, and there is little or no medicine there.

"We are not safe inside or outside the factories," a female worker alleged. The female workers alleged that their colleagues, superiors and criminals outside the factories sexually harassed them. Those who do get paid must worry about getting robbed of their meager salaries by the same people.

When contacted by The American Reporter, Annisul Huq, the president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) told this correspondent that the manufacturers were trying to implement the criteria required by the labor laws.

He also said that international buyers buy products from those garment manufacturers that meet international standards. Before placing their orders, they examine factories for compliance with the standards, and only then place orders, he said.

"We have already met some criteria which are now mandatory for garment factories," he observed. He admitted, however, that some of the factories might evade the laws and that those will be closely monitored.

Note: this article was published on the site American Reporter; due to the interest of the subject for Brainstorming, the author accepted to allow us to publish it again on this site.

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