A premier economic sector under great threat
Wednesday, 23 June 2010
Enayet Rasul Bhuiyan
A virtual reign of terror has burst forth in an area so close to Dhaka city - Ashulia-Savar. Some 300 garments industries are concentrated here. For about a week fears of violence by workers centred on their alleged claims of unaddressed demand for pay hikes have been in the air. Some spurts of violence actually flared up. But for the last couple of days, what have been happening here can be described as uncontrolled and mindless violence by a small section of workers and their outside associates in which over one hundred garments industries suffered varying degrees of vandalism.
A section of the national highway passing through the area remained blocked off by the unruly elements for hours and many vehicles trapped in such road shut-off were smashed, notwithstanding that they had no link whatsoever with the non-fulfillment of workers' demand. Business establishments on both sides of the road were similarly smashed and looted. The anarchy reached a peak on Monday when over one hundred garments factories came under attacks and in the ensuing fights between the police and the rabble rousers some two hundred persons were injured on both sides. The conditions of some of the injured are said to be critical.
The situation deteriorated to such an extent that the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers & Exporters Association (BGMEA), the association of the owners of garments industries, took a decision unanimously to shut down for an indefinite period all garments industries in the area. As a result, several hundred thousand workers will now have no jobs. There is no knowing when the garments industries will resume operation as their owners were very shocked by the incidents and are almost one in blaming the law enforcement authorities or the government for not doing enough to head off the troubles in the first place.
This is not for the first time that RMG-related violence had burst forth so menacingly at Ashulia. Violence erupted many times here although on a lower scale and intensity which indicated possibilities of worse things to happen. Similar unrest and violence have been noted in other garments-producing belts in the Dhaka and Chittagong region. But all governments over nearly a decade presided nonchalantly over the growing incidents of violence in the sector as if these troubles would automatically disappear. But the troubles have gone on turning from bad to worse as the Ashulia incidents have now finally proved.
The all-too-important question is: can the people in charge of governance in the country preside so unconcernedly over the destruction of the only first-class export-oriented industry that the country could build in these nearly forty years after independence? The export-oriented garments industries are currently the biggest employment provider to millions of workers in the industrial sector of the country as a whole. The garments industries are one of the two main pillars that presently hold up the economy of Bangladesh. The other is the manpower export sector. Export of manpower from Bangladesh has been showing worrying downtrends for a while. If on top of this situation, the garments industries also face serious setbacks, the macro economy of the country would be headed for a serious reverse in its fortunes. The consequences to the economy from such developments might not show up so dangerously in the short term but certainly would be manifest even in the mid-term not to speak of the long term.
Thus, there is no way for the government to treat the present anarchy in the garments sector so casually. It cannot avoid its responsibility so easily on the plea that the government can hardly do anything if owners of the garments industries do not pay the workers reasonably and the workers resort to violence as a result. But the workers in no way have the right to take law into their own hands and destroy private properties as a way of expressing their dissatisfaction. They have in many cases taken recourse to collective bargaining under the labour laws. They can seek fulfillment of their demands through the same method. If they are not happy with their remunerations and wish not to sell their labour, they are perfectly free to do so. But there is absolutely no legality in their wanton destruction of private property, keeping thousands and thousands of innocent people and vehicles with no connection to their grievances barricaded on roads. It becomes rather the obligation of the government of the day to firmly maintain law and order and to be proactive to foil such planned or even spontaneous acts of violence.
The formation of the industrial police was suggested long ago by the BGMEA in the face of the failure of the conventional police force to contain and prevent such violence. The Prime Minister seemed to accept the proposal. But strangely it was later not acted upon specially, as reported, because of the opposition of the finance ministry. The excuse was that rearing of such a special police force with the taxpayers' money would prove to be expensive. But this reasoning is hardly tenable. Experts say that the resources to be spent on the industrial police would be peanuts compared to the resources they would be saving in the garments and other industrial sectors. Besides, the introduction of this special force would likely usher in a period of relative calm in the garments sector leading to increase in garments export and fetching of much greater orders from buyers. In that case, many times more earnings for the economy in different ways would be ensured compared to what would be required to be spent on maintaining the special police force.
So, the government must play its expected role at the fastest to save the garments industries. It should now go ahead really convincingly to set up this special force. Such a police force will need to include members of different law enforcement bodies. It must include riot police to deal more effectively with any situation. It must also have members from the special branch of the police and detective police to carry out investigations or gather intelligence about the perpetrators of the unrest in the garments sector to be able to head off violent activities before the same can happen. Some specialist manpower can be added to such a force to act even as negotiators between operators of garments industries and workers. In sum, the industrial police will need to be a truly dynamic force equipped in all ways and manners to play a stabilising and pacifying role.
Besides, the government should also recativate the tripartite dialogue mechanism between workers, industry owners and representatives from government, to settle the issue of wage revision and implementation of minimum wages. The dialogue mechanism must be run transparently and sincerely to convince the workers that the government remains very active and sincere to persuade the owners to increase their wages reasonably at the earliest. At the same time, fastest actions are necessary against some non-government organisations (NGOs) and so-called labour leaders who are deliberately instigating the workers to advance their own agenda. It was established from investigations of security agencies -- long ago -- that these groups were allegedly funded and inspired by external quarters who wish to cripple the garments sector in Bangladesh. Thus, actions against the conspirators have been overdue.
The spectacles of violence of the sort that have gripped Ashulia for the last couple of days are enough to frighten overseas buyers or in the their quick formation of a perception that Bangladesh is likely to lose its capacity as a major garments exporter in the near future. This could lead to a rethink with their export orders going to other countries. Thus, well before such a perception is formed, the government and other stakeholders must do everything possible to restore the image of the garments industry.
A virtual reign of terror has burst forth in an area so close to Dhaka city - Ashulia-Savar. Some 300 garments industries are concentrated here. For about a week fears of violence by workers centred on their alleged claims of unaddressed demand for pay hikes have been in the air. Some spurts of violence actually flared up. But for the last couple of days, what have been happening here can be described as uncontrolled and mindless violence by a small section of workers and their outside associates in which over one hundred garments industries suffered varying degrees of vandalism.
A section of the national highway passing through the area remained blocked off by the unruly elements for hours and many vehicles trapped in such road shut-off were smashed, notwithstanding that they had no link whatsoever with the non-fulfillment of workers' demand. Business establishments on both sides of the road were similarly smashed and looted. The anarchy reached a peak on Monday when over one hundred garments factories came under attacks and in the ensuing fights between the police and the rabble rousers some two hundred persons were injured on both sides. The conditions of some of the injured are said to be critical.
The situation deteriorated to such an extent that the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers & Exporters Association (BGMEA), the association of the owners of garments industries, took a decision unanimously to shut down for an indefinite period all garments industries in the area. As a result, several hundred thousand workers will now have no jobs. There is no knowing when the garments industries will resume operation as their owners were very shocked by the incidents and are almost one in blaming the law enforcement authorities or the government for not doing enough to head off the troubles in the first place.
This is not for the first time that RMG-related violence had burst forth so menacingly at Ashulia. Violence erupted many times here although on a lower scale and intensity which indicated possibilities of worse things to happen. Similar unrest and violence have been noted in other garments-producing belts in the Dhaka and Chittagong region. But all governments over nearly a decade presided nonchalantly over the growing incidents of violence in the sector as if these troubles would automatically disappear. But the troubles have gone on turning from bad to worse as the Ashulia incidents have now finally proved.
The all-too-important question is: can the people in charge of governance in the country preside so unconcernedly over the destruction of the only first-class export-oriented industry that the country could build in these nearly forty years after independence? The export-oriented garments industries are currently the biggest employment provider to millions of workers in the industrial sector of the country as a whole. The garments industries are one of the two main pillars that presently hold up the economy of Bangladesh. The other is the manpower export sector. Export of manpower from Bangladesh has been showing worrying downtrends for a while. If on top of this situation, the garments industries also face serious setbacks, the macro economy of the country would be headed for a serious reverse in its fortunes. The consequences to the economy from such developments might not show up so dangerously in the short term but certainly would be manifest even in the mid-term not to speak of the long term.
Thus, there is no way for the government to treat the present anarchy in the garments sector so casually. It cannot avoid its responsibility so easily on the plea that the government can hardly do anything if owners of the garments industries do not pay the workers reasonably and the workers resort to violence as a result. But the workers in no way have the right to take law into their own hands and destroy private properties as a way of expressing their dissatisfaction. They have in many cases taken recourse to collective bargaining under the labour laws. They can seek fulfillment of their demands through the same method. If they are not happy with their remunerations and wish not to sell their labour, they are perfectly free to do so. But there is absolutely no legality in their wanton destruction of private property, keeping thousands and thousands of innocent people and vehicles with no connection to their grievances barricaded on roads. It becomes rather the obligation of the government of the day to firmly maintain law and order and to be proactive to foil such planned or even spontaneous acts of violence.
The formation of the industrial police was suggested long ago by the BGMEA in the face of the failure of the conventional police force to contain and prevent such violence. The Prime Minister seemed to accept the proposal. But strangely it was later not acted upon specially, as reported, because of the opposition of the finance ministry. The excuse was that rearing of such a special police force with the taxpayers' money would prove to be expensive. But this reasoning is hardly tenable. Experts say that the resources to be spent on the industrial police would be peanuts compared to the resources they would be saving in the garments and other industrial sectors. Besides, the introduction of this special force would likely usher in a period of relative calm in the garments sector leading to increase in garments export and fetching of much greater orders from buyers. In that case, many times more earnings for the economy in different ways would be ensured compared to what would be required to be spent on maintaining the special police force.
So, the government must play its expected role at the fastest to save the garments industries. It should now go ahead really convincingly to set up this special force. Such a police force will need to include members of different law enforcement bodies. It must include riot police to deal more effectively with any situation. It must also have members from the special branch of the police and detective police to carry out investigations or gather intelligence about the perpetrators of the unrest in the garments sector to be able to head off violent activities before the same can happen. Some specialist manpower can be added to such a force to act even as negotiators between operators of garments industries and workers. In sum, the industrial police will need to be a truly dynamic force equipped in all ways and manners to play a stabilising and pacifying role.
Besides, the government should also recativate the tripartite dialogue mechanism between workers, industry owners and representatives from government, to settle the issue of wage revision and implementation of minimum wages. The dialogue mechanism must be run transparently and sincerely to convince the workers that the government remains very active and sincere to persuade the owners to increase their wages reasonably at the earliest. At the same time, fastest actions are necessary against some non-government organisations (NGOs) and so-called labour leaders who are deliberately instigating the workers to advance their own agenda. It was established from investigations of security agencies -- long ago -- that these groups were allegedly funded and inspired by external quarters who wish to cripple the garments sector in Bangladesh. Thus, actions against the conspirators have been overdue.
The spectacles of violence of the sort that have gripped Ashulia for the last couple of days are enough to frighten overseas buyers or in the their quick formation of a perception that Bangladesh is likely to lose its capacity as a major garments exporter in the near future. This could lead to a rethink with their export orders going to other countries. Thus, well before such a perception is formed, the government and other stakeholders must do everything possible to restore the image of the garments industry.