Averting tragedies in garment factories

"While women find liberty in hard labour in the garment industry, the grim reality is garment factory workers toil for paltry wages. Nevertheless, such jobs have offered Bangladeshi girls a measure of independence in a traditional Muslim society."
The above lines are part of a story by Kenneth R. Weiss, which was published in the Los Angeles Times, on March 13, 2014.
The article referred to Sajeda Amin, a renowned sociologist of Bangladesh, who claimed that the garment industry jobs have opened a new pathway for young girls, which is a transition from childhood to adulthood with a measure of independence. Certainly, this is true for poor rural Bangladeshi girls and women, but its impact on their health and lives must not be ignored. Weiss mentioned that 'even labour activists in Bangladesh and the United States who chronicle cases of workers being intimidated and forced to work long hours agree that the garment industry has given young women opportunities to move from the margins to the centre of society".
Rushidan Islam Rahman, research director at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, mentioned in an interview with a newspaper that the country faces the uphill task of absorbing the educated unemployed and building skills of the uneducated workforce. Thus, the struggle to formalise employment and increase benefits and security for labourers remains unchanged. She is hopeful regarding the good sign of labour market growth. She has also cautioned about the high share of informal employment.
Rahman further notes that rapid growth of the labour force in Bangladesh in the past decades is an achievement as unemployment rate has declined. However, her concern is that temporary workers in informal employment sector can be retrenched any time, and thus there is a lack of job security. The high percentage of informal jobs as compared to formal jobs is alarming.
She then cautions, "Even if some enterprises are established as formal sector enterprises, their employment may not be formal. For example, garment and large construction firms are formal sector enterprises, but employment in many cases is informal because the owners do not give formal appointment letters and full benefits to their workers. It is changing now but it was present in many factories in the past".
Bangladesh apparel sector has enjoyed sustained boom since the late 1990s. By 2007/08, the sector was earning more than $10 billion in the form of proceeds from sales. It earned $19 billion in the year 2012, and thus emerged as the impoverished nation's biggest export-oriented sector. Bangladesh is now the world's biggest exporter of clothing after China. But the saddest part of the story is Bangladesh's garments sector and the workers continue to be neglected as ever.
The government needs to explain how the factory owners are able to get away after flouting the labour law and other rules. Who are the culprits? Why are there so many incongruities in abiding by the factory rules? Who is responsible for these unforgivable irregularities? Is it the employers' lack of concern or the government's apathy?
The labour legislation in Bangladesh not only excludes the majority of workers, but also fails to protect them formally. There is an elaborate and hierarchical infrastructure for ensuring compliance with national regulations under the Ministry of Labour   and Employment. Yet the law is being flouted, thus spelling disasters one after another in the apparel manufacturing sector.
On April 24, 2013, Rana Plaza, an eight-storey commercial building, collapsed in Savar near Dhaka. The search for the dead ended on May 13 with the death toll reaching 1,129. Approximately 2,515 injured people were rescued alive from the building. It is considered the deadliest garment factory accident in history, as well as the deadliest accidental structural failure in modern human history.
The worst-ever tragedy in the apparel sector stunned the local population as well as those abroad. The people in the vicinity as well as volunteers, police, firefighters and soldiers joined hands to rescue more than two thousand people trapped inside, and to remove bodies from under the debris. However, those who participated in this tough task complained of lack of equipment for search and rescue operations. Many Bangladeshi NGOs and charity organisations gave a helping hand to the sufferers at Rana Plaza garment industry collapse site.
In view of the ready-made garment (RMG) sector's role in Bangladesh's economic development, the related policies must address, on an urgent basis, the issues of the workers' health and safety. The policies should not take it for granted that the workers have an endless capability to adjust with the buyers' and employers' overbearing strategies.
The employers often force workers to work from 8am to 8pm without much rest. Most garment factories do not follow the Welfare Act either. They do not have facilities like lunchroom, clean drinking water or safe sanitation. So the workers' health conditions deteriorate and they suffer from a range of illnesses, including jaundice, stomach upset, urinary problems and swelling.
Furthermore, inadequate first-aid supplies are another gross violation of the Bangladesh Factory Rules 1979. A study shows the most comprehensive and wide-ranging convention of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) is the Convention-111. The Factory Act, 1965, of Bangladesh has also provided for equal rights of both men and women in the labour market. But the women workers in this sector continue to be neglected.
The Tazreen Fashions factory fire revealed, once again, the exploitation of women through cheaper labour and the administrative functions and the power of law enforcers and employers. This tragedy too claimed more than one hundred people's lives. Was it simply a factory fire or an act of sabotage? It is still unclear. It raises questions about the safety standards and management practices at the factory.
With regard to wages, the women garment workers face different forms of exploitation such as lower wages and late payments in comparison with their male counterparts. The women workers earn wages far below the minimum rate at only about 66 per cent of what men earn. With respect to benefits, there is no labour law or policy in place to protect or assist rural women in joining the workforce in the city for the first time. Workers in the export-oriented sector are not entitled to any benefits such as accommodation allowance, health care, pension, transportation expenses, and insurance. As there are no written agreements between employers and employees, there is also no payment for laid-off workers. Women's low wages and lack of benefits show how Bangladesh has exploited its comparative advantage of low labour cost.
The government earlier declared very low wage rates for garment workers which is discriminatory, and the employers also take this as an advantage to justify there is a difference between male and female workers in terms of job categories. Thus, women are assigned more feminine jobs, especially sewing. The employers discriminate between men and women by engaging women in less important jobs.
When it comes to long work hours and health issues, studies reveal that garment workers work, on an average, for 11-12 hours a day without any break which is in contravention of the 1965 Factory Act. They do not even get any day-off on weekends and this can continue for a month in a row.
With reference to wages, Weisse claims that Charles Kernaghan, Director of the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, Pittsburgh, said, "It's fantastic that they have this common industry that has put women to work".  However, recent street protests by garment workers in Dhaka helped nudge the minimum wage to $68 a month, which equates to 33 cents an hour. He hopes that the industry will do more to provide a decent living wage and respect workers' rights.
Referring to the Savar building collapse, the then Home Minister Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir told reporters that the building was illegal and had violated the building code. If so, then why were the legal issues not taken care of earlier by the Labour Ministry? When the authorities were warned about the possible collapse, why were the workers sent back to work? Why did the manager put pressure on the workers and endanger their lives? The building contained clothing factories, a bank branch, apartments, and several other shops. The shops and the bank on the lower floors immediately were closed after cracks were discovered in the building. Warnings to avoid using the building after cracks appeared on the day before had been ignored. Garment workers were ordered to return the following day and the building collapsed during the morning rush-hour.
What a disgrace for the employers, the Labour Ministry and the nation! The Rana Plaza collapse and the Tazreen Fashions fire are examples of how workers' safety and issues of their wages are being ignored in Bangladesh. The nation now demands justice and punishment of those responsible for the loss of lives. Punishment meted out as a deterrent will send out the message that none is above the law and, at the same time, similar risks must be prevented in other sectors too, such as in the construction sector.
After these tragedies, what strategies have been taken and how do these impact employment in the garment industry? How can the obstacles that impede growth of the formal sector be removed? Have the government and other stakeholders taken any steps to address the issues? Apart from these impediments that involve bureaucratic procedures, law and order is another barrier and it is imperative that the government provide a congenial environment for employment to ensure the safety of employers and workers.
The nation's politics and lack of governance affect most of the facets of our daily life. Both the government and the opposition must realise the current culture of politics destroys economic growth and employment prospects for youths. The growing labour force can be utilised and economic growth can be achieved through labour-intensive industrialisation and a growing skills-based service sector with appropriate government strategies.
One feels like urging the stakeholders to set a labour standard for the garment sector as a move towards progressive growth and sustainability of the industry. Enforcement of such conventions in the context of global production also requires a more proactive policy approach across countries by international organisations, governments, employers, trade unions and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
The writer is a Doctoral student in curriculum studies and teacher of the Development Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), Research Assistant, University of Toronto and founder-president, Volunteer Association for Bangladesh Canada (VAB-Canada). [email protected]