Nagging RMG problems
Monday, 6 December 2010
It is not known whether the actual causes behind the reported clash at Ashulia end-November, in which some 50 people, including 15 women workers, were injured at DEPZ, have been unearthed. An official of a readymade garment (RMG) unit where the incident reportedly took place, is said to have denied that any such clash had occurred although eyewitness accounts indicate that protesting workers did get the baton from law enforcers on the factory premises. The incident was said to have been triggered over the management’s insistence that workers give two extra hours to deserve the new wage structure from the same month. The labour representative of Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers Association (BGMEA), however, said it did not receive any complaint about non-payment of extra-duty hours and suspected that a ‘certain quarter’ must have been behind the unrest.
Such suspicions do not seem to go away despite the vigilance of the stakeholders. In June this year when violence had erupted in a number of RMG factories at Ashulia, injuring about a 100 people and leading to the shutdown of over 70 factories, the same un-named quarters were blamed by the BGMEA. This is a very serious allegation and deserves to be professionally investigated to determine the actual causes and effects more thoroughly. It was hoped that the recent wage-hike would improve the worker-management interface in the garments sector. But it appears frustrations remain, ready to be stoked and ignited. Incidents expressive of discontent in fact have been happening far too often, and even in factories that are known for fairly good business practices, which do seem to suggest foul play.
Indeed, in today’s highly competitive world ‘economic sabotage’ can, and does happen everywhere — be it between countries or companies, both local and foreign. While the suspicion of sabotage ought to be looked into it is also necessary to urgently address legitimate grievances. Too many stories of garment workers getting the short shrift in terms of wages and working conditions hardly boosts the nation’s image vis-a-vis buyers abroad. But although Bangladesh gains a competitive edge in the global RMG market by dint of its very cheap labour, its entrepreneurs are not alone in the tendency to pay as little as possible to workers if they can get away with it. There are many other offenders in the world. According to the Vienna-based International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), garment factory workers through out the world are ‘the world’s most poorly paid.’
ITUC, which represents 176 million workers in 156 countries and territories, and has 312 national affiliates, also said that the cause of frequent violence can be traced to poor wages and working conditions and unwillingness of the owners to honour wage agreements. All this bad feeling is compounded in most cases by the absence of trade unions in garment factories. Be that as it may, the government has responded to the repeated request from the RMG leaders for ‘increased security to protect billions of dollars of investment’ buy assigning special ‘industrial police’ to the sector. While this may be quite useful in curbing unrest, it alone can hardly guarantee owners’ growth or workers’ satisfaction. What is most important rather is to establish better, trust-based, management-worker relations based on fairer wages and more humane working conditions.
Such suspicions do not seem to go away despite the vigilance of the stakeholders. In June this year when violence had erupted in a number of RMG factories at Ashulia, injuring about a 100 people and leading to the shutdown of over 70 factories, the same un-named quarters were blamed by the BGMEA. This is a very serious allegation and deserves to be professionally investigated to determine the actual causes and effects more thoroughly. It was hoped that the recent wage-hike would improve the worker-management interface in the garments sector. But it appears frustrations remain, ready to be stoked and ignited. Incidents expressive of discontent in fact have been happening far too often, and even in factories that are known for fairly good business practices, which do seem to suggest foul play.
Indeed, in today’s highly competitive world ‘economic sabotage’ can, and does happen everywhere — be it between countries or companies, both local and foreign. While the suspicion of sabotage ought to be looked into it is also necessary to urgently address legitimate grievances. Too many stories of garment workers getting the short shrift in terms of wages and working conditions hardly boosts the nation’s image vis-a-vis buyers abroad. But although Bangladesh gains a competitive edge in the global RMG market by dint of its very cheap labour, its entrepreneurs are not alone in the tendency to pay as little as possible to workers if they can get away with it. There are many other offenders in the world. According to the Vienna-based International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), garment factory workers through out the world are ‘the world’s most poorly paid.’
ITUC, which represents 176 million workers in 156 countries and territories, and has 312 national affiliates, also said that the cause of frequent violence can be traced to poor wages and working conditions and unwillingness of the owners to honour wage agreements. All this bad feeling is compounded in most cases by the absence of trade unions in garment factories. Be that as it may, the government has responded to the repeated request from the RMG leaders for ‘increased security to protect billions of dollars of investment’ buy assigning special ‘industrial police’ to the sector. While this may be quite useful in curbing unrest, it alone can hardly guarantee owners’ growth or workers’ satisfaction. What is most important rather is to establish better, trust-based, management-worker relations based on fairer wages and more humane working conditions.