Towards a stable and vibrant RMG sector

Bangladesh is the world's second biggest apparel exporter after China. The ready-made garment (RMG) sector plays a significant role in socio-economic development of the country. Garment products account for 80 per cent of total exports of the country. Most of our RMG products go to the US and European countries. The garment industry employs over 4.0 million people, many of them young women.
At present, our garment sector is facing a serious image crisis in the international markets following a series of tragic incidents including the Tazreen Fashions fire and Rana Plaza building collapse. The European Union (EU), the US government and international organisations have threatened to strip Bangladesh of the preferential trade facilities, apparently to force the government and the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers & Exporters Association (BGMEA) and the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers & Exporters Association (BKMEA) to put in place safety measures in the apparel sector. The US government's GSP (Generalised System of Preferences) facility for Bangladesh is now under suspension.
The US government should be aware that Bangladesh became the second-largest supplier of apparel products in the world markets, thanks to relaxation of the rules of origin by the developed countries. It is hoped that the US government will not ultimately cancel the GSP facility offered to Bangladesh. The punitive action will lead to loss of jobs of scores of industrial workers, especially women.
The national economy of Bangladesh has for some time been grappling with multifarious problems, triggered by political unrest and acute energy shortages, which have hit the industrial sector hard. The global demand for our products is not encouraging. If the trend continues, experts fear that the country might not achieve its growth targets, fixed for the current and future fiscal years. We have yet to achieve the initial export target in the current fiscal year (FY). A weaker global economy is also blamed for the slump in Bangladesh exports. Against this adverse backdrop, it is imperative that political environment should return to normal in the interest of a more stable RMG sector, and a strong economy in general.
The government, the BGMEA, BKMEA and the other stakeholders need to join hands and become proactive in the task of overcoming the existing hurdles and saving the garment sector. The remedial measures and initiatives, if taken on emergency basis, can help improve the situation. They should at first ensure better monitoring of corporate 'Code of Conduct' in collaboration with employers, employees, multilateral agencies, NGOs, labour unions, and the civil society. Without the monitoring efforts to improve factory atmosphere, all rules and regulations will ineffective. A modified Code of Conduct and an effective compliance-monitoring cell are also required. In line with the government actions the ILO, international organisations, overseas buyers and other stakeholders should work in a synergy under the supervision of an effective monitoring system.
Social compliances should follow the current HR (human resources) and IR (industrial relations) practices. In reality, the fair labour act, factory act, the OHS Act (Occupational Health and Safety Act), core labour standards, specific codes of conduct, the ILO and the WTO conventions -- all may contribute to a better working condition in the RMG sector. It is also important for the Bangladesh government to encourage the importing countries to extend direct cooperation in keeping our RMG sector on track.
In fact, the infrastructure of Bangladesh RMG sector is poor due to the dearth of strong financial and entrepreneurial support as well as non-professional approach towards this sector by the government and the policymakers.
Recently, the media reported that two apex apparel trade bodies have decided to stop services, including issuance of utilisation declaration certificates, to the factories that failed to submit their structural designs and soil test reports. After the collapse of Rana Plaza, which left at least 1,127 people dead, the BGMEA and the BKMEA asked their members to submit structural designs, layouts and soil test reports of their factories by May 30, 2013. More than half of the 3,500 BGMEA member-garment factories in operation across the country did not submit their structural designs and soil test reports to BGMEA and BKMEA by the deadline. It is no good news.
Workers' satisfaction in workplaces is very essential to productivity. The management should improve the working conditions of the employees to increase productivity. They should also encourage suggestions from the employees. Workers' participation in management is comparatively a new concept. Its main objective is to associate the workers with the decision-making process in order to increase productivity, to give them a better understanding of their role, to satisfy their urge for self-expression and to promote industrial peace. Some developed countries have been making persistent efforts to promote workers' involvement in decision-making at the micro as well as macro level. The issue merits consideration.
Workers are more productive when they are satisfied and, among others, salary is the single-most important factor to the employees. But it will be an utter mistake to presume that higher salary alone will produce higher job satisfaction, productivity and loyalty. A complex set of financial and non-financial benefits, along with many work-related factors, determine the level of satisfaction and loyalty. Workers' satisfaction is a critical issue. In fact, it defines the workers' commitment to excellence in work and their dedication towards a particular unit's success.
Apart from salary, other work-related factors like work environment, work content, supervisors' attitude towards subordinates, career development and personal growth potential, employer-employee relations, job security, company's policy towards employees influence workers' satisfaction and motivation. As a matter of fact, if the workers' participation in management has to be made meaningful, the solutions lie in creating a favourable climate for the working of a joint management system.
The writer is librarian at BGMEA University of Fashion & Technology.
 atik@bift.info