Vandalism in garments industry: Causes must be removed

According to media reports, thousands of garment workers wreaked havoc in Gazipur, Savar and Dhaka in a bid to home their demands for pay hike, arrear salaries, overtime wages, weekly holiday and other facilities. But the leaders of the association of garment industries, BGMEA, have stated to the government underscoring the point that the attacks on the garment factories were calculated acts of sabotage designed to destroy the RMG sector to benefit the commercial interests of a neighbouring country.

The government also believes a vested quarter at home and abroad was active behind the attacks on garment factories to create anarchy and hamper the growth of the RMG sector. A host of ministers including the state minister for home affairs are emphatically saying that it was an act of sabotage and conspiracy. Conspiracy, external or internal, cannot be ruled out. But a conspiracy can only be materialised when there are colossal failures and indifferences among those who exercise power without the semblance of responsibility.

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The state minister for home affairs admitted to having prior intelligence information on vandalism in garment factories. One can truly raise here the issue of failure of government to protect the thriving RMG sector from which the country earns its highest share of foreign currency, despite having prior intelligence information. The statement of state minister to the effect that vandalism could not be checked due to shortage of law enforcers and lack of coordination among them, clearly testify to poor governance.

What has irritated people much is that, when their factories were set ablaze, the panicked and helpless owners entreated the government for help, but the small contingent of police and RAB deployed to the scene, not dared to face the thousands of frantic workers. The circumstantial evidence suggests that a timely and coordinated action by the law enforcers certainly would have saved the country's prime economic sector from the fatal blows.

The RMG sector has been playing a very vital role in the economy of Bangladesh. Presently more than 3000 garment units are involved in exporting both woven and knit items. Almost two million workers are working in these factories most of whom are women.

The RMG sector provides jobs for over four million people including indirect employment.

This sector also stands as the premier foreign exchange earner of the country which brings in more than $ 5 million a year as export earnings, with an estimated $ 15 million more in other related industries. The RMG sector is responsible for more than 75 percent of the export earnings of the country. In fact, these are not only pleasant facts but also significant as the employment situation of the country has been squeezing continually over the last few years.

The concern of the owners of the garment factories is confined only to counting profit while the government's is for earning foreign currency. But no body cares for the poor workers--the most important component for running the industry. They are there virtually without any human right. The safety of the garment workers was never high on the agenda either of the two garment associations or the government, let alone the factory owners.

The global buyers are very much sensitive about the safety and welfare of the garment workers in Bangladesh. But their pressure has not been enough to improve the factory condition at a desirable level. The government fears that, the recent acts of vandalism in RMG sector could have a debilitating impact on export. Even a 10 percent fall in export could mean a loss of $ 850 million, which is much higher than the earning from any other sector, except remittances.

Certainly, there is no denying that the garment workers are the victims of extreme exploitation and the issue of their welfare has all along been neglected. An amount of Tk 1000-1200 which they usually get as wage does not commensurate with their hard labour. Moreover they are forced to do overtime duty without being paid as per rule. Many of the garment units are most irregular in payment of wages, and the poor workers eventually bear the brunt of police excesses while agitating for realisation of wages.

The far-reaching consequences of the acts of vandalism in garment factories may be devastating for foreign investment as the incidents have widely been covered by the foreign media. The theory of conspiracy by some rival country has become less credible as there is little evidence of pro-poor behaviour of the owners of garment factories. Rather it speaks emphatically that the owners drive luxury cars and live beyond their means exploiting the poor workers. The piled up anger of the garment workers, deprived for years of their genuine right and privileges, was just exploded and this was bound to happen.

The government, garment factory owners and workers on May-24 have reached a consensus to resolve the stand off in the RMG sector in tripartite meeting. A 'minimum wage board' has already been formed to deal exclusively with the wages of garment workers revising the previous one which was last updated in 1994. It was alleged in the meeting that the minimum wage of Tk. 930, which was fixed in 1994, was yet to be implemented in many garment units.

One needs to look into the working condition of the garment workers while not ruling out entirely the freak episodes of the owners. The government should appraise the nation of the real situation, separating the facts from the fictions and must act urgently to redress the grievances of the garment workers. There must be laws stipulating safe working condition. Everybody should remember that, it is the sweat of the workers that bring fortune for the country.

The leading global buyers of Bangladeshi garments earlier expressed their deep concern about the factory compliances and welfare of the workers and categorically said that Bangladesh would face problem in exporting garments if the working condition is not improved. The recent acts of vandalism are sure to bring fore again the issue of factory compliances and workers' welfare which would strengthen the hands of the ally formed by the global buyers. Such a development is full of the worst economic implications for the country as this sector has pivotal role in the economy employing a record number of people and earning the highest amount of foreign currency.

ANM Nurul Haque is a banker.