Bangladesh is a good example of how a country, which is amongst the least developed countries, could pull itself up by its bootstraps in making the transition from a predominantly agricultural economy to a modern one. Bangladesh has joined the globalizing world of trade and commerce as a significant player.
Since the nation had achieved independence from the clutches of Pakistan’s marauding armed forces in December of 1971, only garment manufacturing factories in Bangladesh turned out to grow as a major industry in its 45 years of existence. In mid-70’s, a few garment factories started their business. Of them, Desh Garments of freedom fighter and former bureaucrat, Nurul Kader Khan, had begun a joint venture with the company, Diyuu, of South Korea.
In America, Bangladesh has been confronting the problem in view of the cancellation of the Generalized System of Preference (GSP) for Least Developed countries of the world.
This very industry in Bangladesh is now confronted with a crisis following the Rana Plaza collapse in April of 2013, killing more than one thousand garment laborers while around a hundred laborers sustained injuries after a fire broke out at Tazreen Fashion garments factory in May of 2012. Added to these injuries was the terrorist attack on Holey Artisan near the diplomatic enclave in Dhaka on the 2nd July of 2016, killing twenty foreigners. As of now, around 4,500 garment factories in Bangladesh bring the largest amount of foreign exchange to the country. Last year, around $24 billion was earned by garment factories from the sale of ready-made garments to America and Europe.
America has emerged as the third largest market for Bangladesh’s ready to wear garments while China and Vietnam secured first and second places, according to the American Apparel and Footwear Association. In 2015, Bangladesh earned $4.9 billion while China secured $29.6 billion and Vietnam $8.3 billion from America alone.
Having said that another disquieting affair appears to have overshadowed the bright prospect of the garment industry in Bangladesh. This is related to the strikes by thousands of laborers in December last year in the Ashulia outskirts of Dhaka demanding pay hikes which lead to the arrests of numerous activists and workers. The Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) has raised concerns about the safety of trade union leaders and workers. In fact, labor workers demanded a raise in minimum monthly wages to Tk 15,000 from meager Tk 5,300. This demand should have been negotiated through labor unions instead of arresting union leaders or laborers or closing down factories as a threat to laborers. This situation has arisen when the European Union drew attention to the June of 2016 conclusion of the International Labor conference which includes a special paragraph on Bangladesh, in particular, regarding the implementation of the freedom of association convention. On the 20th December, 2016 in Brussels, the European Union and Bangladesh in their biennial meeting of sub-groups on good governance and human rights in the framework of EU-Bangladesh cooperation agreement urged Bangladesh to address, as a matter of urgency, acts of violence and harassment against trade unionists and trade union leaders while guaranteeing the investigation of these acts. The EU called on Bangladesh to ensure that the trade union registration process is carried out in a transparent and expeditious manner.
In America, Bangladesh has been confronting the problem in view of the cancellation of the Generalized System of Preference (GSP) for Least Developed countries of the world. In 2007, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial organization (AFL-CIO), a very powerful labor union, objected against GSP facilities to Bangladesh in view of the violation of worker’s rights in export processing zones, the ready-made garment sector and seafood processing sector as well. As a result, the United States Trade Representatives had solicited public comments and held hearings on several occasions, including in December of 2012 and decided not to offer GSP to Bangladesh. The Rana plaza tragedy invited congresswoman Speier to introduce a bicameral resolution to support the rights of working women in developing countries to have a safe working place, free from sexual harassment and violence. This resolution which was adopted on the 14th March, 2016 is supported by the International Labor Rights forum. The resolution also recommended reviewing Bangladesh’s eligibility for trade benefits under the GSP. Therefore, Bangladesh, till this is resolved, will be deprived of GSP facilities in America.
In 2015, Bangladesh earned $4.9 billion while China secured $29.6 billion and Vietnam $8.3 billion from America alone.
A positive picture is gradually developing in the world for Bangladesh’s RMG industry. In a survey conducted by McKinsey in November of 2011, it was projected that American and European chief purchasing officers held the opinion that they are planning to move out of the Chinese market to South East and South Asia to buy ready-made garments for their markets. Furthermore, the Donald Trump administration has begun a trade war against China. It is likely that trade relations with China would be complicated in the days ahead. This has been reflected in the selection of Commerce Secretary Industrialist Wilbur Ross, who has been critical of trade deals with China.
Another positive development that emanates from the initiative of western countries is that the Industrial and UNI Global unions have reached an accord recently with Bangladesh garment factories on fire and building safety agreements. The accord was signed by 14 major clothing retailers of the world. This being the scenario, garment owners and the Bangladesh government should ensure appropriate wages for laborers in all garment factories irrespective of their sizes. This writer understands that in 2013, the government of Bangladesh declared to form a wage board to fix minimum wages for laborers. The government should intervene in ensuring appropriate wages for laborers. After having interviewed the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Christian Amanpour, the Chief International Correspondent of CNN disclosed in May of 2013 that the government had appointed 18 inspectors to inspect over four thousand garment factories. That seems to be ridiculous indeed. More inspectors with knowledge about safety nets apart from firefighting knowledge should be appointed. The most important aspect is that the human rights of garment workers plus ensuring safety nets in all garment factories should be ensured by owners. The Industrial Global Union, which represents fifty million workers around the world, plans to improve labor rights and ensure fire safety in buildings.
The Government and owners of garment factories should ensure independent labor unions without being patronized by the owner or the government. Independent labor unions could work as the ears and eyes of garment factory workers and as a collective bargain agents. This act will positively satisfy powerful Labor Unions in America which can eventually help revive the GSP facilities for Bangladesh. The owner of the garment factories should understand the hard labor of workers bring in million of dollars. These people act as the engine for the growth of the apparel industry in Bangladesh.
This is one side of the picture in the garment industry. On the other hand, it has distinguished itself as an industry with the highest potential for growth, further improving its prospects through constant developments such as the acquisition of latest textile machinery to keep abreast of the best technological know-how in this sector.
The writer is a retired diplomat from Bangladesh. He writes from Virginia, USA
