FUTURE OF BANGLADESH CLOTHING INDUSTRY IN THE HANDS OF EMPLOYERS AND GOVERNMENT

The Executive Committee of the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation (ITGLWF) concluded its deliberations in Dhaka today. The meeting brought together delegates from 21 countries from around the world.

Speaking at the closing, in the presence of Minister of Commerce Amir Khosru Mahmud Chodhury, ITGLWF General Secretary Neil Kearney urged the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers’ Exporters Association (BGMEA) and the government to take urgent action to clean up the country’s garment industry.

"Today we have heard Bangladesh’s employers plead for understanding, and the government plead for help in ensuring the survival of the clothing industry after 2005.

"Such pleas would have a much stronger impact if there was more evidence on the part of the government and the industry of efforts to meet market demands for clothing of decent quality, at decent prices and made in decent conditions.

"The government’s decision not to permit workers to form unions in the Export Processing Zones before 2004 sent a very negative message to the outside world. It was a signal of only half-hearted commitment to the application of international labour standards. It probably cost 250,000 jobs.

"Opposition to workers’ rights to organize and bargain has resulted in the minimum wage not being raised since 1994. Then it was worth US$33, today only US$17. Thirteen to fourteen hour work days are still common.. And the industry’s accident record is appalling. Nowhere else in the world have more workers died in factory fires. The Chowdhury factory fire drove away scores of buyers.

"This record is not conducive to sympathy. Any sympathy will not be forthcoming till there are clear indications that the government will apply the labour laws and till all manufacturers obey these laws and respect the workers they employ.

"Bangladesh’s manufacturers have, for too long, relied on low costs for survival. Survival will not come so cheap after 2005.

"The routes to survival must be charted in the next eighteen months.

"Today, labour standards do not meet the requirements of most codes of conduct. Nor do they meet the levels required to qualify for preferential trade access.

"Urgent action is needed to clean up the industry, to permit workers to form trade unions and to engage in collective bargaining in a bid to improve wages and working conditions.

"Some companies are trying to change. But they risk being undercut by those who daily continue to exploit. The government and the BGMEA must urgently act to drive exploitation from the industry before the Bangladesh industry is driven from world markets.

"There is not much time. Genuine trade unions here and unions globally are keen to work with the BGMEA and with reputable employers to secure the future for the 1.8 millions workers who depend on the clothing industry for their livelihood.

"But, that cooperation will be dependent on the BGMEA committing to full implementation of international labour standards by all their members, permitting trade unions, including in the EPZs, and engaging in collective bargaining leading to comprehensive contracts throughout the industry.

Concluded Kearney: "The government and BGMEA hold the key to the future. They plead for help but it is they themselves who must rid the industry of its exploitation and produce a new face to the world."