Politics blamed for unrest in RMG sector

A minister’s open involvement in garment workers’ politics has been blamed for the latest unrest in the country’s RMG sector. People tend to believe that narrow politics must not destabilize the industry.

Violence in the country’s garment sector took a fiercer turn as the garment workers passed off the 6th consecutive day vandalizing and agitating on the streets on Thursday last which indicates that the industry is facing a fresh crisis and destabilization. The government deployed Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel at Gazipur on the weekend to protect factories and vehicles in the Dhaka-Tangail highway.

There is a consensus that the workers must get a decent wage package in the wake of the Rana Plaza collapse which brought the plight of the garment workers to headlines in the global media. But various quarters are also reportedly at work to exploit the workers’ anger against the factory owners to create rooms for realizing their own political interest.

In fact, the demand for higher wages turned into

a crisis from last Saturday when Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan gathered garment workers at a rally at the city’s Suhrawardy Udyan from the industrial belts around the capital. He arranged hundreds of transports for the workers to carry them to the city centre and declared he has strong support behind them.

Workers were inspired by the call of the minister from early morning of the day and went berserk as they took to the street at mid-morning. Violence immediately spread to Gazipur and Ashulia area and later to Savar and Narayanganj industrial belt. At Gazipur workers attacked an Ansar camp and reportedly looted arms and ammunition, set fire on vehicles and attacked factories.

The matter did not slip attention of others. People immediately started questioning as to why a minister has become so enthusiastic to organize garment workers when he is known as a leader of the transport workers and now holding a cabinet portfolio of the ministry of shipping.

There is a minister for labour and yet another minister for textile but what prompted the shipping minister to take the leadership of the garment workers in hand at a sensitive political situation.

 But it appears strange that there is no government reaction for breaking the internal discipline of the functional order of the cabinet. Two years ago, when minister Shahjahan Khan openly came intervening with the functioning of the ministry of communication in matters related to issuing of driving license to illiterate and unskilled people, there was similar acquiesce from the government side. But this time the minister’s indulgence to garment workers politics has been blamed for adding provocations to workers to become violent. BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said garment sector was normal but the minister’s call has turned the workers to abandon work place and become violent. He said, clearly the minister is exploiting the situation to harvest political gain.

Industry owners and labour leaders are similarly stunned by the open involvement of Shahjahan Khan to garment politics. They held the view that the garment sector is facing a new conspiracy towards destabilization. Vested interest quarters at home and abroad are working to create renewed image problem to the global community similar to one it faced after the collapse of Rana Plaza in which over 1100 workers perished.

Pointing to a news item by BBC last week, they said it was promotional news and vested interest quarter had a hand behind it to harm the country’s garment sector which is by far the largest employment sector and the highest foreign currency earner to the nation. Obviously there may be conspiracy around it; but open political exploitation had never been so acute as it stands out now.

Meanwhile, buyers have expressed concerns. One Spanish retailer’s representative in the capital said they are observing the situation adding with every unrest in the garment sector buyers also suffer from unrest about change in shipment schedules. If the situation continues, buyers may tend to look for third country sources.

Industry owners on Thursday said several hundred factories remained closed throughout last week and their production loss appears around Tk 500 crore so far. The cost of airlifting urgent deliveries is not included in this estimate.

The industry is fighting to sustain attacks while the core issue of wage fixation is hanging in the balance. A newly formed wage commission is working on the matter but agitation in the industry has created a situation in which a free decision is becoming difficult. There is no doubt that workers should get a decent wage. But it is also true that a long jump from Tk 3000 to Tk 8000 may hit the affordability of many.

The industry is at the crossroads. It must achieve a transition by working out higher productivity and managerial efficiency. The days of family- run industry is over and a corporate outlook must slowly replace the existing feudal business practice.

Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) has put forward a timely solution to the issue. It has suggested that the BGMEA may agree to pay Tk 6560 as minimum wage for the first year to elevate it to Tk 8260 in the second year. Meanwhile owners must reorganize their production and marketing. CPD has recommended the scale after a survey in the wake of the debate on minimum wage saying Tk 6,444 is the upper poverty line and any minimum wage may be at its border line.

It must be noted that owners’ greed or inefficiency must not cause the workers to sell their labour at highly exploitative rates. In free market, an inefficient owner has to quit to make rooms for more capable ones. These are hard mathematics and there is no room for politics to overshadow business. There is an urgent need for workers, owners and the government to work together a solution to restore discipline in the industry and return the workers to their machine. It will save the industry and the workers will survive if only the industry survives.

Source: Weekly Holiday