Worker’s Movement for Wage Increase
AT LEAST four apparel workers were killed in the ongoing movement for a living wage in the apparel industrial sector. Since late October, 43 cases have been filed against 20,000 unnamed accused. So far, 115 workers, including six labour leaders, have been arrested. Most recently, on November 14, the general secretary of the Bangladesh Garments Workers Solidarity was arrested. The lives of the working-class people in Bangladesh, particularly apparel workers, are now faced with state repression. Every moment is filled with the fear of arrest, torture, suffering, insecurity, murder, and enforced disappearance. Meanwhile, the factory owners are adamantly refusing to provide the workers with a minimum wage.
From beyond the grave, Anjuara Khatun chants that the minimum wage ought to be Tk 25,000. Russell chants that the minimum wage ought to be Tk 25,000. Imran and Jasheem’s family asked, ‘Why did they use bullets to quell protests?’ The minimum wage board, or profit-seeking factory-owning class, however, remained unperturbed. On November 7, amid an all-time high food inflation and without any meaningful wage negotiation, the labour ministry announced Tk 12,500 as the monthly gross salary. The role of the government representative on this board was to echo the owner’s proposal. This is the harsh reality. Although the mandate of the minimum wage board is to determine the minimum wage through on-the-ground inspections and coordination of worker demands, owner proposals, market conditions, and other economic factors, their role was limited to briefing the media.
Oliver Goldsmith famously said, ‘Law grinds the poor; rich men rule the law.’ When witnessing the state repression on workers, it seems like the situation in Bangladesh is summed up in this one sentence. Most institutions lack the courage to express their own opinions; rather, they follow the owners’ lead because they are either directly under their control or greatly aided by them. The minimum wage board starts dancing when the owners do.
According to the former chairperson of the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers Exporters Association, it is possible to increase the wages of workers if ‘they’ stop taking donations and bribes. It is therefore implied that the owners keep the workers’ wages low to bribe the ‘pandas (musclemen)’ and government officials. Millions of workers will be deprived of their minimum wage because of the greed of a few bribers, extortionists, and owners. It is a cruel, evil circle to kill workers.
Workers are the lifeblood of the much-celebrated industrial sector, yet no one pays attention to their cries. The government and wage board listen to the garment owners only. The harsh truth is that there are plenty of people willing to carry the owner’s scepter. For almost a year, workers have been demanding a minimum wage of Tk 25,000. While demanding a fair wage, four laborers, Russell, Imran, Jasheem, and Anjuara, were shot and killed. Wages should be set in accordance with workers’ needs, and that’s the only way to ensure the garment industry’s sustainable growth. Improved working conditions, more pay, and increased company efficiency will all contribute to the garment industry’s better future.
All we know is that Bangladeshi garment manufacturers make large profits, but their employees receive meager wages. China leads the list of nations that export ready-made garments, with Bangladesh coming in second. In the global market, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Indonesia — the third, fourth, and fifth exporting nations, respectively — compete with one another. China pays its textile workers a $303 monthly wage; Vietnam pays them $170; Cambodia pays them $200; and Indonesia pays them $243. India pays its workers $171. If other nations in the same global market are able to offer salaries ranging from 170 to 300 dollars, why will Bangladeshi workers get only 72 dollars in wages? Bangladeshi garment workers receive such pitiful pay that it is not even a poverty wage.
Why does Bangladesh’s pay so poorly compare to other nations? The practice of paying low salaries lacks any rational justification or acceptable explanation. There’s nothing except falsehoods and exploitation. The apparel factory owners in Bangladesh get numerous government benefits, such as access to low-interest loans and other special financial services. They enjoy the benefits of easy-to-repay loans, income tax exemption, duty-free imports of machinery and raw materials, 4–6 per cent cash subsidies for exporting items, and emergency incentives. Even with their large profits, the owners try to mislead the public, saying that, any significant wage increase is beyond the ‘industry capacity,’ or it would ‘hurt the industry growth’.
The Tazreen factory fire and more than a thousand worker deaths in the collapse of the Rana Plaza building are constant reminders that Bangladeshi garment workers operate in the most hazardous, dangerous, and impoverished working conditions in the world. Here, working past designated working hours is the norm, which workers commonly refer to as ‘forced overtime’. Claims that one was denied leave despite being gravely ill are also common. There have also been instances of sick people dying in the factory. The safety of workers’ lives is not guaranteed. The newly announced wage failed to ensure workers economic survival. When the price of essential food items increased, according to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh, by 25–234 per cent in a year, the newly announced 50 per cent increase after five years is not even a survival wage. Apparel workers can’t send their children to a decent school. In many cases, the reality is such that apparel workers children drop out of school and join factories. In this cycle of exploitation, an apparel worker’s children become workers, and they make it sound like fate. Breaking this cycle for the children of an apparel worker is uncommon. We never hear the success tales of garment workers.
When garment workers raise their voices for better pay, they are either threatened with layoffs or faced with police brutality. Workers embrace death from police violence during wage movement, even though law stipulates that a minimum wage board will be instituted every five years to review the wage structure of workers and to adjust the wage, but sadly, that has not been the case for the apparel sector. Factory owners have not incurred losses; however, workers have been shot dead or lost their employment.
The 12th National Assembly elections are fast approaching, and in the midst of this political turmoil, garment workers have intensified their demand to raise the minimum wage. The majority of the time, the rights and demands of workers are disregarded or overlooked in the myriad of issues facing the nation. For the sake of workers’ rights, it is important that the minimum wage board create an enabling environment for dialogues and debates on the living wage for apparel workers; they must do so by involving all concerned labor organisations or trade unions.
The fight for a minimum wage of Tk 23,000–25,000 is proposed by labour organisations including Garment Sramik Odhikar Andolon, Garment Workers Unity Forum, Bangladesh Garment Sramik Samhati, Industrial Bangladesh Council, and Garment Sramik Parishad. On October 22, the factory owners proposed Tk 10,400 gross monthly minimum pay. The breakdown of the owners’ proposal is — Tk 5330 as basic pay, Tk 2,665 as house rent, Tk 750 as medical allowance, Tk 455 as travel allowance, and Tk 1,200 as food allowance. Eventually, on November 1, the labour ministry announced the wage announcement, which does not reflect the unprecedented food inflation, and therefore, workers and labour organisations have rightfully rejected the wage increase. It was expected that the wage board would announce the adjustment after considering per capita calories, current market value, and projected market value over the next five years.
Workers demanded $227 as their gross monthly salary. Their demand remained unmet; four lives were lost, and many were arrested. The simple question one must ask is why the owners are refusing to give their workers a living wage. If China is able to pay up to $300, why can’t Bangladeshi factory owners afford it? Increased wages will improve workers wellbeing, and they will be more productive. There is a correlation between worker productivity and their level of physical and mental fitness. Physically weak, nervous, and depressed workers’ pay less attention to their work, which lowers their productivity and lowers the quality of their output. That is why the government as well as factory owners, instead of fueling conspiracy theories, must increase wages in accordance with worker demands. Worker’s wellbeing is the only way to sustainable apparel industrial growth. As a citizen of Bangladesh, I strongly support the workers demand for a fair wage and appropriate compensation for the families of the workers who were killed. The cases filed to quell the workers movement for a living wage must also be withdrawn.
Md Golam Mustafa is a youth organiser, activist, and social worker.
New Age
