DECENT WORK PROFILE OF

BANGLADESHA STUDY ON GARMENTS SECTOR

Submitted To
Jakir Hossain
Course Instructor
Socio Economic Studies Of Bangaldesh
Bangladesh University of Professionals

Submitted By
MD. Ariful Haque Sajib
ID No: EV-1404036
Evening MBA-4
Bangladesh University of Professionals

Submission Date: 15 December, 2014

BANGLADESH UNIVERSITY OF PROFESSIONALS
Faculty of Business Studies

More than 78% of Bangladeshs export earnings come from the garment industry. The
ready-made garments (RMG) sector has a greater potential than any other sector in terms of
employment and foreign exchange earnings to reduce poverty and make a contribution to the
national economy. However working conditions in this vital sector are poor. Despite the
phenomenal success of the RMG sector, poor working conditions in the factories and a lack
of Social compliance3 are serious concerns which have, since 2006, led to labour unrest and
damage to institutions and property. As a result, there is a rising fear in Bangladesh that the
readymade garments sector may face a decline in demand. Social compliance in the RMG
industry is a key requirement for most of the worlds garments buyers. It ensures labour
rights, labour standards, fair labour practices and a Code of Conduct.

The lowest wage rate in the world- The competitiveness of the RMG industry of Bangladesh
rests largely on the availability of low-cost workers. The government has increased the
minimum wages of RMG workers three times during the past 18 years, in 1994, 2006 and
2010. The wage board raised the minimum wage by about 77 percent, to 5,300 taka ($66.25)
in 2013 still the lowest in the world and well below what workers have been seeking. A
large survey of 1,200 workers conducted by Awaj, a workers organization, in March to
April2013, estimated a total wage, including overtime, of Tk 6,300 for woman sewing
machine operators with two to five years experience (Awaj et al. 2013: 40).Nearly 40
percent of garment factories in the Bangladesh capital were failing to pay a new minimum
wage announced last year for workers stitching clothes for Western retailers

8-hour work, OT rules hardly followed-All the garments workers have to work more than
eight hours daily. Sometimes they work 13-14 hours a day. There are workers who even work
extra five hours of daily OT. About one-third (33.5%) of the garments workers do not know
the OT rate, with 13 per cent of the respondent garments workers getting less than Tk.10 for
every hour of OT work against the minimum Tk.10.80 per hour OT work.

Unsafe Working Environment-The poor working conditions of workers have been

underscored by the recent (March 2013) building collapse (Rana Plaza) and outbreaks of fire,
including at the Tazleen factory in December 2012 (Miller 2012). The various buyer
compliance norms that have been instituted basically include working conditions on the shop
1

floor and do not go into the observance or otherwise of building codes. There is, in general,
however, large-scale violation of building norms in Bangladesh, and garment factories are no
exception. Meanwhile, the high density of workers in RMG factories means violations of
building regulations are likely to have very high fatality rates, with the Rana Plaza collapse
ranking as one of the largest industrial disasters in the world in terms of deaths. The of
hazards in the garments industry of Bangladesh includes crowded conditions, exposed
operating machines, electrical connections are crude and unsafe, a few or no fire
extinguishers inaccessible or malfunctioning, no fire practice is ever performed, managers
and workers are not trained to understand health and safety issues, stairs and floors used as
storage; gates remain closed even in emergency; factory not designed as commercial facility,
narrow aisles for fire fighters to enter and rescue.

Equal opportunity and treatment in employment- Gender discrimination is common. The

majority of garment factory workers are young women. In the RMG sector female workers
are considered low-skill, low workers . Mostly abundant cheap labour and its low opportunity
cost lead to low wage levels, providing a comparative advantage to female labour in
particular operations in the RMG production sector. Moreover, women are generally
discriminated against in terms of access to higher-paid white colour and management
positions. They are generally considered only for helpers, machinists, finishing helpers and
sewing helpers frequently and as line supervisors and quality controllers.
Social dialogue, workers and employers-Although the RMG is a formal sector, there is no
acceptance of the right to organise at the factory level and owners fear trade union. As a
result labour unrest is common in the RMG sector. Since May 2006, large-scale vandalism of
garments factories by the workers had, at times, appeared to threaten the very existence of
this industry (Muhammad A., 2006). In June 24, 2010, some 250 garments industry in
Bangladesh almost closed due to strikes, demonstration and battles with government and
entrepreneurs private security forces (28 July, 2010, The Daily Prothom Alo Newspaper).
Workers demonstrated in the streets demanding payments of their wages but they brutally
treated by the law enforcing agencies, hundreds of workers were injured and one female
worker killed. Moreover, the police have lodged cases against hundreds of garments workers
while the factory owners remain untouched (The Daily Prothom Alo Newspaper, 20 June
2010). This leads to hostility between employee and employer. In Cambodia, the government,

factory association, the labour unions and international institutions have all played an
important role in improving wage rates and labour conditions (Morshed, 2007).

Despite the achievements mentioned above, Bangladesh is still facing many problems in
achieving decent work for all, as called for in Millennium Development Goal Target 1.B:
achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all, including women and
young people. The Government recognizes these problems and in its Sixth Five-Year Plan
for 2011-15 adopted policy strategies focusing on the pursuit of economic growth, along with
labour intensive investment, enhanced competitiveness and poverty reduction. However,
these strategies demand a concerted effort on the part of the Government to ensure their
effectiveness by including decent work indicators in appropriate monitoring and evaluation
systems and national plans of action.