The Ready Made Garment industry (RMG), the mainstay of the country’s economy, has begun to feel the pinch in the aftermath of the Savar tragedy.
Many garment factories are now facing worker shortages of roughly 30%.
Panicked by the country’s deadliest industrial accident, which claimed more than 1,000 lives and left hundreds injured, workers have started moving to other jobs or back to their villages.
The worker shortages are now leading to a fall in production in garment factories.
Factory owners said they were operating at 60-70% production capacity due to labour shortages, and feared a decline in their profits as they are unable to meet production targets.
The factories, mostly located in Ashuliya and Savar, include: Danan Sweater, Zon Ron Sweater, Anzir Apparel, Hotdress, New Generation Apparel, Fame, Hydroxide Knitwear, Pretty Group, Ssuie Sweater, That’s It Knit, Shasha Garments, Ornate International and Sharmin Garments.
The crisis came at a time when Bangladesh was gaining its competitive edge in export markets due to the rising input costs in world’s largest cloth-manufacturing countries like China and India.
“I do not want to put my life at risk,” said Mohmmad Kalam who went back his village in Bellkuchi, Shirajganj, four days after
Rana Plaza collapsed on April 24. He worked as a sewing operator at Ssuie Sweater. “I feel safe here,” said Kalam, who prefers to work on farmland to going back to the factory.
Daliya Akter, who was a seamstress at Hydroxide Knitwear, said: “I feel panicky when I see grim pictures of the Savar incident on TV.”
“My guardian did not want to see me in the factory anymore,” said Akter, 19, now back at her village in Tangail.
Another worker, Monjila, who worked at Ornate International, was also on her way home.
She said: “My factory building developed some cracks on its wall. Though the [factory officials] assured us that it was nothing but minor fractures of plaster, I am not convinced, nor is my family.”
The 21-year-old is living in the Savar area with her husband, a hawker, and four-year-old daughter.
Before Rana Plaza collapsed, the workforce in the textile and clothing industries numbered about 4m, most of which were women. They contributed significantly to Bangladesh’s yearly $20bn industry, which made up more than 80% of the country’s total exports.
Syed Moazzem Hossain, owner of New Generation Apparel and former president of the Bangladesh-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said his factory suffered 30-35% worker shortages since the incident.
“Workers get panicky because of broadly publicised trivial cracks developed in some factory buildings, hampering production,” he said, adding that guardians are now reluctant to send their sons or daughters to factories.
Moazzem said the government should allocate land for a safe industrial zone. In the absence of proper space, some factories are forced to turn residential buildings into commercial spaces.
Omar Faruque, head of production at Fame Apparel, said his factory is only able to use 60-70% of its production capacity because of the exodus of workers.
He said around 100 workers have already left his factory.
Ataur Rahman, assistant general manager at Hotdress, said some workers were absent after the Savar incident, but they had returned following counselling.
“Horrific TV footage of the Savar tragedy has made them panicky,” he said. But we assured them that we would provide a safe workplace in a safe environment,” he said.
Mustafizur Rahman, executive director of Centre for Policy Dialogue, a local thinktank, said to retain the confidence of workers, the government and organisations should work together, as the industry is going through a time of challenge.
“They need to ensure that buildings are structurally sound and safe for work after identifying affected factories,” he said. Garment factories must comply with internationally acceptable standards, the expert added.
Nobody from the Bangladesh Garment and Manufacturers Association was available for comment on this matter.