On July 3, we saw stories in newspapers about an index that ranked Bangladesh among the 10 worst countries for labour rights. The article was shared on many social media accounts, gaining traction. The apparel manufacturing sector was at the centre of this, being a labour-oriented industry and being subject to scrutiny for years (in many cases, rightfully so). Being a part of the industry, I personally found it difficult to grapple with this reality, so I looked up the report by International Trade Union Corporation (ITUC) and tried to understand how we fared so poorly in this global ranking.
One of the key incidents mentioned in that report to demonstrate this was the labour unrests from June 2022.
What was not mentioned was that the situation was mostly escalated by acts of vandalism in factories, shops, and other private properties. This had been a common occurrence in certain areas of the city, where protests would start from a certain factory and snowball into a bigger area, resulting in property damages and even people getting injured. Such protests could start due to a specific issue at a specific factory, but can later turn into a bigger commotion including all the factories in that area (good or bad). After the dust had settled, we were left with more questions than answers.
Around that time, there were labour unrests occurring in various parts of the city at the same time. In that specific incident, mobs broke into factories and shops damaging property worth crores, important machinery, and risking the safety of otherwise innocent people. I cannot speak to whether these incidents were orchestrated, but I can say that I was there that day and could not help but feel people's safety were put at risk.
Are we not responsible for the safety of the people who work in our premises?
What was also not mentioned is that most of the companies name-checked in that rankings are socially compliant factories who abide by our labour laws -- they pay maternity, earned leave, yearly bonuses, disburse salaries by the first seven working days of the month, and so on. Most socially compliant factories provide such facilities.
One of the eight factories mentioned even has a union. Another one provides free lunches to their employees. They woke up one morning to find their factory premises vandalized.
We are not running sweatshops anymore
I am not saying that we are perfect, or that we don't need to do better -- a lot of work still needs to be done when it comes to wages, safety, and rights, for instance. There is a possibility of a minimum wage hike on the horizon, at the same time there are business factory closures due to slump in work orders. A lot of factories still struggle to meet labour standard requirements due to financial incapability -- RMG still accounts for some 85% of our export earnings, and a blow to the industry in the midst of a global slowdown in demand could be detrimental to say the least. A balance needs to be struck to ensure the survival of the industry and the well-being of the people working in these factories.
All I am saying is, we are not running sweatshops anymore. There are 192 LEED certified factories in Bangladesh, more than any other country. According to Amfori, in 2018, more than 1,400 factories were audited for BSCI (Business Social Compliance Initiative). According to ILO, there are 1,593 NI (National Initiative) factories under DIFE (Department of Inspections for Factories and Establishment working on structural integrity, fire, and electrical safety similar to ACCORD (now the RSC, RMG Sustainability Council).
There are 393 WRAP (Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production) approved factories in Bangladesh, a globally recognized American company that certifies factories around the world on social compliance. More than 1,600 factories are enlisted in ACCORD/RSC, all of them have either completed remediation or are in progress to that end. Most factories working for name brands are required to abide by strict standards when it comes to pay, benefits, child labour, extra overtime, work environment, and so forth.
Since the 2013 Rana Plaza incident, the industry has invested heavily on safety and well being. Child labour and shared buildings are now mostly a thing of the past. Our country manufactures apparel items for some of the biggest brands in the world. And yet, to our frustrations, we carry a “Made in Bangladesh” label that many look down on. While I do believe more needs to be done, I also believe the country and the industry deserves more credit for the work that is being done and the work that is ongoing rather than being regarded as one of the 10 worst countries on these issues.
So I ask you, how are we worse than countries with internment camps and prison labour? Are our labour laws, laws that most factories abide by, worse than the kafala system for instance? Why should a rating that is based on a few standalone incidents put us on the map, rather than concrete facts and figures? I think these are all questions worth asking.
Abir Chowdhury works in the RMG sector.