ILO global business forum highlights the importance of a sustainability vision for Bangladesh’s RMG sector

By ILO
Oct. 2, 2019

Future of $34 billion industry heavily linked to improved labour market governance, effective social dialogue and responsible sourcing practices.

DHAKA (ILO News) – Representatives from the world’s largest retails brands met with leading figures from the country’s ready-made garment (RMG) sector at the Annual Bangladesh Business Forum in Dhaka last Wednesday, 2 October 2019.

Under the theme ‘Driving Sustainable Change’, the forum was organised by the Better Work Bangladesh (BWB) programme, a joint collaboration between the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

Today, Bangladesh’s $34 billion a year garment export industry is the second largest in the world (behind China) with more than 4,500 factories, employing over four million workers.

Discussions centred on the need for a globally competitive garment industry supported by improved labour market governance, effective social dialogue and responsible sourcing practices to ensure decent work and generate long-term prosperity for the industry. A number of speakers also highlighted ongoing issues facing the industry, including how BWB and its brand partners can continue to address gender and occupational safety and health (OSH) non-compliances. 
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ILO video on RMG workers’ rights goes ‘viral’

By ILO
August 28, 2019

DHAKA (ILO News) – An ILO video featuring three young women trade union leaders has gone viral on YouTube. The 3.45 minute advocacy film tells the inspiring story of the trio who collectively organised themselves to form a trade union.

Although the film was produced five years ago, a groundswell of interest on the issue of worker’s rights and freedom of association in Bangladesh has generated close to 800K views.

Freedom of association is the right to organize and form employers' and workers' organizations and is crucial for collective bargaining and social dialogue between employers and workers. The ILO promotes these issues by ensuring workers and employers have better knowledge and understanding of labour rights and responsibilities.

“Our work in Bangladesh centres around advancing social justice and promoting decent work and this video truly captures those ideals,” said Tuomo Poutiainen, Country Director, ILO Bangladesh. “This video really has struck a chord with our audience and it’s encouraging to know that hundreds of thousands of people in the country are watching, sharing and promoting the messages and values of the ILO in Bangladesh during its 100-years anniversary.
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Mothers@Work: supporting breastfeeding mothers in the workplace

By Better Work
August 3, 2019

Dhaka – Inspiring stories from factories affiliated with Better Work Bangladesh (BWB) show that breastfeeding facilities in the workplace benefit working mothers, their babies and employers.

World Breastfeeding Week gives us an opportunity to look back at how garment factories are making a real difference to nursing mothers in the workplace.

The first of its kind in Bangladesh, Mothers@Work – a UNICEF and BWB partnership – is a national initiative to help protect the wellbeing of mothers and ensure that their children receive the early nutrition they deserve.

Launched in 2017, this special initiative has been rolled out in 80 BWB partner factories.
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ILO and Gap Inc. launch new initiative to improve industrial relations in Bangladesh garment industry

Better Work
1 July 2019
The International Labour Organization (ILO) and global apparel retailer, Gap Inc., have launched a joint initiative to further strengthen social dialogue and industrial relations in Bangladesh’s garment sector. The three-year initiative, the ILO Bangladesh Social Dialogue Project, will be implemented by the ILO in all factories that Gap Inc. sources from in Bangladesh.

The initiative will help build the capacity of factory management, compliance staff, union members and workplace committee members through training sessions on a range of topics including: freedom of association, collective bargaining, international labour standards, HR management, communications and negotiation techniques, as well as increase the understanding of the Bangladesh Labour Act.

Greater regional trade in South Asia can empower women

 

Girija Shivakumar, and Talajeh Livani

|July 08, 2019

“Women in Bangladesh are no less competent than men, and it is time that they get the highest encouragement and support not only from the government but also from their families to get involved in business ,” says, Baliamari Haat, a female vendor from Kurigram in Bangladesh.

Her sentiment echoes through South Asia, a region where women have historically had far fewer opportunities than men in the economic, social, and political spaces, leaving millions of them voiceless and undermining their full potential.

Clothing makers promote better working conditions in Asia

Clothing makers promote better working conditions in Asia

Nikkei Asian Review

Leading global apparel brands recently began relocating their production sites from increasingly costly China to locations with cheaper labor, such as Bangladesh and Myanmar, where working environments are generally poor. Zara's owner, Inditex of Spain ...

The Political Economy of Fashion

The Political Economy of Fashion

CounterPunch

They have relocated to places like Cambodia and Bangladesh, the places that director Andrew Morgan visited in the course of making “The True Cost”, a documentary that opens on May 30 (see http://truecostmovie.com/ for screening information). As the ...

Laundering the Global Garment Industry's Dirty Business

Laundering the Global Garment Industry's Dirty Business

Foreign Policy (blog)

Those workers themselves protest loudly and often for better conditions, blocking roads with burning tires near sprawling, dingy factories on the outskirts of Dhaka or Phnom Penh, and sometimes fall to bullets fired by riot police dispatched to return ..

Bangladesh garment unrest worries global buyers

Wednesday, July 25th 2012
This article was distributed through the NewsCred Smartwire. Original article © Agence France Presse 2012

Bangladesh has assured international buyers that unrest will be settled, after 300 factories were shut down due to employee riots. Workers were demanding higher wages in the wake of rising food and rent prices.

Bangladesh's government has promised top Western buyers of the country's garments that it will address unrest in the textile sector over soaring living costs, it said Wednesday.

Vietnam garment sector must explore new markets - Experts

Fibre2Fashion

August 14, 2012 (Vietnam)  

Exploring new markets is the best way to boost the Vietnamese garment industry, said legislators and industry experts while speaking at a seminar held to ponder on the ways to increase the sector’s sales.

The seminar focusing on solutions to access resources and taking the local garment business to the international level was jointly organized by the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS) and Vietinbank, in association with Dun&Bradstreert (D&B) in Ha Noi.

Rising at a steady annual growth rate of seven to eight percent, Vietnam’s textile and garment exports reached US$ 9.3 billion over the past seven months, which is considered to be quite moderate as compared to the 22 percent growth achieved by the economy during the same period.

VITAS Deputy Chairwoman and General Secretary, Dang Phuong Dung, said the US, EU, South Korea and Japan were the key export destinations for Vietnamese apparels during the period. 

She said the country’s exports to South Korea have risen after the inking of a bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between South Korea and some of the ASEAN countries, including Vietnam.

During 2011, inflation was low and export orders were good, but this year, as the US is grappling against public debt crisis and unemployment problems, consumer demand has reduced, which has impacted Vietnam’s garment exports. In addition, the eurozone crisis has also badly hit Vietnamese garment exports.

In such a situation, exploring new markets would be the best way to boost demand of Vietnamese garments, said Ms. Dung. She said there is a need to enhance trade promotions to enable local apparel producers to better explore and penetrate in new markets.

Speaking at the seminar, Vietinbank’s Nguyen Thi Khanh Phuong said aiming to reduce reliance of garment exporters on foreign currencies, Vietinbank would help them balance their forex demand between garment and textile sectors, while ensuring payment ability and reducing the exchange rate risks.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

Garment makers move to right labour wrongs

The Daily Star
Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Share their steps with The Daily Star following international outcry

Against the background of growing concern over labour rights violation in Bangladesh, garment makers yesterday said they had taken the issue seriously and started to improve work environment and maintain compliance in factories.

Violent clashes at Bangladesh garment protests

Source: http://india.nydailynews.com/
Wednesday, June 13th 2012


Nearly 50,000 Bangladeshi garment workers staged violent demonstrations on Wednesday demanding an increase in wages. The workers manufacture clothes for Walmart, H&M and Tesco, putting in 10-16 hours shift, six days a week.

Bangladesh’s garment exports take a dip

Knitting Industry
18th June 2012, Dhaka

According to Bangladesh’s leading newspaper The Daily Star, exports from the country fell for the third straight month in May. The data was released by the state-owned Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) last week.

The newspaper reports that businesses blamed the slowdown in exports on a drop in demand for clothing in the Eurozone, which is now wrestling with a debt crisis. Readymade garments are the prime foreign currency earner for Bangladesh and the EU is the biggest market for its clothing.

Violence shuts 300 Bangladesh garment factories

Reuters
DHAKA, Sat Jun 16, 2012


(Reuters) - The owners of 300 Bangladesh garments factories shut their operations indefinitely on Saturday after days of violent pay protests by workers, threatening the country's biggest export already impacted by the global downturn.

The decision to close all factories at Ashulia, one of the country's biggest industrial zones on the outskirts Dhaka, came as talks between workers and owners had failed to break the deadlock.

Top exporters get HSBC awards

26 May 2012
The Daily Star,
Staff Correspondent

HSBC Bangladesh yesterday awarded six exporters for their contribution to promoting Bangladeshi products on the international market.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith handed out the prestigious “HSBC Export Excellence Awards, 2011” to the winners at Radisson Hotel in the capital.

The winners were Zaber & Zubair Fabrics, Urmi Group, Qualitex Group, Pran Group, Janata Jute Mills and Bay Footwear.

The third HSBC export excellence awards honoured winners from five categories: readymade garments and textiles exporters (Group-A and Group-B), EPZ enterprises, traditional and emerging sectors, and small and medium enterprises.

Each exporter was given the “Exporter of the Year” trophy for promoting the “Made in Bangladesh” mark throughout the world.

Zaber & Zubair Fabrics, a company manufacturing various home textile products for export mostly to Europe and North America, got the award under RMG and Textile: Group A, for companies with an annual export turnover of over $50 million.

Md Nurul Islam, chairman of Noman Group, the owning company of Zaber & Zubair Fabrics, received the award on behalf of the company.

Urmi Group, a woven garments and fabrics manufacturer, got the award under RMG and Textile: Group-B, for companies with an annual export turnover of less than $50 million.

Director of the group Asif Ashraf received the award.

Qualitex Group, a fully export-oriented towel manufacturing company, won the award under the Exporters in the Export Processing Zones of Bangladesh category.

Qualitex General Manager Altaf Awan received the award on behalf of the company.

Pran Group and Janata Jute Mills were jointly awarded under the Exporters in the Traditional and Emerging Sectors category with an annual export turnover of more than $3 million.

Amjad Khan Chowdhury, chief executive officer of Pran-RFL Group, which produces and reprocesses agricultural products, received the award on behalf of the company while Janata Jute Mills Director Saiduzzaman Khan received the award.

The award under Small and Medium Enterprises category with an annual export turnover of less than $3 million went to Bay Footwear Ltd, a leather footwear manufacturer that exports vulcanised safety shoes and other shoes primarily to Europe & East Asia.

Ziaur Rahman, managing director of Bay Footwear, received the award.

Speaking as the chief guest, the finance minister said Bangladesh had huge prospect to grow further as the country developed the necessary skills to compete in the global market.

He said the Bangladesh economy had witnessed a positive growth due to the presence of three key elements: progressive cultivator, productive industrial workers and vibrant entrepreneurs.

Atiur Rahman, governor of Bangladesh Bank, said, “Our exporters resiliently maintained positive export growth even at the peak of the global financial crisis.”

He said awards like this one acclaiming excellence in export performance were important confidence boosters that inspire exporters to aim for newer heights.

HSBC's Group General Manager and Head of Commercial Banking Asia Pacific Noel P Quinn said the key activity of banking was to make good relationship with customers rather than focusing only on transactions.

He said Bangladesh was in the top 20 markets for HSBC.

Andrew Tilke, chief executive officer of HSBC Bangladesh, said, “I congratulate the winners for their achievements and also for the important role they play in Bangladesh's development and prosperity.”
He said Bangladesh had three key advantages: geographical location between India and China, cost competitiveness, and strong entrepreneurial sprit fuelling economic growth of the county.

Mahbub-ur-Rahman, head of corporate banking of HSBC Bangladesh, said, “With its global presence, international connectivity and world-class trade solutions, HSBC is passionately committed to helping exporters unlock a world of potential.”

“We want to see Bangladesh from a trade deficit country to a trade surplus county within the next 10 years,” he said.

HSBC also paid special tribute to Samson H Chowdhury, the founder chairman of Square Group, who died on January 5 this year.
The Daily Star, Prothom Alo, KPMG and Bangladesh Brand Forum worked as HSBC's strategic partners in the initiative.

Mahfuz Anam, editor and publisher of The Daily Star; Matiur Rahman, editor and publisher of Prothom Alo; and Adeeb H Khan, senior partner of KPMG were also present.

Govt to fund training for garment workers

The Daily Star, Tuesday, May 22, 2012
 Refayet Ullah Mirdha

The commerce ministry plans to start training for fresh garment workers to build them into a skilled workforce and to counsel them on working environment in factories.

The ministry will train 1,440 workers, mainly from the entry level once a year, a senior official of the ministry said yesterday.

Currently, the garment sector, the main foreign currency earner, runs 25 percent short of skilled workers, which sets back productivity.

At present, four million workers are employed in the sector that needs one million more for the smooth running of the current production cycle.

“We will also try to manage a job at any factory for a trained worker as demand for such workers is high at this moment,” said Monoj Kumar Roy, an additional secretary of the commerce ministry.

The ministry sits in a meeting with other stakeholders today to discuss the details of the training programme, he said.

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Textile Directorate, Handloom Board, Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority and Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training will train the workers.

The commerce ministry will finance the programme from its Tk 20 crore fund which was given to the ministry in fiscal 2007-08 by the finance ministry. The expenditure of the programme will be borne from the interest earnings and profit of the fund.

Trainers will focus on workers' technical know-how, skills, factory environment, workers' attitude and behaviour and security and cleanliness.

The training will also focus on operation of sweater machines, woven machines, knitting machines and quality control.

Preah Vihear

Garment leaders call for political calm

 Source: The Daily Star
Friday, February 3, 2012

Garment and textile entrepreneurs yesterday urged political leaders to shun activities that may put the economy in trouble.

A vested quarter is trying to push the country's main foreign currency earning sector -- the readymade garment (RMG) sector -- and its backward linkage industry -- the textile sector -- into a crisis, the businessmen alleged.

But they did not name any specific group or people “trying to create anarchy”.
They spoke at a joint press conference on "the current situation of garment and textile sectors" at Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) in Dhaka.

Leaders from two other associated bodies -- Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) and Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) -- also attended the programme.
“Those who want to destabilise the democracy are considered as conspirators in the country,” said Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, president of BGMEA.

Mohiuddin also said economy and politics are inter-related. If the politics passes through a troubled time, the economy will suffer, he added.

“So, we hope the political leaders will not launch any such activity in the country that will harm the economy.”

The business leader also said the two sectors are passing through an uncertain period for slowdown in the global economy. Some recent government policies have also affected the sectors.

The government's excessive borrowing from the banking system has created the liquidity crisis, which is also affecting the RMG sector seriously, Mohiuddin said.

The garment sector is losing its global competitiveness due to the spiralling production cost imposed by high bank interest rates, he said.

“We urge the government to keep the lending rates at a tolerable level considering the long-term global competitiveness of the sector.”

The BGMEA chief also demanded reinstatement of the premium insurance rates for garment exporters that the country's insurers recently scrapped and introduced a standard rate as per the recommendations of the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authorities.

“Introduction of such standard rate without consulting with exporters is not right.”

Similarly, the authorities of Chittagong port did not reduce the charges on garment export, although Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina assured to do so in her Batexpo speech in 2009, he said.

Mohiuddin urged the government to construct central effluent treatment plants (CETPs) in different industrial zones as entrepreneurs cannot set up such costly facilities individually.

Officials of the Department of Environment fine garment owners irrationally for not having ETPs at the factories or for partial operations of water and chemical treatment at their premises, he said.

Jahangir Alamin, president of BTMA, said poor supply of gas is hampering production in factories seriously.
“I need 10 PSI (per square inch), but I receive only 3 PSI during the peak of production. But owners have to pay the government at the rate of 10 PSI," he said.

He urged the government to introduce electronic gas metres at the factories for measuring gas pressures correctly.

Bangladesh exports jump 31% in August

Daily Times

Friday, September 24, 2010

DHAKA: Bangladesh’s exports in August surged 31.25 percent to $1.79 billion from a year earlier, led by strong demand for the country’s readymade garments, data showed on Thursday. In the fiscal year that ended in June, exports rose 4.11 percent to $16.2 billion as the global economy gradually recovered, although that was still 7.9 percent below the government’s target amount. Sales in July rose 26.5 percent to $1.82 billion, the impoverished south Asian country’s highest ever. Earning from knit textiles in July-August, the first two months of the current fiscal year, rose 32 percent to nearly $1.6 billion from the previous year, while woven garments rose 30 percent to $1.3 billion, the Export Promotion Bureau said. Orders for clothes, which account for 80 percent of Bangladesh’s overseas sales, are growing from its key markets the United States and Europe. Traders and officials said the garment sector had seen a steady recovery since January, along with the recovery in the global economy. Bangladesh is fast becoming part of the global supply chain for low-end textiles and clothing because of its cheap labour costs. In late July, the government nearly doubled the minimum monthly wage for millions of workers in the garment industry to 3,000 taka ($43), which will take effect in November, but wages are still low compared with rivals such as China, India, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia. Bangladesh makes garments for international brands such JC Penney, Wal-Mart, H&M, Kohl’s, Marks & Spencer and Carrefour. Meanwhile, the government has increased the amount of credits available, cut tax and offered cash incentives to explore new markets to garments exporters. reuters The government expects exports to climb 14 percent this fiscal year to $18.5 billion, with targets of $7 billion from knitwear and $6.6 billion from woven garments.

Bangladesh Garment Workers In Wage Protest

Source: Sky News Online

UK, Sunday August 01, 2010

Katie Cassidy

Garment makers in Bangladesh who produce clothing for companies such as Marks and Spencer have clashed with police for a third day over a new minimum wage they say is too low.

Police threaten workers during a protest in Dhaka

Unions have rejected a government offer of 3,000 taka (£27) a month, which is nearly double the previous minimum, but far less than the 5,000 taka (£45) the workers asked for.

The garment industry is Bangladesh's second largest employer, with more than 3.5 million people - mostly women - working in thousands of factories all over the country.

International companies such as Wal-Mart, H&M, Zara and Marks and Spencer have their clothing made in Bangladesh.

Thousands of angry workers took to the streets of Dhaka in protest over their pay after union leaders said the rise did not match the cost of living.

Some 80 people were injured in the latest clashes with police, who fired rubber bullets and used their batons to clear away demonstrators.

Protesters throw pieces of bricks towards officers

Officials said a mob blocked a highway in the city's north for several hours, jeering at officers and pelting them with bricks.

In another part of the capital, protesters attacked vehicles and looted shops.

Nearly 250 people, including officers, have been hurt in similar violence over the past two days.

The Bangladeshi Prime Minister called on the workers to accept the new minimum wage and stop hurting the sector, which is worth some 80% of the country's annual £10bn export income.

Sheikh Hasina said the continuing unrest, which has forced the closure of 20 factories in Dhaka's textile hub, could threaten employees' livelihoods.

She asked workers to return to work peacefully while factory owners said they would reopen if order was restored.

Labor Leaders Arrested Over Bangladesh Protests

By VIKAS BAJAJ and JULFIKAR ALI MANIK

Source: The New York Time

Published: August 16, 2010

MUMBAI — Police in Bangladesh have arrested three garment-industry labor leaders and 18 other people on charges that they organized and participated in violent protests last month.

International advocacy groups like Human Rights Watch and the International Labor Rights Forum have criticized the arrests, calling them a tactic for intimidating workers in a powerful industry that supplies Western buyers like Wal-Mart and H&M. The protesters were angry over a recent increase in the minimum wage, calling it insufficient.

The arrests, made over the last several weeks, came after street protests in Dhaka and other hubs of the fast-growing clothing industry, which employs more people than any other industrial sector with about 3 million workers.

Last month, a government-appointed wage board raised the minimum wage in the industry to 3,000 taka a month, or $43. That was up from 1,662.50 taka and was the first increase since 2006. The country’s labor groups had sought an increase to 5,000 taka. While some labor groups agreed to accept the 3000 taka wage, which will take effect in November, several other organizations have not and tens of thousands of protestors took the streets at the end of July.

The protests were much more violent than in the past. Police shot rubber bullets and tear gas into the crowds and protestors set cars ablaze and attacked factories and stores in several Dhaka neighborhoods, including the affluent Gulshan area that is home to the city’s elite and many foreigners.

Police said they arrested several workers after identifying them in television news footage and in newspaper photographs. When questioned about the violence, workers identified several leaders, who were then arrested in the following days, said Molla Nazrul Islam, a deputy police commissioner.

The three leaders arrested were Montu Ghosh, an adviser to Garment Sramik Trade Union Kendra; Babul Akhter, the executive director of the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation; and Kalpana Akhter, the executive director of the Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity. Associates of the arrested labor leaders could not be reached for comment.

“We arrested the leaders of the garment workers on charges of instigating violence and rampage by the factory workers in the garment factories and other business centers,” Mr. Islam said.

But labor and human rights advocacy groups said at least one worker has told his colleagues that he was tortured into giving false evidence against himself and other labor leaders before he escaped from custody. Advocates also said that they were worried about the safety of people arrested in recent days.

Mr. Islam, the police official, denied that the authorities tortured workers and said those arrested were being held for interrogation under court orders.

In a statement, several Western labor-rights groups including the International Labor Rights Forum and The Clean Clothes Campaign said the arrests “were part of a strategy by the government of Bangladesh to deal with recent riots among garment workers by scapegoating peaceful worker advocates rather than addressing the true underlying cause of such turmoil: the country’s abysmal working conditions.”

Prime Minister Sheik Hasina has previously sympathized with workers, calling their wages were “inhuman,” but she said last month her government would not tolerate further violent protests.

Julfikar Ali Manik reported from Dhaka, Bangladesh