CNN’s Vanessa Yurkevich
For the past two weeks, there have been violent protests in New York ( CNN)-Bangladesh as thousands of garment workers have taken to the streets to call for higher pay for the nation’s four million workers.
Three workers were killed when protesters and officers clashed. That, according to organizations, police have used rubber bullets and tear gas, which has turned the protests angry.
According to Christina Hajagos-Clens, the chairman of the textile and garment industries at IndustriALL Global Union, to which the organizations in Bangladesh are affiliated, “it’s growing and becoming more and more violent.”
The nation’s wage board announced on Tuesday that clothing workers would receive an increase of$ 113 per month starting on December 1. Employees and labor organizations who claim that wages have not been keeping up with prices for the past five years have rejected that. The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics reports that between 2022 and 2023, inflation increased to 9 %, the highest average rate in a 12-year period.
Now, Bangladeshi cloth staff earn$ 95 per month making clothes for well-known companies like H&M, Zara, and Levi’s. Employees are asking for$ 208 per month in pay. That would still be less than Americans ‘ weekly pay, which is the federal minimum of$ 7.25 per hour before taxes, for comparison. In the US, some workers organizations refer to that as a hunger wage.
It is unacceptable, declared Narza Akter, head of the largest union in Bangladesh, the Sommilito Garments Sramik Federation. We believe that the union’s news of the minimum wage has made the workers in the garment business look foolish. It makes absolutely no sense. The risk of continued work turmoil, which is undesirable for both employees, employers, and the state, increases if the minimum wage is never set fairly.
The country’s businesses have been forced to close as a result of the protests, paralyzing the second-largest cloth manufacturing hub in the world after China. Numerous activists have ended up in hospitals. Imran Hossain, a 32-year-old mill worker, was killed by fire, and Rasel Howlader, 26, died in violent clashes with officers, according to the US State Department.
” We are even worried about the persistent oppression of laborers and business unions.” According to Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesperson, the United States urges the bilateral approach to reevaluate the minimum wage decision in order to address the mounting economic pressures on workers and their families.
Some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in the nation are employed by the market. The working conditions in Southeast Asia’s gown industry have previously been questioned. However, since the disastrous Rana Plaza decline, Bangladesh has n’t witnessed protests with this level of violence in about ten times. The nine-story creating was overrun with clothing factories, and the devastation claimed the lives of 1,100 people, mostly women.
Although circumstances have since improved and income have gradually increased, the rise in the value of the gown industry has substantially outpaced them. According to the consulting firm McKinsey, apparel imports from Bangladesh increased from$ 14.56 billion in 2011 to$ 33.13 billion by 2019. Bangladesh hopes to become a middle-income nation by 2031.
According to the US Commerce Department, Bangladesh’s business sector, which generates 35.1 % of its annual gross domestic product, is dominated by the production of ready-made clothing.
What companies are saying
Early this month, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh received a text from 18 companies, including H&M, Levi’s, Gap, Puma, and Abercrombie & Fitch, pleading for quiet conversations and requesting the new minimum income to meet the needs of simple employees. A more timely minimum wage assessment is suggested by the American Apparel and Footwear Association, or AAFP, which represents US companies. Now, the maximum pay in Bangladesh is reviewed every five years.
” Ideally, rather than every five years, this wage level—which in Bangladesh determines all pay levels—would be reviewed annually. In a statement to CNN, Nate Herman, Senior Vice President of Policy at AAFP, said that ensuring timely testimonials and, as necessary, increases in these ranges, is an essential component of the collection of better purchase practices that concerned brands are implementing.
Instead of contracting with factory owners in Bangladesh who cover all of the initial costs, including supplies, the center, and labor, brands like H&M do not own any companies it.
The Finnish behemoth acknowledged” the crucial part we play to help the transaction of living wages through accountable purchasing practices” in Bangladesh, according to CNN. Despite the fact that some of the companies it works with have been shut down due to the protests, H&M added that it does not” see any significant effects on our overall output or provide chain.”
H&M was questioned by CNN about its role in facilitating the payment of living income, but it made no comment.
Patagonia stated that it supports workers ‘ demands for a minimum wage of$ 208 per month.
” Some of our most specialized products are produced by one longstanding factory companion in Bangladesh.” Although our distributor has made significant advancements toward living wages, we are aware that there is still work to be done, the company stated earlier this month.
In the meantime, Levi Strauss & Co. stated in a declaration that it “encouraged the Government of Bangladesh to establish honest, trustworthy, and transparent process for normal minimum wage setting.”
In Bangladesh, companies do not have the authority to determine income, but they do have control over price pressure. The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, which represents shop owners, was contacted by CNN for opinion, but they did not respond.
” Many of the pressure on companies does start with brands and retailers, and I believe that the fashion industry keeps trying to resist this conversation.” However, in order to correct wages, we must first address the pricing issue, according to Elizabeth Cline, a Columbia University lecturer in fashion policy.
client accountability
The majority of people who buy clothing made in Bangladesh are foreigners. According to the World Bank, 84 % of Bangladesh’s overall export earnings in 2019 came from gown exports.
Customers want things right away, cheaply, and quickly, particularly as consumer spending patterns are shifting toward more affordable goods in the face of inflation. Jason Judd, Director of the International Labor Institute at Cornell University, asserts that the business cannot rely on consumers to increase wages while the younger generation of consumers considers the origins and methods of production of their clothes.
Judd remarked,” It takes a great force by customers to walk briskly in order to bring about change.”
Brands canceled$ 40 billion in purchases at companies around the world during the pandemic, leaving stock owners and providers to foot the bill and employees without pay. However, the” Pay Up” campaign persuaded brands to pay back$ 22 billion of the$ 40 billion owed through a grass roots labor movement on social media, according to the Workers Rights Consortium.
Real change, according to Judd, comes from scheme and from within the nation. According to a number of workers activists CNN spoke with, Bangladesh’s streets are similar to those in Cambodia in 2014, where garment workers demanded higher pay following the introduction of the new minimum wage.
The state dispatched the surveillance forces in response to the demonstrations, killing at least three individuals after firing on employees. Reformation, however, came next. The minimum wage for cloth workers in Cambodia is now increased annually.
” Bangladesh needs a process that is more diverse, less aggressive, and pragmatic.” This has already been done. Judd remarked,” This is not reinventing the wheel.”
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