New York ( CNN)- For the past two weeks, there have been violent protests in Bangladesh as thousands of cloth workers have taken to the streets to call for higher pay for the nation’s four million workers.
Police and protesters clashed, killing three staff as a result. That, according to organisations, police have used rubber bullets and tear gas, which has turned the protests angry.
According to Christina Hajagos-Clens, chairman of the textile and garment industries at IndustriALL Global Union, to which Bangladeshi organisations are affiliated, “it’s growing and getting 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 workers organizations who claim that pay have n’t kept up with prices for the past five years have rejected that. According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, prices increased to 9 % between 2022 and 2023, the highest average rate in 12 years.
Now, Bangladeshi cloth employees earn$ 95 per month working for well-known companies like H&M, Zara, and Levi’s. Employees are asking for$ 208 per quarter in pay. Considering the national required of$ 7.25 per hour before income, that would still be less than the regular salary American receive. In the US, some workers organizations refer to that as a hunger wage.
One of Bangladesh’s largest organizations, the Sommilito Garments Sramik Federation, has President Narza Akter say,” It is not acceptable.” ” We believe that the union’s news of the minimum wage has made the workers in the garment business look like a ridicule.” 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 protests have forced some factories in the nation to shut down, paralyzing China, the second-largest center for cloth production worldwide. Numerous activists have ended up in hospitals. The death of 32-year-old employee Imran Hossain was caused by a manufacturer fire, and Rasel Howlader, 26, was killed in violent clashes with police, according to the US State Department.
” We are even worried about the persistent oppression of laborers and unions.” According to Matthew Miller, a State Department director, 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 nation’s poorest and most resilient citizens are employed by the business. South Asian garment industry working conditions have previously been questioned. But since the devastating Rana Plaza collapse, there have n’t been protests in Bangladesh with this much violence in about ten years. 1,100 people, mostly women, perished in the crisis, which engulfed the nine-story building with garment factories.
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, clothes exports 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 field, which generates 35.1 % of its annual gross domestic product, is dominated by the production of ready-made clothing.
what the models 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 evaluation is suggested by the American Apparel and Footwear Association, or AAFP, which represents companies in the US. Now, the maximum pay in Bangladesh is reviewed every five years.
” Ideally, this income levels, which in Bangladesh is used to calculate all compensation levels, would be reviewed once a year, not every five years.” In a statement to CNN, Nate Herman, Senior Vice President of Policy, at AAFP stated that “ensuring fast testimonials and, as necessary, increases in these levels, is crucial part of the collection of better purchase practices that concerned brands are deploying.”
Brands like H&M do n’t actually own any factories in Bangladesh; instead, they hire factory owners who cover all of the initial costs, including labor, supplies, and the facility.
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 complex products are produced by a single, dependable manufacturer companion in Bangladesh. Although our dealer has made significant advancements toward living wages, we are aware that there is still more we can accomplish up, the company stated earlier this month.
In the meantime, Levi Strauss & Co. stated that it had “encouraged the Bangladeshi government to establish a good, reliable, and transparent process for regular minimum wage setting.”
In Bangladesh, brands do not have the authority to determine wages, but they do have control over costs pressure. The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, which represents shop owners, was contacted by CNN for comment, but no response was received.
” A lot of the stress on companies does start with brands and retailers, and I think that’s really a conversation that the fashion industry keeps trying to resist.” However, Elizabeth Cline, a teacher in fashion policy at Columbia University, said that if we want to repair wages, we really need to solve the pricing issue.
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 imports.
Customers want things now, cheaply, and quickly, particularly as consumer spending habits are shifting toward more cheap products in the face of inflation. According to Jason Judd, Director of the Global Labor Institute at Cornell University, the industry ca n’t count on consumers to raise wages while the younger generation of consumers are considering where their clothing comes from and how it is made.
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.
Judd asserts that actual change, however, results from national legislation and internal shift. According to several work activists CNN spoke with, what is happening in Bangladesh’s streets is similar to what occurred in Cambodia in 2014, when garment workers that demanded higher pay after their authorities implemented a new minimum wage.
The state dispatched the surveillance forces in response to the demonstrations, killing at least three individuals after firing on employees. But transformation came next. The minimum wage for gown 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 said,” This is not reinventing the wheel.”
The-CNN-Wire
Warner Bros. TM & 2023 Cable News Network, Inc. The Discovery Corporation All right are reserved.