With the decline and ultimate fall of the jute industry just after liberation – recent media reports even does not show a hopeful prospect of this industry – the garments industry plays the same hopeful and vital role about a decade or so after the emergence of Bangladesh. Like the jute growers and the jute industrial workers who were once the driving force of the economy, today the same role is being played by the garments industry and its workers in the Bangladesh economy. They are the single largest number of industrial workers in the country. If we look back to the origin of this industry we shall have to start with Reaz Garments which presented its product id est shirts on behalf of the then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in 1969 to the three astronauts Neil Armstrong, Aduin Aldrin and Michel Collins who for successfully completing the first human Moon mission were invited to this country in 1969. Afterwards Reaz Garments first exported garments in 1978 to Europe. Since then much water has flowed down the river Buriganga, and Reaz Garments is no more. But by now Bangladesh has appeared as the second largest exporters of apparels in the world market. This vital sector has progressed rapidly. The total export of garments from Bangladesh in the year 1983-84 was worth $31.57 million which was 3.89% of the total export of Bangladesh. After the coming forward of the government and different financial organizations to help the sector growth of the Garments Industry started increasing rapidly. In the year 1986-87 garments export was worth $298.67 million which was 27.74% of the then total export; and in the financial year 2009-2010 garments export was worth $12.35 billion (in Bangladeshi currency Taka 864.50 billion) which is 79.33% of total export. Currently in the 2015 FY, garment export from Bangladesh is worth $15.3 billion. In the financial year 2008-09 the GDP of Bangladesh was Taka 6149.43 billion of which the contribution of the garments industry was about 10%. The related figures are gradually and rapidly increasing. According to a survey report of the Department of Textile the total investment in the textile and garments industry is about more than Taka 406.00 billion by now. Current reports say, around 4.4 million workers are working in this labour intensive totally private sector industry of the Bangladesh economy. This number is about 65% of the total workers engaged in the manufacturing sector of the country. These workers are directly engaged in about 5 thousands garments industrial units owned by about 3 thousand owners. The total number of workers engaged directly and indirectly in this sector and other industries related with this will exceed 20 million. Of the garments workers about 80% are girls. From these points of view this is the most successful business sector of the present day Bangladesh (excluding the manpower export sector of the economy). Thus this may be compared in this respect with the once prosperous jute industry of Bangladesh (erstwhile East Pakistan of the sixties of the past century). This is how the garments workers especially the girls have emerged as a pivotal force in the progress of the economy of Bangladesh. With the toil, sweat and untiring effort of the garments workers, this industry has achieved such an immense expansion. These workers join this industry with a hope of achieving social security and in search of livelihood. These workers usually come from the wretched families of the rural Bangladesh. These rural families usually give their children very elementary education up to class one or two for making them eligible to work in the urban based garments industries. It has been shown in different research publications that about 96% of the male and 76% of the female workers are educated up to that level. Most of their attitude towards life is modern. Many a young lady avoiding the curse of immature marriage tries to grow up and stand on their own feet as the mistress of their own life by working in this sector. The enthusiasm of rural youths, both male and female, forms the huge industrial cheap labour force of this sector. Apart from cheap local labour, subsidized energy such as gas, electricity, the garments sector of the economy is almost 100% dependent on imported machineries and other raw materials such as cloths, threads, buttons, and furnace oil etcetera. This sector is also about 100% dependant on foreign buyers of its commodities, such as knitwear and woven garment goods. The local cheap labour do the function of ‘value-added’ only and for that reason we may say that what we export as garments to the foreign market is only the local cheap labour and the foreign buyers and investors are attracted to Bangladesh solely for this reason. Recently, since the wage rate of the workers in China is increasing, the Chinese industrialists are thinking of moving their investment to countries where labour is cheaper. Bangladesh is capable of availing this opportunity and is already a target of China’s investment here. As a result Bangladesh garments industry like many other industries in the global economy is highly sensitive to the warps and woofs of the global market situation. Because of such nature of this particular industry, the economic lot of its labour class is also connected, ceteris paribus, with the prospect and prosperity of the global economy; although Bangladesh has overcome the recent slump of the global economy. As this is the single major sector of the Bangladesh economy employing a huge number of industrial workers, the well being of the workers should be of prime concern to the entrepreneurs of this sector and the government of the country for the lasting prosperity of the sector. It is neither a casual nor a seasonal industrial sector. Its importance will prevail for a long time to come, since so long as civilization lasts people will wear clothing and import it where necessary. Bangladesh is still a strong competitor in the world apparel market with minor ups and downs conducive to the world market. Bangladesh needs to sympathetically address the various problems including the rate of wages, their regular payments and the duration of work time of the hardworking workers of this sector so that this important modern sector may continually progress and prosper and survive the ills and odds of the global economy and does not meet the fate of the country’s jute industry. There are reports that the environment of these labour intensive factories is not secure and congenial for life and health of the workers. These are proved by the recurrent and frequent incidents of fire that occur in the factories of this industry to the loss of considerable numbers of valuable lives of the innocent workers. The rate of wage paid to the workers is also low and exploitative. It is also alleged that in most of the cases the workers are ill treated and harassed under different pretexts. In the matter of such incidents the government and related authorities should come forward and take the side of the workers and rescue them. Let us be sure that this vital sector of the economy will not meet the fate of the once vital and prosperous jute sector of the country for the imprudence and negligence of the factory owners shown towards the interests of the workers’ genuine needs and requirements. In this hartal and blockade-prone country the politicians will also have to be careful so that the movements of cargo-vehicles of this sector are kept out of their hartal and blockade programs for the safe running of the factories. In a word, all-round care is needed to save the garment workers and this vital sector of the economy where they work.
