The jute growers, jute industry and the jute industrial workers were once the driving force of our economy. The same role is now being played by the garments industry and garment workers in our economy. If we look back to the origin of the garment industry we shall have to start with Reaz Garments which in 1969 presented on behalf of the then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) its product – shirts – to the three astronauts, Neil Armstrong, Edwin 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 lot of water has flowed down the river Buriganga, and Reaz Garments is no more there. But now Bangladesh has emerged as the second largest exporter of apparels in the world market. This vital sector has progressed gradually but rapidly. The total export of garments from Bangladesh in the year 1983-84 was worth $31.57 million which was 3.89 per cent of the total exports. On initiative from the government and different financial institutions, the garments sector thrived quickly. In the year 1986-87, garments export was worth $298.67 million which was 27.74 per cent of the total export which rose to $12.35 billion (Tk. 864.50 billion) in 2009-2010 and constituted 79.33 per cent of the country’s total exports. In the current financial year garment exports from Bangladesh is worth $15.3 billion. In 2008-09 the GDP of Bangladesh was Tk.6149.43 billion of which the contribution of the garments industry was about 10.0 per cent. The related figures are improving rapidly. According to a survey of the Department of Textiles, the total investment in the textile and garments industry is over Tk.406.0 billions. Around 4.4 million workers are working in this labour-intensive totally private sector industry which is about 65.0 per cent of the total work force engaged in the manufacturing sector of the country. These workers are directly engaged in about five thousands garments units owned by about 3,000 owners. Besides, the total number of workers engaged directly and indirectly in this sector and other industries related to this sector, will exceed 20 millions. About 80.0 per cent of the garments workers are girls. Taking these into consideration, this is the most successful business sector of the present day Bangladesh (excluding the manpower export sector of the economy). In this sense, it may be compared to the once prosperous jute industry of Bangladesh (erstwhile East Pakistan of the sixties of the last century). This is how the garments workers, particularly the girls, have emerged as a pivotal force in the economic development of Bangladesh. These workers usually come from the wretched families of the rural Bangladesh. It has been shown in different research publications that about 96.0 per cent of the male and 76.0 per cent of the female workers are educated up to less than primary level. Most of them try stand on their own feet and constitute the bulk of our cheap labour. Apart from cheap labour, subsidised energy such as gas and electricity, the garments sector is almost fully dependent on imported machineries and raw materials such as cloths, threads, buttons, and furnace oil etc. This sector is also fully dependent on foreign buyers of its commodities, such as knit and woven garments. The local cheap labour adds value to the sector and for that reason it may be said that what we export as garments to the foreign market is only the local cheap labour. Recently, as the wages of the workers in China are increasing, the Chinese industrialists are thinking of relocating their investment to countries where labour is cheaper. Bangladesh can avail this opportunity and is already a target of China’s investment. As a result, Bangladesh garments industry like many other industries of the world is highly sensitive to the warps and woofs of the global market situation. Because of the 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 global slump. As this is the single major industrial sector of Bangladesh employing a vast work force, the well-being of the workers should be of prime concern to the entrepreneurs of this sector and the government of the country. Bangladesh is a strong force in the world apparel market with minor ups and downs. It needs to sympathetically address the problems of the garment workers including the rate of wages and duration of work time so that this important sector may continually grow and survive the shocks of the global economy and does not crumble. There are complains that the environment of these labour-intensive industries is not secure and congenial for life and health of the workers which is demonstrated by frequent incidents of fire causing loss of life and properties. The rate of wages 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 matters of such incidents the government and related authorities should come forward and side with the workers and rescue them. Let us make sure that this vital sector of the economy does not suffer the same fate as that of the once vital and prosperous sector of the country – jute. In this hartal and blockade-prone country the politicians should be careful so that the movement of cargo vehicles of this sector is kept out of their political programmes for the safe running of the factories and export of garments.
