THAT 91 per cent of apparel workers, regardless of their gender, face abusive behaviour from managers and line supervisors, in particular, is a matter of grave concern. Moreover, as New Age reported on Friday quoting results of a survey conducted by a local non-governmental organisation, most of the abused workers regularly face the uncalled-for situation as the factory officials resort to foul tactics to have the work done by the deadline. The survey found that apparel workers have to work in the factory for more than 10 hours a day and thus have little time to spend on themselves and their family, which is anything but conducive to labour productivity. There are many factories among the ones surveyed between November 2015 and March 2016 where the management denies workers maternity and sick leave, delays worker payment or even does not give wages at all, and even prevents workers from going to toilet. Meanwhile, the workers have to spend more than Tk 2,500 of the average salary of Tk 6,183 on house rents falling short enough of providing education for their children, let alone make savings. A similar survey in 2013 found 61 per cent of the apparel workers complaining of the abusive behaviour. In this context, it is clear that the situation dampening work environment at apparel factories worsened in the past few years. It is all the more so as only 11 per cent of the survey respondents complained to the administrators and 8 per cent of them protested against the abusive behaviour while a whopping 67 per cent of the victims remained silent fearing further harassment from the accused and the factory management. Some 80 per cent of the workers at the apparel sector are women, mostly poor and having little education, and thus have reasons not to have adequate courage to protest against abusive behaviour or misdemeanour of their bosses. The situation would have been different in case there had been active trade unions elected by the workers of the factories. Regrettably, however, despite repeated calls from different labour rights organisations and the media ever since the inception of the sector for ensuring internationally recognised trade union rights there, factory owners, emboldened by an unabated government bias against workers, continue to sidetrack the issue. All concerned need to realise that such a situation, if allowed to continue, will certainly leave an adverse impact on the productivity of workers, that too at a time when an increase in the labour productivity in the sector is a need of the day as it is key to meeting the challenges posed by its competitors in the world export markets. Besides, the apparel sector provides employment for more four million people, mostly poor women, and accounts for over 80 per cent of the country’s annual export income while having huge potential to contribute more in this regard. Overall, the government, as well as leaders of apparel traders, immediately needs to take effective steps to end the hostile work environment in the sector.
