During the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, wages of the country’s readymade garment (RMG) workers have dropped by 50% to 65%, according to a new survey.
Some 23% of workers have not yet received the minimum wage of Tk8,000 set by the government. However, in this sector, a worker’s average income, including overtime, is currently above Tk11,000. Some 90% of workers in this industry are also still not in any trade union, says the study conducted by Care Bangladesh.
A draft report of the survey was presented at a multi-consultative meeting on Monday.
Lawmaker Shirin Akter, RMG workers, and representatives of various NGOs, shared their views on the draft survey at a meeting conducted by Maheen Sultan, a senior fellow at the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development. Jagannath University Associate Professor Mostafiz Ahmed presented the draft of the survey.
The survey of 390 RMG workers this year focused on the limited practice of trade unions and the harassment of workers in various ways. The meeting also demanded ratification of Convention 190 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to overcome these challenges.
Talking to The Business Standard after the meeting, Babul Azad, a representative of CARE Bangladesh, said the meeting was mainly to ensure stakeholder validation. The recommendations of this meeting will be included in the survey report before it is finally presented.
According to the draft survey report, more than 22% of garment factories do not issue appointment letters to workers. Many of these factories only give identity cards to their workers, and 10% of factories do not even give ID cards. But according to labour law, an appointment letter has to be given before a worker starts a job. Those who get appointment letters often get it one year after starting the job.
Workers employed at a factory are supposed to have separate service books and they need to know the information included in it. But 40% of workers do not know what information is included in a service book. They do not even know that they are supposed to sign it.
According to the survey, 78% of workers cannot take leave and about 79% of workers are deprived of their weekly day off due to situations like order shipments or festivals. Two-thirds of respondents to the survey said they have to hear unwanted comments when they ask for leave and a quarter of them are fearful of losing their jobs if they seek leave.
However, 76% of the survey participants said they received maternity leave. Of them, 94% are workers at compliant factories.
The survey highlighted the issue of psychological harassment rather than physical harassment of workers. This included sexually suggestive language, eyeing, and talk about their clothing. Most such mental harassment happens on the production floor. Seventy-four percent of survey participants said they do not complain about these issues for fear of losing their jobs. However, in factories that have anti-harassment committees, such harassment has decreased by 61%.
At the meeting, it was suggested that labour leaders become proactive in creating a worker-friendly workplace. Lawmaker and labour activist Shirin Akter stressed making the existing business more active.
Karmojibi Nari President Pratima Paul Majumdar said, “In the last few years, we have made a lot of progress in the garment sector. Most of the top 10 green factories in the world are in Bangladesh. However, although the number of export orders has increased, we are not getting a fair price.”
Labour leader Kalpana Akter expressed frustration that a large number of workers lost their jobs and returned home empty-handed in the pandemic, but there was no social protection for them.
She said the current labour law is not for workers, but for employers. This law must be for both workers and employers and there is no better time than now, for ratification of Article 190 of the ILO Convention.
However, some speakers at the meeting questioned the sample size of only 390, given the large number of workers in the industry.
