A Look into the Journey of Garment Worker Rights in Bangladesh 2013-14

Posted on February 25, 2014 by Research Initiative for Social EquitySociety - RISE Society — 2 Comments

The first anniversary of Rana Plaza, the greatest catastrophe thatfaced any factory worker in the history of mankind, is just around thecorner. As 24th April approach, we look back at a year when the Multi-Billion dollar international fashion industry came face to face withwith the hellish sight of its devastated workers.

Rana Plaza was the biggest factory disaster that ever hit Bangladesh,but in no way was it the first. According to some reports [1], since2005 there have been a total of 1728 deaths within Bangladeshi textilefactories which work for brands that fill western high streets. Thisfigure reflects the catastrophes since Spectrum through Tazreen tillRana Plaza, however does not include the fires like that of Tung Haiand Aswad later on.

Since these tragedies, improvements have been promised by the BGMEA,government and buyers. New building codes, better inspectionfacilities, new amendments to the labor law, a new minimum wage,compensation promises, and an accord from Europe came along with analliance from USA to save our battered blue collared souls.

This article is an attempt to look into the recent events inBangladeshÕs most important and labor intensive sector – the garmentsector, as it can be seen from within Bangladesh and throughBangladeshi eyes.

The Tazreen Tragedy

Tazreen Fashion was one of the biggest national disasters of its timein Bangladesh. The cries of its victims spread across borders and intothe outlets of its buyers in the western world. The need for justice,both in terms of compensation, better safety standards and punishmentto the factory owner Delwar Hossain have been voiced across Bangladeshand across the globe. The recent and long awaited charge-sheet andsubsequent arrest of Mr. Delwar Hossain started a much awaited longingof people around the world to witness justice being served and anexample being set.

After a lot of confusion on the exact numbers of dead and injured,RISE along with Clean Cloths Campaign went on a mission to interviewand combine the data collected by most NGOs and Social Researchers inBangladesh to finally come up with the figures of 125 dead with 87orphans, and 124 seriously injured in need of medical attention. Thesefigures were later submitted to C&A to extend the shorter BGMEA list.

Tazreen Fashion fire occurred in 2012, but its compensation onlystarted in mid 2013 and continues with C&A and Li & Fung leading theway through their chosen implementing body Caritas Bangladesh – aCatholic Christian Missionary organization. Although C&A and Li & Funghad gone ahead without involving trade unions, still this step hadbeen lauded across the world as a step towards their responsibilitytowards those who stitch their profits together. Apart from C&A and Li& Fung, very little has materialized from others which include: DeltaApparel (USA), Dickies (USA), Disney (USA), Edinburgh Woollen Mill(UK), El Corte Ingles (Spain), Enyce (USA), Karl Rieker (Germany), KiK(Germany), Piazza Italia (Italy), Sears (USA), Teddy Smith (France),and Walmart (USA).

The year 2013 saw the beginning of compensation implementation forTazreen Victims spearheaded by C&A and Li & Fung. Apart from their duesalaries, till now the dependents of the dead victims of Tazreen havereceived 600000BDT from the government, 100000BDT from the BGMEA, some

have received a little more if they met some other organizationdistributing donations. The Tazreen orphan are receiving 1250TK permonth for each child and is given to their legal guardian till theyreach 18 years of age, along with 2750TK per month in a savingsaccount for each child. For the injured, C&A pays a one grade upsalary for every month since the disaster that the worker could notwork due to injuries. On being verified by Caritas, these injuredvictims get paid in phases (e.g. several months worth of payment givenout in one payday).

Workers we talked with expressed their helplessness on the process ofpayment and verification. Need for the money is great, and theyacknowledge the thoughtfulness shown by C&A towards them. Theycertainly are grateful to Caritas Bangladesh and thus travel withtheir injured bodies all the way from their far off villages in hotand humid climates just to sign a piece of paper and get verified eachtime they have to receive a payment. One wonders, and the workers dotoo, about why the modern mobile banking and bank accounts with swiftmoney transfer facilities are not being used? In fact, such a movecould empower workers with a bank account, include the bank as a thirdparty witness for compensation payment and offer a higher level oftransparency.

Since Tazreen many other relatively small scale disasters followed,including the 8 deaths in Smart Export fire which also was compensatedearlier this year by Inditex, in cooperation with Trade Unions inBangladesh. Apart from medical treatment to some of the criticallyinjured, the dead were given 1400000BDT each; the injured were given500000BDT each, while ordinary workers of the factory regardless oftheir injuries were given a sum of 15000BDT for their inconvenience.

However, for Bangladeshis, all eyes are fixed towards the aftermath ofthe biggest and most brutal tragedy which suddenly eclipsed everyimagination that we had as a nation regarding disasters. A catastrophe

struck – named after its owner Mr. Soheil Rana, now behind bars andawaiting a charge-sheet, and the battered workers awaitingcompensation.

Rana Plaza – A long wait for justice

With at least 1135 deaths, and around 2000 injured victims – many ofwhom maimed forever, creating several hundreds of orphans, Rana Plazaexposed the fragile state of work place safety and working environmentin Bangladesh. Even though the epic tragedy struck millions of heartsacross the globe, relief keeps coming too little too slow. The worldstood shocked, while their fashion brands shuffled for the beststrategy to tackle the ÒcrisisÓ. Primark led the way with cash reliefto victims amounting to a sum of 45000BDT till date (3 equalinstallments using the mobile banking method ÒbKashÓ), other brandsare still waiting in promises while many prefer to live in ignorance.

Recently, the government has formed a 31 member committee to overseethe arrangements for disbursing a Prime Ministerial relief fund whereunions are not represented. This committee has proposed 1450000BDT forthe dead and missing workers and the permanently disabled ones,750000BDT for those who have lost one limb, 450000BDT for workersneeding long-term treatment and 150000BDT for the traumatizedsurvivors, a package which falls short of Article 121 of ILOconvention.

Apart from this, a global initiative negotiated between unions,companies and NGOs have set a 40millionUSD (25million GBP) target andnamed this effort ÒThe Rana Plaza ArrangementÓ [2]. Although the final

funding needed will only be determined as the individual claims willbe processed, it is estimated that the total amount will be close toUSD 40million, based on the provisions of ILO Convention No. 121 andthe wage levels expected at time of award. As per ILO convention, incase of death the workerÕs family is entitled to 2500000BDT. Thepermanently disabled workers should receive more than 2500000BDT, therecoverable injured ones 1500000BDT and those with minor injuries 5 to1000000BDT. The Rana Plaza Arrangement has been signed by buyers,unions, NGOs and politicians alike, with the international LaborOrganization (ILO) acting as a neutral chair. Leading buyers Primark,Loblaw, Bonmarche, El Corte Ingles signed the arrangement along withthe Bangladesh Ministry of Labor, Bangladesh EmployersÕ Federation(BEF), Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association(BGMEA), IndustriALL Bangladesh National Council, Bangladesh Institutefor Labor Studies (BILS), Industriall Global Union and Clean ClothesCampaign.

Among all the wait and promises, the progress is little. According toan ongoing research of RISE in cooperation with Medico International(Germany), till now families of the dead victims have received20000BDT funeral cost per dead body, between 1 to 300000BDT from thePrime MinisterÕs relief fund (inconsistent, depending on claims byfamily members), while 45000BDT has been given in 3 installments byPrimark, 10000BDT by Islamia Foundation (an Islamic NGO), and between5000 to 10000BDT from local government administration.

As for the victims with injuries 45000BDT came from Primark in threeequal installments. Few victims received 1000000BDT as a fixed depositfrom the government which gives 10000BDT monthly to the victims;however only a handful received this amount and the criteria to beeligible for this support remains unclear. Further 10000BDT cash camefrom the government for some but not all. 5000BDT was given at thehospitals where treatment was rendered free of cost, a support whichhas by far been the most consistent till now.

The long wait for support has eaten away many hopes. Long neglectedtrauma patients are increasingly vulnerable to acts like suicide, justlike the 27 year old Rana Plaza survivor Salma did on 24th Januarythis year. With hundreds of victims and their families helplesslyclinging on to the last moments of hope, relief seems too little andone can only wonder if they will arrive too late.

However, with the hope that compensation does finally arrive, it willbe important to manage such a large scale compensation plan in atransparent and organized manner so that none of the suffering victimsare left behind. Thus for the implementation of the compensationscheme, it is important that it remains transparent and abovequestions. A suggestion may be setting up bank to bank transfersystem. The compensating body could remit the amount to a ÒMotherAccountÓ of those who would implement the compensation scheme. Aseparate fund should be provided for temporary camps set up inlocations from which clusters of victims/families are easilyaccessible. Teams made up of trade unionists and representatives ofthe implementing body should help victims/families open bank accountswith their documents, submitting information about the dead relativeor their own injuries from the Rana Plaza Tragedy. The implementingbody would then transfer money from their ÒMother AccountÓ to theaccount of the victim/family. This action will not only bring greatertransparency in the form of a third party witness in the bank, butalso empower workers in determining their own finances and takingcharge of its accountability, and also help prevent victims fromhaving to travel from their distant homes forverification/documentation. Further, these temporary camps may alsoaccept grievances for any irregularity or inconsistency, and a callcenter may be set up with a hotline for victims to give theirfeedback.

Although the above mentioned plan is broad, still it is the bestoption compared to the mobile banking (bKash) option which already hasbeen used by Primark in its effort to disseminate 45000BDT in threeequal installments to the Rana Plaza victims. Although mostlysuccessful, on a survey conducted by RISE on relatives of the dead andinjured victims of Rana Plaza found that there were at least someincidents of bKash fraud by agents and/or relatives who went to pickup the amount which needs no real documentation other than mentioningthe cell number or reference number from which the bKash amount wouldcome, which eventually resulted in the actual victim receiving lessthan what she was normally supposed to receive. Handing over the rightamount to the right person in mobile banking is not yet as secure asthe strong method of bank to bank money transfer.

The Minimum Wage 2013

There were two new minimum wages announced recently, both of whichaffected the garment export industry in Bangladesh. One was announcedfor the ready-made garment factories operating under the guidelines ofthe Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association(BGMEA), and another for factories operating under the BangladeshExport Processing Zone Association (BEPZA). Wages in the ExportProcessing Zones (EPZs) are not set via a Minimum Wage Board. Wages inEPZs are determined by the Bangladesh Export Processing ZonesAuthority (BEPZA) and are currently slightly higher than the non-EPZminimum wages. Factories in the EPZ area account for only 5% ofgarment exports are produced in EPZ areas [3].

Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA) administersworkers in eight EPZsÕ as per a law different from the BangladeshLabor Law 2006 (amended in 2013). The law for EPZ workers is titled asÒThe EPZ Workers Welfare Association and Industrial Relations Act,2010.Ó

The (BGMEA) Minimum Wage 2013 for Knitwear and Woven Announced on22November 2013

January and February 2014 were the first two months of the first yearafter the new Minimum Wage 2013 came into being on 22 November 2013.The 6 member minimum wage board [4] which was chaired by retireddistrict Judge A.K. Roy, Prof Dr. Mohammad Kamal Uddin (neutralmember) of the International Business Department of Dhaka University,Mr. Kazi Saifudin Ahmod (permanent member representative of RMGowners), labour adviser of Bangladesh Employers Federation Mr. FazlulHoque Mantu (permanent member of workers), executive president ofNational Sramik League Mr. Arshad Zamal Dipu as workersrepresentative, and Mr. Sirajul Islam Rony as representative of ready-made garment (RMG) workers, passed a minimum wage of 5300BDT for RMGworkers compromising on the demand of 8114BDT by workers across thecountry. After much violence, injury and loss of lives, workers wentback to their only chance to survive (their jobs) expecting a wagewhich would reflect the new minimum wage – however inadequate thatmaybe.

The new minimum wage came up with approximately 77% increase in wagefor the lowest grade worker of a garment factory. However, on a closerlook after inflation [5] is adjusted for 3 years after the lastminimum wage in 2010 (a sum of 3 years which is approximately 26.70%),we can see how the real picture is still different from whatever isclaimed. Moreover, the increase in basic wage is still far from ideal,and if adjusted with inflation (2011, 2012, 2013 FY) then the increasefor BGMEA factories are far from significant. The table below shouldexplain the increase,

BGMEA Minimum Wage 2013 (inflation adjusted)

January saw wages in more than 40% [6] of garment factories remainunchanged, a scenario which seem consistent even through Februarywhere RISE surveyed 20 randomly selected factories in Dhaka and found50% of these factories yet to implement the new minimum wage. Thereason for this delay towards proper implementation of the minimumwage ranges from political unrests of 2013 to the recent off peakseason for garment products in the export market, an explanationunexplainable to the hungry bellies of the average garment worker andher family.

No minimum wage yet for Sweater Factory Workers

Along with their garment worker brothers and sisters, sweater factoryworkers also made headlines in Dhaka. They demanded Increase in piece-rate (i.e. they earn according to the number of pieces they make) forthe sweater garment factory, and introduction of overtime benefits,festival bonuses, leave benefit, increasing basic pay, and fixing wageas per grade wise.

Recently the government informed that it is going to formulate a setof guidelines for the sweater factory workers to resolve theprevailing disputes over payment in piece-rate basis.

There are interesting comments which comes from Mohammed Hatem, thevice-president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and ExportersAssociation, who strongly contends the practicability of sweaterfactory workers working under a wage board. He says that theguidelines would be formulated over fixing piece rate but there is noscope to include the demands of workers for increasing basic pay andovertime allowance in the guidelines.

ÔWhen they will work under piece rate they will not be entitled tograde wise basic pay or overtime benefits. We have no objection to paythe sweater factory workers as per grade wise basic and overtimebenefits, but they will have to work under the wage board,Õ he said[7].

Hatem said that no sweater factory workers are willing to work underwage board as under the piece rate the workers receive higher than thestructure of minimum wage board.

Labor leaders have been making allegations for long that the sweaterfactory workers are deprived of legal service benefits like overtimeallowances and festival bonuses.

Approximately 1.6 million [8] workers are engaged in sweater factoriesunder the piece rate basis payment system.

In the first week of January, the labor ministry formed a sub-committee to look into the disputes of the sweater factory workers.

New (BEPZA) Minimum Wage 2013 for EPZ factories announced

Just after the Minimum Wage 2013 for garment factories under theBGMEA, BEPZA announced its own minimum wage 2013 (EPZ) on 24 December2013. As per expectations and tradition, the EPZ Minimum Wage washigher. However, a straight comparison of EPZ factories with factoriesoutside of EPZ may not always be fair, as garment factories inside theEPZ areas do not have any unionization by law. Moreover, EPZ factoriesare enjoying 10-year tax holiday and duty free machinery importfacilities. Factories inside the EPZ get uninterrupted gas and power

supply, which make them more competitive. Moreover, day carefacilities for children are provided to every worker from theauthorities of EPZ, as well as medical treatment.

Thus to no surprise, EPZ factories show a greater increase in wagescompared to the BGMEA factories, even after inflation being adjusted,

Minimum Wage 2013 in EPZ (column with adjusted sum of inflation for 3FY)

Minimum Wage 2013 in EPZ (column with adjusted sum of inflation for 3FY)

There has been at least a couple of unrest in the Dhaka EPZ arearegarding implementation of the minimum wage. However, implementationis faster in these areas compared to factories outside EPZs.

The Accord and The Alliance

Both the Accord and the Alliance came into being after the Rana PlazaTragedy (also known as the Savar Tragedy). Although both promise tobring positive changes in the building and fire safety standards ofBangladeshi garment factories, they are not the same, but rather standfacing each other with a clear spirit of rivalry.

The journey of what is known today as the Bangladesh Fire and BuildingSafety Accord (or the ÒEuropeanÓ Accord, as commonly termed inBangladesh) started to take shape in February 2010 when the fire atGarib & Garib Sweater Factory consumed 21 lives and left severalinjured. The fire caused ITGLWF (now a part of Industriall GlobalUnion) come together with Bangladeshi Trade Unions, national andinternational NGOs, activists and think-tanks to develop a set of

proposals known as the ÒHealth and Safety Action Points for BuyersÓfor better fire and building safety standards in Bangladesh. Later,ThatÕs It Sportswear Factory fire causing 29 deaths prompted theconcept of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) being signed byretailers, local and global trade unions and the manufacturers for aprogram of tasks in which all stake holders could cooperate closely inan attempt create a binding understanding that would help stop anysuch future tragedies in the garment industry of Bangladesh.

The MoU was contested by most brands, although it had the German brandTchibo as its signatory. The MoU was now known as the Bangladesh Fireand Building Safety Agreement, which later took the form of BangladeshFire and Safety Accord after the twin disasters of Tazreen and RanaPlaza.

Apart from these international efforts by global stakeholders, theBangladesh Government created the tripartite National Action Plan(NAP) on January 15th, 2013 in consultation with local Trade Unionsand the BGMEA for better safety standards of Bangladeshi GarmentFactories which. NAP was a positive incentive for the Accord as italso created space for global stake holders to act in a united effortfor safety standards in garment factories of Bangladesh. The newBangladesh Fire and Safety Accord explicitly endorsed the NAP andpledged to dovetail its efforts with the actions being undertakenunder the NAP.

Recently the accord gathered 150 signatories [9] including many fromthe United States. The Accord is already present in Bangladesh withits staff, but inspections of BangladeshÕs garment factories arelikely to start by March 2014 and are forecasted to be completed bySeptember, five months later than originally planned.

Due to disagreements among US brands over the Accord, some of them ledby GAP and Wal-Mart eventually went on to form another platform namingit ÒAlliance for Bangladesh Worker SafetyÓ (or better known inBangladesh as the American Alliance). Although very similar to theEuropean Accord, the American Alliance is not working in cooperationwith Bangladeshi trade unions and not legally binding as the EuropeanAccord. 26 Brands, mostly US and Canadian, have joined the Allianceand have already started inspections in Bangladesh, claiming that itfocuses on safety issues in a more practicable manner than theEuropean Accord.

The rivalry between the Accord and the Alliance already has createdconfusion among many Bangladeshis, and is seen by many as anunfortunate impediment to what could have been a united and integratedeffort to much needed safety into the garment industry in Bangladesh.Recently the General Secretary of Industriall Global Union, a globaltrade union representing 50 million workers from 140 countries whichspearheaded the European Accord, informed in a press conference thatIndustriall would conduct a big public campaign to show how unseriousthe American Alliance is [10]

The European Accord is set to inspect around than 1600 factories andthe American Alliance is inspecting around 700 factories, while thereare approximately 6000 Garment Factories in Bangladesh with more than4.5 million workers most of them being female. There are 350 factorieswhich are common to the Accord and the Alliance. [11]

Accord vs. Alliance

As the purpose of both the Accord and the Alliance appear to besimilar, it is always interesting to try and look into the differencesof both these initiatives. The table below makes an effort to look

into the major differences between the European Accord and theAmerican Alliance,

Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety Vs. Bangladesh Fire and BuildingSafety Accord

Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety Vs. Bangladesh Fire and BuildingSafety Accord

Practical Scenario on Ground

Performance of the Accord and the Alliance

The problems surrounding Bangladesh building and safety compliance areso great that a united effort was necessary. The unfortunate rivalrybetween the European Accord and the American Alliance certainly doesnot help.

Neither the Accord nor the Alliance covers all the factories inBangladesh, but rather just about 2000 factories together and betweenthem. As RISE have recently discovered in its own small investigation,not every factory manufacturing products for signatories of either ofthe two platforms have been named in either the accord or the alliancelist. It is also very logical that in a country with about 6000Garment Factories, the biggest brands and those who source most fromBangladesh definitely has their products being stitched in more thanjust one third of the factories of the country. This raises an obviousquestion about avoiding another Rana Plaza or Tazreen in Bangladeshthrough these platforms.

Another great fear among Bangladeshis benefitting from the economicgrowth of Bangladesh largely due to the garment sector as well as the

workers is the possibility of hundreds of factories getting closed dueto compliance issues and high costs to meet them, and as a resultcreating joblessness which in itself is a disaster which might bringback the days of hunger for some which is a lot more painful than thethreat of an instant death.

Alan Roberts, Bangladesh AccordÕs operations director said that hehoped for only a few factories being closed as a result of the Accord,that in a country where the culture of implementation of governmentsafety standards and building codes is far from ideal. He further wenton the say that the kinds of fixes demanded by the Accord are veryexpensive, and how they will be paid for is still up in the air as thegreatest challenge. [17]

Recently representatives of the European Accord, American Alliance,and industry and government representatives met but failed to agree oncommon inspection standards. In the ongoing meetings concerns havebeen pointed out by the BGMEA and Bangladeshi government about therealistic nature of the Accord and the Alliance, their differences,and how foreign inspectors would understand the context of thefactories and its location i.e. Bangladesh. The BGMEA also has taken astance against inspection standards set by both the platforms offoreign retailers and brands, saying many of their clauses are not inthe national building code and too strict for small and medium garmentfactories in Bangladesh; it further urged the government to re-fix thestandards in line with the national building code so that everyfactory can meet the standards.

Among some of the arguments put forth by BGMEA representatives, thereare examples where inspectors representing a platform expressed theirrecommendation to some factories to use very thick electrical coils,but no company in this country produces such coils. The inspectionagencies also want fire sprinkler system in the factories and this is

not stated in the Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC). The firesprinkler system is a protection measure used worldwide. [18]

However, after BGMEAÕs strong reservation about the inspectionstandards of the Accord, particularly about the hiring of foreigninspectors, the European Accord decided to hire 25 Bangladeshiengineers along with international inspectors for evaluating garmentfactories for structural soundness and fire safety in an effort to addlocal knowledge into the inspections.

Also, the European Accord, American Alliance and the BangladeshiGovernment are looking forward to come to an agreement over a standardinspection procedure which would help clear any confusion.

At this early stage it may as well be said that with the bestintentions in perspective, the European Accord seeks to includegreater accountability and thus place the primary responsibility onwestern retailers while the American Alliance wants less involvementfor the retailers while looking for a bigger role from Bangladeshigovernment and Bangladeshi factory owners.

Success with Trade Unions?

After the amendments of 2013 to the Bangladesh Labor Law 2006, therehas been sharp increase in new unions registering within the ready-made garment (RMG) sector. Till now 100 new unions in garmentfactories were registered with the Bangladesh Department of Labor(DoL). Presently, 222 unions [19] in the RMG sector are registeredwith DoL in Bangladesh.

In a recent press conference the General Secretary of IndustriallGlobal Union announced that another 100 factories will have unions in2014. Currently over 40000 workers are registered in Unions inBangladesh, although the concept of unions are still weak among thosewho sign up.

Trade Unions in Bangladesh generally occur without the consent or evenknowledge of the factory owner, thus ceasing the possibility ofcollective bargain. Lack of skills, understanding, organizingcapability and facility ends up in registered unions become inactiveand remain only on paper. Thus it may also be an area that should benoticed rather than only increasing the number of unions.

Struggling Social Conditions

Recent media coverage on social conditions within some garmentfactories in Bangladesh has reopened the issue of how fast workingconditions are improving, and what is the current overall status ofconditions inside factories.

RISEÕs observation says that social conditions within factories havegenerally improved in Bangladesh relatively in the last couple ofyears. Although child labor has been checked to a great extent in theBangladesh Garment Industry, it is nonetheless still present, but insmall and non-compliant factories located in downtown areas of thecity.

In a recent survey of more than 80 Garment Factories across Dhaka,Gazipur, Mirpur, Savar, Ashulia, Rampura, Chittagong, RISE foundextensive and systematic verbal abuse in almost 85% of the factories.Workers mention that calling bad names, insulting with obscene

language, screaming and shouting is part of their daily routine whileworking in a garment factory.

One good thing is that physical abuse against workers is becomingincreasingly rare, just like sexual abuse. Although not completelyremoved from the work environment of the entire industry, 75% of allfactories surveyed said that they did not receive any form ofsystematic physical abuse as punishment, while workers in allfactories confirmed that they did not receive any form of sexualabuse. It also must be noted that according to the prevalent cultureof Bangladesh, female workers avoid acknowledging cases of sexualabuse fearing further discrimination from society.

Irregular maternity leaves and violation of the Bangladesh Labor Law2006 (amendment 2013) is nothing new in Bangladesh. Although, morefactories are practicing the culture of giving proper maternity leavesto their female workers, they must be employed for at least a yearbefore they can avail this benefit (according to labor law, it shouldbe 6 months). The maternity leaves are paid, however the prevalentpractice is to allow 2 months paid pre-delivery leave to the worker,and another 2 months paid post-delivery paid leave, although 70% ofthe workers we interviewed informed that there is a high prevalence ofnot getting paid for the remaining 2 months (after birth of the baby)if the worker does not take her previous position back in the factory.

Other scenarios for some factory owners include: giving a pregnantworker a job which she is not supposed to do (not within herexpertise/skill), giving her a job at a higher floor, or creating sucha scenario where she leaves the job by herself.

Few (decreasing numbers) of factories still cheat the workers on theirmaternity benefits by not giving them their deserved 4 months, butrather 2 or 3 months of maternity leave with pay.

Below is a table describing the law for Maternal leave in Bangladesh,applicable for garment workers:

Maternity Benefit in Bangladesh Labor Law

Maternity Benefit in Bangladesh Labor Law

Medical facilities struggle in most factories, while long workinghours go unaccounted for. Workers are often found complaining aboutovertime payment irregularities, which for them make up to a hugechunk of their overall income.

As per the Bangladesh Labor Law 2006 (amendment 2013) the maximumovertime limit is 2 hours, making 60hours/week the legal weeklyworking hours. However, it is a known fact in Bangladesh that workersmay spend (depending of order pressure) between 4 to 10 overtime hoursin a factory, where due to the law many factories end up keeping thetrue overtime accounts secretly which opens the doors for vaguenessand non-transparent methods to pay overtime wages. The overtime law israrely seen implemented in Bangladesh. However, a recent gazettepublished by the government relaxed overtime restrictions on theGarment Owners. The government published (with the following numbers:Reg# D A – 1 No. 40,00,0000,016,32,009,11 (part-1)-320-BangladeshLabor Law 2006) this in a gazette form and it declared exemption ofovertime hours by a further 2 hours and will be applicable from 17-10-2013 to 13-04-2014. This means that workers can now be legally keptworking in the factory for 12 hours every workday, making weekly workhours equal 72 hours. Thus, overtime can be 4 hours now for whichworkerÕs do not need to be asked for permission. With this exemptionBangladesh putÕs itself well outside both ILO recommendations and mostacknowledged Codes of Conduct and labor standards. Such a gazette hasbeen published before solely for the garment sector in Bangladesh, andit usually lasts for 6 months every year. Due to this gazette, most

factories can be more transparent about 4 hours of overtime pay totheir workers.

In the survey conducted by RISE, it was observed that a positivecorrelation existed between factory condition and working environment.Factories in good structural and fire safety conditions had bettersocial conditions and working environment inside the factory, whilefactories which were non-compliant or were manufacturing in vulnerablebuildings with none or questionable fire safety arrangement hadgreater worker abuses or bad social conditions inside their factorybuildings.

An unfortunate effect of factories vulnerable to disasters due totheir structural or fire safety conditions are felt by those factorieswhich are both structurally sound and maintain a relatively highsocial standard, as the country brand they share remains the same i.e.ÒMade in BangladeshÓ. It can only be hoped for the numerous compliantand improving factories to take their reputation more seriously, andfor the sake of the industry cooperate in attempts to bring forwardfailing and vulnerable factories and forward to improve conditions orat least save sector by letting them take a safe passage out of thisimportant industry in Bangladesh.

The Issue of GSP still on table

With improvements and promises are sought everyday in Bangladesh andfrom abroad, US Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) benefits isyet to be reopened, which demanded provisions pertaining to labor lawreform, protection of labor activists and organizers, and protectingthe freedom of association and the rights to organize and bargaincollectively before further continuation of the privilege.

Although the GSP does not account for too much of the Garment Exportof Bangladesh to the United States, the fear is that it may have adetrimental effect on the European GSP which Bangladesh enjoys. If theEuropean GSP would follow the same route as the US GSP, BangladeshiGarment Industries forecast bad times as the benefits Bangladeshigarment factories get from the European GSP is far greater andsignificant compared to the US one. Bangladesh also signed aSustainability Compact with the EU involving the International LaborOrganization to fulfill the 16 conditions. [20]

Recently, in a press conference the Commerce Minister Mr. Tofail Ahmedsaid that Bangladesh has made substantial progresses in fulfilling 13of the 16 conditions tagged by the US authorities to win back the USGSP facility. The rest three conditions are about the appointment of200 inspectors, allowing trade unionism in the export processing zonesand looking into allegations of torture on workers in 19 factories.[21]A Look into the Journey of Garment Worker Rights in Bangladesh2013-14

Posted on February 25, 2014 by Research Initiative for Social EquitySociety - RISE Society — 2 Comments

The first anniversary of Rana Plaza, the greatest catastrophe thatfaced any factory worker in the history of mankind, is just around thecorner. As 24th April approach, we look back at a year when the Multi-Billion dollar international fashion industry came face to face withwith the hellish sight of its devastated workers.

Rana Plaza was the biggest factory disaster that ever hit Bangladesh,but in no way was it the first. According to some reports [1], since2005 there have been a total of 1728 deaths within Bangladeshi textilefactories which work for brands that fill western high streets. Thisfigure reflects the catastrophes since Spectrum through Tazreen tillRana Plaza, however does not include the fires like that of Tung Haiand Aswad later on.

Since these tragedies, improvements have been promised by the BGMEA,government and buyers. New building codes, better inspectionfacilities, new amendments to the labor law, a new minimum wage,compensation promises, and an accord from Europe came along with analliance from USA to save our battered blue collared souls.

This article is an attempt to look into the recent events inBangladeshÕs most important and labor intensive sector – the garmentsector, as it can be seen from within Bangladesh and throughBangladeshi eyes.

The Tazreen Tragedy

Tazreen Fashion was one of the biggest national disasters of its timein Bangladesh. The cries of its victims spread across borders and intothe outlets of its buyers in the western world. The need for justice,both in terms of compensation, better safety standards and punishmentto the factory owner Delwar Hossain have been voiced across Bangladeshand across the globe. The recent and long awaited charge-sheet andsubsequent arrest of Mr. Delwar Hossain started a much awaited longingof people around the world to witness justice being served and anexample being set.

After a lot of confusion on the exact numbers of dead and injured,RISE along with Clean Cloths Campaign went on a mission to interviewand combine the data collected by most NGOs and Social Researchers inBangladesh to finally come up with the figures of 125 dead with 87orphans, and 124 seriously injured in need of medical attention. Thesefigures were later submitted to C&A to extend the shorter BGMEA list.

Tazreen Fashion fire occurred in 2012, but its compensation onlystarted in mid 2013 and continues with C&A and Li & Fung leading theway through their chosen implementing body Caritas Bangladesh – aCatholic Christian Missionary organization. Although C&A and Li & Funghad gone ahead without involving trade unions, still this step hadbeen lauded across the world as a step towards their responsibilitytowards those who stitch their profits together. Apart from C&A and Li& Fung, very little has materialized from others which include: DeltaApparel (USA), Dickies (USA), Disney (USA), Edinburgh Woollen Mill(UK), El Corte Ingles (Spain), Enyce (USA), Karl Rieker (Germany), KiK(Germany), Piazza Italia (Italy), Sears (USA), Teddy Smith (France),and Walmart (USA).

The year 2013 saw the beginning of compensation implementation forTazreen Victims spearheaded by C&A and Li & Fung. Apart from their duesalaries, till now the dependents of the dead victims of Tazreen havereceived 600000BDT from the government, 100000BDT from the BGMEA, somehave received a little more if they met some other organizationdistributing donations. The Tazreen orphan are receiving 1250TK permonth for each child and is given to their legal guardian till theyreach 18 years of age, along with 2750TK per month in a savingsaccount for each child. For the injured, C&A pays a one grade upsalary for every month since the disaster that the worker could notwork due to injuries. On being verified by Caritas, these injuredvictims get paid in phases (e.g. several months worth of payment givenout in one payday).

Workers we talked with expressed their helplessness on the process ofpayment and verification. Need for the money is great, and theyacknowledge the thoughtfulness shown by C&A towards them. Theycertainly are grateful to Caritas Bangladesh and thus travel withtheir injured bodies all the way from their far off villages in hotand humid climates just to sign a piece of paper and get verified eachtime they have to receive a payment. One wonders, and the workers dotoo, about why the modern mobile banking and bank accounts with swift

money transfer facilities are not being used? In fact, such a movecould empower workers with a bank account, include the bank as a thirdparty witness for compensation payment and offer a higher level oftransparency.

Since Tazreen many other relatively small scale disasters followed,including the 8 deaths in Smart Export fire which also was compensatedearlier this year by Inditex, in cooperation with Trade Unions inBangladesh. Apart from medical treatment to some of the criticallyinjured, the dead were given 1400000BDT each; the injured were given500000BDT each, while ordinary workers of the factory regardless oftheir injuries were given a sum of 15000BDT for their inconvenience.

However, for Bangladeshis, all eyes are fixed towards the aftermath ofthe biggest and most brutal tragedy which suddenly eclipsed everyimagination that we had as a nation regarding disasters. A catastrophestruck – named after its owner Mr. Soheil Rana, now behind bars andawaiting a charge-sheet, and the battered workers awaitingcompensation.

Rana Plaza – A long wait for justice

With at least 1135 deaths, and around 2000 injured victims – many ofwhom maimed forever, creating several hundreds of orphans, Rana Plazaexposed the fragile state of work place safety and working environmentin Bangladesh. Even though the epic tragedy struck millions of heartsacross the globe, relief keeps coming too little too slow. The worldstood shocked, while their fashion brands shuffled for the beststrategy to tackle the ÒcrisisÓ. Primark led the way with cash relief

to victims amounting to a sum of 45000BDT till date (3 equalinstallments using the mobile banking method ÒbKashÓ), other brandsare still waiting in promises while many prefer to live in ignorance.

Recently, the government has formed a 31 member committee to overseethe arrangements for disbursing a Prime Ministerial relief fund whereunions are not represented. This committee has proposed 1450000BDT forthe dead and missing workers and the permanently disabled ones,750000BDT for those who have lost one limb, 450000BDT for workersneeding long-term treatment and 150000BDT for the traumatizedsurvivors, a package which falls short of Article 121 of ILOconvention.

Apart from this, a global initiative negotiated between unions,companies and NGOs have set a 40millionUSD (25million GBP) target andnamed this effort ÒThe Rana Plaza ArrangementÓ [2]. Although the finalfunding needed will only be determined as the individual claims willbe processed, it is estimated that the total amount will be close toUSD 40million, based on the provisions of ILO Convention No. 121 andthe wage levels expected at time of award. As per ILO convention, incase of death the workerÕs family is entitled to 2500000BDT. Thepermanently disabled workers should receive more than 2500000BDT, therecoverable injured ones 1500000BDT and those with minor injuries 5 to1000000BDT. The Rana Plaza Arrangement has been signed by buyers,unions, NGOs and politicians alike, with the international LaborOrganization (ILO) acting as a neutral chair. Leading buyers Primark,Loblaw, Bonmarche, El Corte Ingles signed the arrangement along withthe Bangladesh Ministry of Labor, Bangladesh EmployersÕ Federation(BEF), Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association(BGMEA), IndustriALL Bangladesh National Council, Bangladesh Institutefor Labor Studies (BILS), Industriall Global Union and Clean ClothesCampaign.

Among all the wait and promises, the progress is little. According toan ongoing research of RISE in cooperation with Medico International(Germany), till now families of the dead victims have received20000BDT funeral cost per dead body, between 1 to 300000BDT from thePrime MinisterÕs relief fund (inconsistent, depending on claims byfamily members), while 45000BDT has been given in 3 installments byPrimark, 10000BDT by Islamia Foundation (an Islamic NGO), and between5000 to 10000BDT from local government administration.

As for the victims with injuries 45000BDT came from Primark in threeequal installments. Few victims received 1000000BDT as a fixed depositfrom the government which gives 10000BDT monthly to the victims;however only a handful received this amount and the criteria to beeligible for this support remains unclear. Further 10000BDT cash camefrom the government for some but not all. 5000BDT was given at thehospitals where treatment was rendered free of cost, a support whichhas by far been the most consistent till now.

The long wait for support has eaten away many hopes. Long neglectedtrauma patients are increasingly vulnerable to acts like suicide, justlike the 27 year old Rana Plaza survivor Salma did on 24th Januarythis year. With hundreds of victims and their families helplesslyclinging on to the last moments of hope, relief seems too little andone can only wonder if they will arrive too late.

However, with the hope that compensation does finally arrive, it willbe important to manage such a large scale compensation plan in atransparent and organized manner so that none of the suffering victimsare left behind. Thus for the implementation of the compensationscheme, it is important that it remains transparent and abovequestions. A suggestion may be setting up bank to bank transfersystem. The compensating body could remit the amount to a ÒMotherAccountÓ of those who would implement the compensation scheme. Aseparate fund should be provided for temporary camps set up in

locations from which clusters of victims/families are easilyaccessible. Teams made up of trade unionists and representatives ofthe implementing body should help victims/families open bank accountswith their documents, submitting information about the dead relativeor their own injuries from the Rana Plaza Tragedy. The implementingbody would then transfer money from their ÒMother AccountÓ to theaccount of the victim/family. This action will not only bring greatertransparency in the form of a third party witness in the bank, butalso empower workers in determining their own finances and takingcharge of its accountability, and also help prevent victims fromhaving to travel from their distant homes forverification/documentation. Further, these temporary camps may alsoaccept grievances for any irregularity or inconsistency, and a callcenter may be set up with a hotline for victims to give theirfeedback.

Although the above mentioned plan is broad, still it is the bestoption compared to the mobile banking (bKash) option which already hasbeen used by Primark in its effort to disseminate 45000BDT in threeequal installments to the Rana Plaza victims. Although mostlysuccessful, on a survey conducted by RISE on relatives of the dead andinjured victims of Rana Plaza found that there were at least someincidents of bKash fraud by agents and/or relatives who went to pickup the amount which needs no real documentation other than mentioningthe cell number or reference number from which the bKash amount wouldcome, which eventually resulted in the actual victim receiving lessthan what she was normally supposed to receive. Handing over the rightamount to the right person in mobile banking is not yet as secure asthe strong method of bank to bank money transfer.

The Minimum Wage 2013

There were two new minimum wages announced recently, both of whichaffected the garment export industry in Bangladesh. One was announced

for the ready-made garment factories operating under the guidelines ofthe Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association(BGMEA), and another for factories operating under the BangladeshExport Processing Zone Association (BEPZA). Wages in the ExportProcessing Zones (EPZs) are not set via a Minimum Wage Board. Wages inEPZs are determined by the Bangladesh Export Processing ZonesAuthority (BEPZA) and are currently slightly higher than the non-EPZminimum wages. Factories in the EPZ area account for only 5% ofgarment exports are produced in EPZ areas [3].

Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA) administersworkers in eight EPZsÕ as per a law different from the BangladeshLabor Law 2006 (amended in 2013). The law for EPZ workers is titled asÒThe EPZ Workers Welfare Association and Industrial Relations Act,2010.Ó

The (BGMEA) Minimum Wage 2013 for Knitwear and Woven Announced on22November 2013

January and February 2014 were the first two months of the first yearafter the new Minimum Wage 2013 came into being on 22 November 2013.The 6 member minimum wage board [4] which was chaired by retireddistrict Judge A.K. Roy, Prof Dr. Mohammad Kamal Uddin (neutralmember) of the International Business Department of Dhaka University,Mr. Kazi Saifudin Ahmod (permanent member representative of RMGowners), labour adviser of Bangladesh Employers Federation Mr. FazlulHoque Mantu (permanent member of workers), executive president ofNational Sramik League Mr. Arshad Zamal Dipu as workersrepresentative, and Mr. Sirajul Islam Rony as representative of ready-made garment (RMG) workers, passed a minimum wage of 5300BDT for RMGworkers compromising on the demand of 8114BDT by workers across thecountry. After much violence, injury and loss of lives, workers wentback to their only chance to survive (their jobs) expecting a wage

which would reflect the new minimum wage – however inadequate thatmaybe.

The new minimum wage came up with approximately 77% increase in wagefor the lowest grade worker of a garment factory. However, on a closerlook after inflation [5] is adjusted for 3 years after the lastminimum wage in 2010 (a sum of 3 years which is approximately 26.70%),we can see how the real picture is still different from whatever isclaimed. Moreover, the increase in basic wage is still far from ideal,and if adjusted with inflation (2011, 2012, 2013 FY) then the increasefor BGMEA factories are far from significant. The table below shouldexplain the increase,

BGMEA Minimum Wage 2013 (inflation adjusted)

January saw wages in more than 40% [6] of garment factories remainunchanged, a scenario which seem consistent even through Februarywhere RISE surveyed 20 randomly selected factories in Dhaka and found50% of these factories yet to implement the new minimum wage. Thereason for this delay towards proper implementation of the minimumwage ranges from political unrests of 2013 to the recent off peakseason for garment products in the export market, an explanationunexplainable to the hungry bellies of the average garment worker andher family.

No minimum wage yet for Sweater Factory Workers

Along with their garment worker brothers and sisters, sweater factoryworkers also made headlines in Dhaka. They demanded Increase in piece-rate (i.e. they earn according to the number of pieces they make) forthe sweater garment factory, and introduction of overtime benefits,

festival bonuses, leave benefit, increasing basic pay, and fixing wageas per grade wise.

Recently the government informed that it is going to formulate a setof guidelines for the sweater factory workers to resolve theprevailing disputes over payment in piece-rate basis.

There are interesting comments which comes from Mohammed Hatem, thevice-president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and ExportersAssociation, who strongly contends the practicability of sweaterfactory workers working under a wage board. He says that theguidelines would be formulated over fixing piece rate but there is noscope to include the demands of workers for increasing basic pay andovertime allowance in the guidelines.

ÔWhen they will work under piece rate they will not be entitled tograde wise basic pay or overtime benefits. We have no objection to paythe sweater factory workers as per grade wise basic and overtimebenefits, but they will have to work under the wage board,Õ he said[7].

Hatem said that no sweater factory workers are willing to work underwage board as under the piece rate the workers receive higher than thestructure of minimum wage board.

Labor leaders have been making allegations for long that the sweaterfactory workers are deprived of legal service benefits like overtimeallowances and festival bonuses.

Approximately 1.6 million [8] workers are engaged in sweater factoriesunder the piece rate basis payment system.

In the first week of January, the labor ministry formed a sub-committee to look into the disputes of the sweater factory workers.

New (BEPZA) Minimum Wage 2013 for EPZ factories announced

Just after the Minimum Wage 2013 for garment factories under theBGMEA, BEPZA announced its own minimum wage 2013 (EPZ) on 24 December2013. As per expectations and tradition, the EPZ Minimum Wage washigher. However, a straight comparison of EPZ factories with factoriesoutside of EPZ may not always be fair, as garment factories inside theEPZ areas do not have any unionization by law. Moreover, EPZ factoriesare enjoying 10-year tax holiday and duty free machinery importfacilities. Factories inside the EPZ get uninterrupted gas and powersupply, which make them more competitive. Moreover, day carefacilities for children are provided to every worker from theauthorities of EPZ, as well as medical treatment.

Thus to no surprise, EPZ factories show a greater increase in wagescompared to the BGMEA factories, even after inflation being adjusted,

Minimum Wage 2013 in EPZ (column with adjusted sum of inflation for 3FY)

Minimum Wage 2013 in EPZ (column with adjusted sum of inflation for 3FY)

There has been at least a couple of unrest in the Dhaka EPZ arearegarding implementation of the minimum wage. However, implementationis faster in these areas compared to factories outside EPZs.

The Accord and The Alliance

Both the Accord and the Alliance came into being after the Rana PlazaTragedy (also known as the Savar Tragedy). Although both promise tobring positive changes in the building and fire safety standards ofBangladeshi garment factories, they are not the same, but rather standfacing each other with a clear spirit of rivalry.

The journey of what is known today as the Bangladesh Fire and BuildingSafety Accord (or the ÒEuropeanÓ Accord, as commonly termed inBangladesh) started to take shape in February 2010 when the fire atGarib & Garib Sweater Factory consumed 21 lives and left severalinjured. The fire caused ITGLWF (now a part of Industriall GlobalUnion) come together with Bangladeshi Trade Unions, national andinternational NGOs, activists and think-tanks to develop a set ofproposals known as the ÒHealth and Safety Action Points for BuyersÓfor better fire and building safety standards in Bangladesh. Later,ThatÕs It Sportswear Factory fire causing 29 deaths prompted theconcept of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) being signed byretailers, local and global trade unions and the manufacturers for aprogram of tasks in which all stake holders could cooperate closely inan attempt create a binding understanding that would help stop anysuch future tragedies in the garment industry of Bangladesh.

The MoU was contested by most brands, although it had the German brandTchibo as its signatory. The MoU was now known as the Bangladesh Fireand Building Safety Agreement, which later took the form of BangladeshFire and Safety Accord after the twin disasters of Tazreen and RanaPlaza.

Apart from these international efforts by global stakeholders, theBangladesh Government created the tripartite National Action Plan(NAP) on January 15th, 2013 in consultation with local Trade Unionsand the BGMEA for better safety standards of Bangladeshi GarmentFactories which. NAP was a positive incentive for the Accord as italso created space for global stake holders to act in a united effortfor safety standards in garment factories of Bangladesh. The newBangladesh Fire and Safety Accord explicitly endorsed the NAP andpledged to dovetail its efforts with the actions being undertakenunder the NAP.

Recently the accord gathered 150 signatories [9] including many fromthe United States. The Accord is already present in Bangladesh withits staff, but inspections of BangladeshÕs garment factories arelikely to start by March 2014 and are forecasted to be completed bySeptember, five months later than originally planned.

Due to disagreements among US brands over the Accord, some of them ledby GAP and Wal-Mart eventually went on to form another platform namingit ÒAlliance for Bangladesh Worker SafetyÓ (or better known inBangladesh as the American Alliance). Although very similar to theEuropean Accord, the American Alliance is not working in cooperationwith Bangladeshi trade unions and not legally binding as the EuropeanAccord. 26 Brands, mostly US and Canadian, have joined the Allianceand have already started inspections in Bangladesh, claiming that itfocuses on safety issues in a more practicable manner than theEuropean Accord.

The rivalry between the Accord and the Alliance already has createdconfusion among many Bangladeshis, and is seen by many as anunfortunate impediment to what could have been a united and integratedeffort to much needed safety into the garment industry in Bangladesh.Recently the General Secretary of Industriall Global Union, a globaltrade union representing 50 million workers from 140 countries which

spearheaded the European Accord, informed in a press conference thatIndustriall would conduct a big public campaign to show how unseriousthe American Alliance is [10]

The European Accord is set to inspect around than 1600 factories andthe American Alliance is inspecting around 700 factories, while thereare approximately 6000 Garment Factories in Bangladesh with more than4.5 million workers most of them being female. There are 350 factorieswhich are common to the Accord and the Alliance. [11]

Accord vs. Alliance

As the purpose of both the Accord and the Alliance appear to besimilar, it is always interesting to try and look into the differencesof both these initiatives. The table below makes an effort to lookinto the major differences between the European Accord and theAmerican Alliance,

Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety Vs. Bangladesh Fire and BuildingSafety Accord

Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety Vs. Bangladesh Fire and BuildingSafety Accord

Practical Scenario on Ground

Performance of the Accord and the Alliance

The problems surrounding Bangladesh building and safety compliance areso great that a united effort was necessary. The unfortunate rivalry

between the European Accord and the American Alliance certainly doesnot help.

Neither the Accord nor the Alliance covers all the factories inBangladesh, but rather just about 2000 factories together and betweenthem. As RISE have recently discovered in its own small investigation,not every factory manufacturing products for signatories of either ofthe two platforms have been named in either the accord or the alliancelist. It is also very logical that in a country with about 6000Garment Factories, the biggest brands and those who source most fromBangladesh definitely has their products being stitched in more thanjust one third of the factories of the country. This raises an obviousquestion about avoiding another Rana Plaza or Tazreen in Bangladeshthrough these platforms.

Another great fear among Bangladeshis benefitting from the economicgrowth of Bangladesh largely due to the garment sector as well as theworkers is the possibility of hundreds of factories getting closed dueto compliance issues and high costs to meet them, and as a resultcreating joblessness which in itself is a disaster which might bringback the days of hunger for some which is a lot more painful than thethreat of an instant death.

Alan Roberts, Bangladesh AccordÕs operations director said that hehoped for only a few factories being closed as a result of the Accord,that in a country where the culture of implementation of governmentsafety standards and building codes is far from ideal. He further wenton the say that the kinds of fixes demanded by the Accord are veryexpensive, and how they will be paid for is still up in the air as thegreatest challenge. [17]

Recently representatives of the European Accord, American Alliance,and industry and government representatives met but failed to agree on

common inspection standards. In the ongoing meetings concerns havebeen pointed out by the BGMEA and Bangladeshi government about therealistic nature of the Accord and the Alliance, their differences,and how foreign inspectors would understand the context of thefactories and its location i.e. Bangladesh. The BGMEA also has taken astance against inspection standards set by both the platforms offoreign retailers and brands, saying many of their clauses are not inthe national building code and too strict for small and medium garmentfactories in Bangladesh; it further urged the government to re-fix thestandards in line with the national building code so that everyfactory can meet the standards.

Among some of the arguments put forth by BGMEA representatives, thereare examples where inspectors representing a platform expressed theirrecommendation to some factories to use very thick electrical coils,but no company in this country produces such coils. The inspectionagencies also want fire sprinkler system in the factories and this isnot stated in the Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC). The firesprinkler system is a protection measure used worldwide. [18]

However, after BGMEAÕs strong reservation about the inspectionstandards of the Accord, particularly about the hiring of foreigninspectors, the European Accord decided to hire 25 Bangladeshiengineers along with international inspectors for evaluating garmentfactories for structural soundness and fire safety in an effort to addlocal knowledge into the inspections.

Also, the European Accord, American Alliance and the BangladeshiGovernment are looking forward to come to an agreement over a standardinspection procedure which would help clear any confusion.

At this early stage it may as well be said that with the bestintentions in perspective, the European Accord seeks to include

greater accountability and thus place the primary responsibility onwestern retailers while the American Alliance wants less involvementfor the retailers while looking for a bigger role from Bangladeshigovernment and Bangladeshi factory owners.

Success with Trade Unions?

After the amendments of 2013 to the Bangladesh Labor Law 2006, therehas been sharp increase in new unions registering within the ready-made garment (RMG) sector. Till now 100 new unions in garmentfactories were registered with the Bangladesh Department of Labor(DoL). Presently, 222 unions [19] in the RMG sector are registeredwith DoL in Bangladesh.

In a recent press conference the General Secretary of IndustriallGlobal Union announced that another 100 factories will have unions in2014. Currently over 40000 workers are registered in Unions inBangladesh, although the concept of unions are still weak among thosewho sign up.

Trade Unions in Bangladesh generally occur without the consent or evenknowledge of the factory owner, thus ceasing the possibility ofcollective bargain. Lack of skills, understanding, organizingcapability and facility ends up in registered unions become inactiveand remain only on paper. Thus it may also be an area that should benoticed rather than only increasing the number of unions.

Struggling Social Conditions

Recent media coverage on social conditions within some garmentfactories in Bangladesh has reopened the issue of how fast workingconditions are improving, and what is the current overall status ofconditions inside factories.

RISEÕs observation says that social conditions within factories havegenerally improved in Bangladesh relatively in the last couple ofyears. Although child labor has been checked to a great extent in theBangladesh Garment Industry, it is nonetheless still present, but insmall and non-compliant factories located in downtown areas of thecity.

In a recent survey of more than 80 Garment Factories across Dhaka,Gazipur, Mirpur, Savar, Ashulia, Rampura, Chittagong, RISE foundextensive and systematic verbal abuse in almost 85% of the factories.Workers mention that calling bad names, insulting with obscenelanguage, screaming and shouting is part of their daily routine whileworking in a garment factory.

One good thing is that physical abuse against workers is becomingincreasingly rare, just like sexual abuse. Although not completelyremoved from the work environment of the entire industry, 75% of allfactories surveyed said that they did not receive any form ofsystematic physical abuse as punishment, while workers in allfactories confirmed that they did not receive any form of sexualabuse. It also must be noted that according to the prevalent cultureof Bangladesh, female workers avoid acknowledging cases of sexualabuse fearing further discrimination from society.

Irregular maternity leaves and violation of the Bangladesh Labor Law2006 (amendment 2013) is nothing new in Bangladesh. Although, morefactories are practicing the culture of giving proper maternity leavesto their female workers, they must be employed for at least a year

before they can avail this benefit (according to labor law, it shouldbe 6 months). The maternity leaves are paid, however the prevalentpractice is to allow 2 months paid pre-delivery leave to the worker,and another 2 months paid post-delivery paid leave, although 70% ofthe workers we interviewed informed that there is a high prevalence ofnot getting paid for the remaining 2 months (after birth of the baby)if the worker does not take her previous position back in the factory.

Other scenarios for some factory owners include: giving a pregnantworker a job which she is not supposed to do (not within herexpertise/skill), giving her a job at a higher floor, or creating sucha scenario where she leaves the job by herself.

Few (decreasing numbers) of factories still cheat the workers on theirmaternity benefits by not giving them their deserved 4 months, butrather 2 or 3 months of maternity leave with pay.

Below is a table describing the law for Maternal leave in Bangladesh,applicable for garment workers:

Maternity Benefit in Bangladesh Labor Law

Maternity Benefit in Bangladesh Labor Law

Medical facilities struggle in most factories, while long workinghours go unaccounted for. Workers are often found complaining aboutovertime payment irregularities, which for them make up to a hugechunk of their overall income.

As per the Bangladesh Labor Law 2006 (amendment 2013) the maximumovertime limit is 2 hours, making 60hours/week the legal weeklyworking hours. However, it is a known fact in Bangladesh that workers

may spend (depending of order pressure) between 4 to 10 overtime hoursin a factory, where due to the law many factories end up keeping thetrue overtime accounts secretly which opens the doors for vaguenessand non-transparent methods to pay overtime wages. The overtime law israrely seen implemented in Bangladesh. However, a recent gazettepublished by the government relaxed overtime restrictions on theGarment Owners. The government published (with the following numbers:Reg# D A – 1 No. 40,00,0000,016,32,009,11 (part-1)-320-BangladeshLabor Law 2006) this in a gazette form and it declared exemption ofovertime hours by a further 2 hours and will be applicable from 17-10-2013 to 13-04-2014. This means that workers can now be legally keptworking in the factory for 12 hours every workday, making weekly workhours equal 72 hours. Thus, overtime can be 4 hours now for whichworkerÕs do not need to be asked for permission. With this exemptionBangladesh putÕs itself well outside both ILO recommendations and mostacknowledged Codes of Conduct and labor standards. Such a gazette hasbeen published before solely for the garment sector in Bangladesh, andit usually lasts for 6 months every year. Due to this gazette, mostfactories can be more transparent about 4 hours of overtime pay totheir workers.

In the survey conducted by RISE, it was observed that a positivecorrelation existed between factory condition and working environment.Factories in good structural and fire safety conditions had bettersocial conditions and working environment inside the factory, whilefactories which were non-compliant or were manufacturing in vulnerablebuildings with none or questionable fire safety arrangement hadgreater worker abuses or bad social conditions inside their factorybuildings.

An unfortunate effect of factories vulnerable to disasters due totheir structural or fire safety conditions are felt by those factorieswhich are both structurally sound and maintain a relatively highsocial standard, as the country brand they share remains the same i.e.ÒMade in BangladeshÓ. It can only be hoped for the numerous compliant

and improving factories to take their reputation more seriously, andfor the sake of the industry cooperate in attempts to bring forwardfailing and vulnerable factories and forward to improve conditions orat least save sector by letting them take a safe passage out of thisimportant industry in Bangladesh.

The Issue of GSP still on table

With improvements and promises are sought everyday in Bangladesh andfrom abroad, US Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) benefits isyet to be reopened, which demanded provisions pertaining to labor lawreform, protection of labor activists and organizers, and protectingthe freedom of association and the rights to organize and bargaincollectively before further continuation of the privilege.

Although the GSP does not account for too much of the Garment Exportof Bangladesh to the United States, the fear is that it may have adetrimental effect on the European GSP which Bangladesh enjoys. If theEuropean GSP would follow the same route as the US GSP, BangladeshiGarment Industries forecast bad times as the benefits Bangladeshigarment factories get from the European GSP is far greater andsignificant compared to the US one. Bangladesh also signed aSustainability Compact with the EU involving the International LaborOrganization to fulfill the 16 conditions. [20]

Recently, in a press conference the Commerce Minister Mr. Tofail Ahmedsaid that Bangladesh has made substantial progresses in fulfilling 13of the 16 conditions tagged by the US authorities to win back the USGSP facility. The rest three conditions are about the appointment of200 inspectors, allowing trade unionism in the export processing zonesand looking into allegations of torture on workers in 19 factories.[21]