News & Press Releases - Living Wage now!

Trade union representatives demonstrate for a minimum wage of 16,000 Taka on 27.7.2018. Photo: © NGWF Trade union representatives demonstrate for a minimum wage of 16,000 Taka on 27.7.2018. Photo: © NGWF

The Bangladesh Clothing Industry Employers' Association (BGMEA) has shown extreme contempt for the well-being of workers and their lives outside the factories. On Monday, July 16, BGMEA (Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association) proposed setting the minimum wage for workers at 6,360 Taka (approximately €64). This amount does not reach nearly a subsistence wage level in Bangladesh, nor does it remedy the neglect of the required legal minimum wage increase in the last 5 years.

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Demonstration on July 5, 2018. Photo: © NGWFDemonstration on 5 July 2018. Photo: © NGWFTrade unions and workers demonstrate for wage increases in clothing factories

On July 5, our Bangladeshi partner NGWF (National Garment Worker Federation) organized a rally in Dhaka to protest for the long overdue increase in the minimum wage in Bangladesh's garment industry. After the Bangladeshi government brutally suppressed previous protests and imprisoned hundreds of trade unionists and workers, it finally set up a wage authority on 29 January 2018 to reset the minimum wage for textile workers.

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Demonstration in Dhaka, Bangladesh in March 2018. Photo: © NGWFNGWF demonstration in Dhaka, Bangladesh in March 2018. Photo: © NGWFWorkers and trade unions in Bangladesh have been calling for years for an increase in the minimum wage in the clothing sector. Compared to the current minimum wage of 5,300 Taka, about 52 euros, the unions demand a tripling to 16,000 Taka, about 157 euros. By Western standards, this sounds like a drastic increase. In fact, however, the minimum wage has not been raised for five years, while the high inflation rate causes the cost of living in the country to rise steadily. Thus, families who have to feed on the already extremely low wages in the clothing industry are left with less to live on each year. Mim Akter, trade unionist and seamstress from Dhaka, summed it up during her visit to Germany in November 2017: “At the end of the month we go hungry or we take out a loan.”

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With the Bangladesh Accord, building safety in textile factories was to be improved after the factory collapse of Rana Plaza, which killed 1138 people on 24 April 2013. Since then, the safety of workers has improved noticeably. This year, the Accord will be renewed for another three years, but many companies refuse to join the agreement. But why actually? The Swiss CCC asked her, and here are the most popular answers for you.

 

Demonstration on 10.03.2018. Photo: © Garment Labour Union (GLU), BangaloreDemonstration on 10.03.2018. Photo: © Garment Labour Union (GLU), BangaloreAround 350 textile workers gathered in Bangalore (India) on the occasion of International Women's Day (8 March) for a peaceful protest to demonstrate for human and, above all, women's rights in the workplace. With candles in their hands, they formed a human chain and demanded the end of sexual violence in the workplace. However, other labour rights violations were also denounced: Low wages, constant pressure from prerogatives, harassment, lack of implementation of statutory childcare for workers and the obstruction of union work are some of the most common problems women face in factories.

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On a tour of Germany, two activists from Bangladesh have opened their eyes to people about the labour and human rights violations in their country's textile industry. They have shown consumers in Germany what the fight for better labour rights means for trade unionists and activists in Bangladesh: In view of the threat of harassment, insult, dismissal, imprisonment and use of force, it takes a lot of courage. Kalpona Akter and Mim Akter prove this courage day by day through their work. Here's the video of your trip.

 

 

 

Mim Akter (left) and Kalpona Akter report on the struggle for survival in the Bangladeshi clothing industry. Photo: © FEMNETMim Akter (left) and Kalpona Akter report on the struggle for survival in the Bangladeshi clothing industry. Photo: © FEMNETBangladeshi activists report on the daily struggle for better working conditions in the garment industry

Wages in Bangladesh's apparel industry are among the lowest in the world. Working conditions have not improved significantly since the collapse of the Rana Plaza building in April 2013, with over 1,100 dead and 2,500 injured. However, the Accord building and fire protection agreement has increased the safety of workers before a collapse or fire. But this does not mean that women's discrimination, massive overtime and trade union persecution have disappeared. When thousands of workers went on strike for a higher minimum wage in December 2016 in the Ashulia textile region of Bangladesh, factory owners and the government relentlessly beat back to intimidate workers and trade unions. 600 workers and trade unionists were charged, 1500 were simply fired, dozens were imprisoned.

Almost a year after the brutal suppression of the protests, Kalpona Akter and Mim Akter are in Germany at the invitation of FEMNET e.V. and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation to report on the struggle for better working conditions and fairer pay. During public events and lectures in front of students, at symposia, discussion rounds and press conferences, the two emphasized international solidarity as essential support for their struggle.

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Poster FEMNET Rundreise2017Berlin – Hanover – Bonn – Cologne – Düsseldorf – Mönchengladbach

Wages in Bangladesh's apparel industry are among the lowest in the world. Working conditions are catastrophic and accidents continue to occur with many dead and injured, such as the Rana Plaza collapse in 2013, when more than 1,100 workers died.

When thousands of workers went on strike for a higher minimum wage in December 2016 in the Ashulia textile region of Bangladesh, factory owners and the government relentlessly beat back to intimidate workers and trade unions. 600 workers and trade unionists were charged, 1600 were fired, 26 were imprisoned.

FEMNET e.V., together with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, is organising an event tour from 17 to 27 October 2017.

Almost a year after the brutal crackdown on the protests, Bangladeshi activists report on the fight for better working conditions and fairer pay.

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NGWF demonstration in July 2017

July was turbulent at FEMNET's partner organization in Bangladesh, the National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF): On 22 July 2017, the union celebrated its 34th anniversary. On this occasion, members and guests reviewed the achievements of the trade union and the developments in the Bangladeshi clothing industry over the past three decades.

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