A wake up call for RMG sector

With two days of unprecedented rioting at garment industries in and around Dhaka, a number of complex issues leaped to the fore that, experts fear, may cripple the most export-revenue generating sector well beyond repair if we let our hair down.

Investors, economists and labour lobbyists were found grappling alike with a number of possible reasons behind the sudden outburst of mostly docile garment workers for higher wages, an incident that made headlines across the globe.

Leaders of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters' Association (BGMEA) were quick to find foreign conspiracy of their rival countries, who, they believe, are out to push Bangladesh out of global apparel trade by tarnishing the image of this sector through some local help.

Drawing attention to the enviable 28 per cent growth in knitwear exports this fiscal, they claimed that Bangladesh garment has not only survived in the quota-free regime since last year but also made an ominous progress for rival countries.

Acting BGMEA President Salam Murshedi refused to accept the popular theory that garment workers went on a rampage for better wages and benefits as most of the industries that came under attack were socially compliant, a worker welfare criteria made mandatory by reputed buyers.

"These factories are in full compliance with labour laws," said BGMEA Vice President Sahadat Hossain Chowdhury. "As wages and benefits for the workers in those factories are always up-to-date and monitored by the buyers, there is little scope for workers' commotion in the lead-up to such mindless devastation."

But observers and economists are sceptic about the BGMEA claim of foreign conspiracy. Many felt that the mostly negative image of garment owners about workers' welfare might have led to this unfortunate situation.

"I don't believe in this conspiracy theory but I'm also not sure why the workers suddenly flew off the handle," said an official of a non-government organisation working with garment workers. "I have talked with many workers for the last three days but they failed to say why they are so very enraged."

But he said the low-pay or irregular-pay in sick garment industries might have a chain reaction in the present situation.

"We read news about garment workers agitating for arrears and benefits when their employers drive luxury cars and live beyond their means," he said, preferring anonymity. "The workers in sick industries could be taking out their pent-up wrath on the better-managed factories."

BGMEA leaders, however, said hardly any sick factories were attacked in the last two days and the agitators operated in a very organised fashion, which suggested hints of instigation and conspiracy.

"Eighty per cent garment workers are women. Did you see any female workers on the streets during this agitation?" asked Sahadat Hossain, adding that a "vested group" riding on trucks raided different factories and spread rumours of workers getting killed in places.

They did it only to drive the mob further wild, said the BGMEA boss.

A leading sweater exporter, Rezaul Ahsan Arif, also played down the low-pay issue. "Unlike weaving factories, a low level worker in a sweater factory earns Tk 5,000-10,000 a month. Compared to wages in any other sector, I think the earning is reasonable enough for workers not to go on agitating for pay-hike," he said. "Instead of putting blame on the low-pay issue, the government should try to probe the source of instigation and conspiracy."

But his view of reasonable salary was sharply contradicted by some observers. "An outburst like that was written on the wall. I knew it was coming, especially when I recently visited a top-notch garment industry inside the EPZ area," said economic analyst Inam Ahmed.

"I came to know that a worker could earn around Tk 3,500 a month and that too by working extra hours. And if this is the story at the EPZ, then I could very well guess about the salary story outside EPZ.

"Besides, against the backdrop of spiralling prices of essentials, workers may not find the present pay structure reasonable anymore," he pointed out.

Interestingly, some representatives of foreign buyers in Bangladesh did not rule out the possibility of foreign conspiracy in the workers' unrest.

"Recently, huge volume of knit orders [sweater and jersey] has been shifted from China and other countries to Bangladesh for competitive labour market," AK Kamrul Alam, country representative of a prominent German buyer, told The Daily Star. "I won't be surprised if any foreign syndicate tries to divert the flow of orders to some other destinations through sabotage."

It is not hard to influence happenings in our country when we have very vulnerable political infrastructure, he observed.

Meanwhile, the world media, especially in rival countries, blew the news on labour unrest out of proportion, triggering off a panic button among the buyers of Bangladeshi products.

Concerned buyers flooded manufacturers and their local offices with emails and phone calls to get an update on the event.

"One of my buyers in Europe woke me up at 2:30am yesterday after reading the Internet edition of a Bangladeshi newspaper. I received dozens of emails from other buyers. All are very worried about their products," said Azharul Haque, managing director of a knit factory in Mirpur.

"I failed to come up with a satisfactory answer today and I don't know what I would have to say in future."

The government's failure in managing the workers' unrest and protecting the investment also came under severe criticism.

"We sought in vain the government protection on Monday. The violence and destruction spree could have been contained had the government beefed up security measures," groaned another BGMEA leader in frustration.

Even, Board of Investment (BoI) Executive Chairman Mahmudur Rahman on Tuesday blamed the intelligence agencies for their failure to ensure national security.

If this sort of activities continued, investment climate in the country and overall economy would be affected, he said.

Leading economist Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, however, observed that the government should take immediate steps to bring the situation under control and the garment owners should then sincerely review their labour management under the present context.

"It is also time for the owners of the sector to rethink whether there are any internal causes for the anger amongst the workers," Debapriya, also the executive director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue, told a satellite TV channel.

He was also critical of the fact that many garment owners do not encourage trade unionism at their factories. "The owners should rethink whether they have taken necessary steps to develop the sector as a modern one compatible with the present world."

Arguments apart, it is the common view of all that if the garment sector is the lifeline of our economy, then workforce is the lifeline of the apparel industry. So, the issue of workers' welfare should be any garment owner's priority number one.