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Research Paper
Labor unions in the garment factories in Bangladesh
Abdullah Al Habib
(071 398 030)
English 105. Section 7
Faculty : MkS
August 17, 2010
Labor Union in the RMG sector - 1
Abstract
The working condition of the workers is not satisfactory in Bangladesh and they suffer
from low wage rate and poor safety measures. The labor unions which have been
established due this unsatisfactory condition could not improve it either. The research is
based on analyzing the current working condition of the labors and also why the labor
unions are failing to propose a suitable solution. Both primary research and secondary
research was done for the paper. Workers were surveyed through a questionnaire and
interviews were taken. From the analysis it is found that the owners are not concern about
the work environment and the labor unions are failing due to lack of skill of the union
leaders and corruption. The literacy rate of the workers also has an affect, since it is low.
The industry as well as the country might suffer if this persist.
Labor Union in the RMG sector - 2
Chapter 1: Introduction
Bangladesh had entered the RMG industry in the late1970s. It was a prospering
sector to invest in and government considering the long team economic benefit of the
country as well as the opportunity this sector could create for the country, the government
waived many laws including labor laws in favour of the garment factories in order to give
the industry a chance to flourish. The entry in the RMG industry was made right after the
Liberation War, when the economic development in the country was very slow and it was
going through a bad economic phase. According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics
(1991), the growth rate of Bangladesh was over 4.75 per cent from 1975-80, which
however slowed down considerably to an average of only around 3.8 percent in the
1980s. Both the poor economic condition and the waived labor laws were responsible for
creating an unsatisfactory working condition for the workers. The workers were deprived
of many privileges, so that the industry could grow at the expense of the workers.
Today, the RMG sector accounts for more than 70 percent of the country’s
foreign earnings. The industry is in good shape but the workers are still enduring the
same treatment as before. The working conditions of many garment factories are still
unsatisfactory and sometimes the conditions are life-threatening. As stated by Islam
(2005, January 5) “The garment workers of Bangladesh may be the most deprived labor
force in the world”. The minimum wage rate was $25 or Tk.1662 per month previously
which currently rose to only Tk.3000 or $45 per month in 2010, whereas the inflation rate
has increases by much more than 80% in the past 5 to 10 years. The workers in the
garment industry are deprived from a living wage.
Labor Union in the RMG sector - 3
In his article, Islam (2005) states that international standards are not maintained
and many factories do not implement health and safety measures. The workers are still
poorly paid and are forced to work overtime without any incremental payment or weekly
day off in many cases. They are routinely fired, harassed, threatened and beaten on a
regular basis.
So in response to the labor condition, a few labor unions were established, but
most of them were related to the political parties, favoring only the workers belonging to
that party and the numbers of independent labor unions were very few.
The working conditions of the workers are still not improving even after the
introduction of the labor union. There is also a concern that labor unions are failing due
to corruption as many experts and journalist identified it as the main reason behind the
failure of the labor unions. Through this report I hope to identify the reasons why the
overall working conditions of the garment factories are not improving.
Labor Union in the RMG sector - 4
Chapter 2: Background
Early during the Industrialization period it was soon understood, that there will
always be conflict of interest between the employers and the blue collar labors. For the
industry to flourish the workers interest in certain areas must be overlooked. According to
Marx (1867), a German philosopher and economist, “Capital is dead labour, that,
vampire-like, only lives by sucking living labour, and lives the more, the more labour it
suck…”, he also added that interests of capital and the interests of the wage-labour are
‘diametrically’ opposed to each other. By capital he meant the government, who owned
all the assets, that is the factories, offices, etc of the country according to socialism which
was also suggested by Marx (1867) himself. Concisely, an employer will always try to
exploit the workers for their own benefit.
Soon the workers began to feel that they need unite among themselves to have a
better bargaining power to communicate and negotiate their problems with the
employers. Thus the idea of a forming a labor union was born.
Webb and Webb (1894) had described trade union as a ““a continuous association
of wage earners for the purpose of maintaining or improving the conditions of their
working lives”. Through a labor union, the labors can bargain and ensure their status,
rights, wages and demand. It is a worker’s right to be part of a labor union, and
depending on their will they may or may not be part of a labor union, as suggested by
Crane and Matten (2007).
Labor Union in the RMG sector - 5
A labor union is formed as per the Trade Unions Act, 1926. According to the act
any group on organization whether temporary or permanent formed for the purpose of
regulating the relations between workers and employers is a labor union.
In Bangladesh forming and joining a labor union is a constitutional right
according to the Constitution of People’s Republic of Bangladesh. Considering the low
wage rate and the poor working condition of the employees labor unions where
established in response to the working. Most of the unions are limited to the public sector
or state-controlled enterprises, but trade unions in the private sector are practically
banned.
Bangladesh stepped into the RMG industry in the year 1978. Since the labor laws
were waived by the government to give the industry a chance to grow, the labors were
deprived of many privileges. Now, more than three quarters of Bangladesh’s export
earnings come from the garment industry, which began attracting foreign investors due to
cheap labor and low conversion cost, which is described by Crane and Matten (2007) as
the race to the bottom effect. The race to the bottom effect is when foreign investors look
for alternatives to reduce their cost by outsourcing it to the developing countries; those
developing countries usually have a competitive edge in producing cheap labor and can
offer the lowest price. In 2002, the industry exported US$5 billion worth of products. The
industry now employs more than 3 million workers, 90% of whom are women.
As the industry developed itself and reached its full potential in the following
years, the working condition of the labors still remains unsatisfactory. The labors in the
garment factories have to work in life-threatening working conditions. They are poorly
Labor Union in the RMG sector - 6
paid, and are forced to do overtime. Many female workers are denied maternity leave or
flexible working hours, where as 85 percent of the workers are women.
Though many labor unions are formed in response to these problems, but the
improvement of the working conditions for the workers are still elusive. The labor unions
are mainly failing due to the labor union leaders, as suggested by Ali and Andaleeb
(2008, May 4). They write “it has been open secret trade unions leaders are mostly
corrupt”. They are mostly working for the fulfillment of their personal interest.
“The literacy rate of the workers is also adding up to the pressure, since it is
considerably poor, the workers are easily manipulated” as stated by Syed Hamidul
Karim, manager of Arunima Apparels Ltd, a sister concern of Rising Group. He was
interviewed regarding the research topic, he said that the labor union leaders use the
workers and call for strikes for serving the leader’s personal interest; it is use as a weapon
to threat the factory owners to comply with the leader’s personal demands, this scenario
persist in most cases.
Labor Union in the RMG sector - 7
Chapter 3: Research questions and Hypothesis
RESEARCH QUESTIONS:
Do the garment factories have labor unions?
If not, do they need labor unions?
What is the viewpoint of garment workers regarding labor union?
What is the employer’s perspective regarding labor union?
Are the working conditions satisfactory?
If not, what are the reasons behind the failure to improve the working conditions?
What kind of problems is faced by garment workers in their workplaces?
Can a labor union solve the difficulties in workplace faced by the workers?
Does a labor union act as a communication link between the workers and
employers?
HYPOTHESIS
There are quite a few labor unions in the garment sector in Bangladesh that are
currently working for the welfare of the workers. Among them The National Garment
Workers Federation (NGWF), Bangladesh Independent Garment Workers Union
Federation (BIGUF) and Bangladesh Garment & Industrial Workers Federation
(BGIWF) are the ones that solely concern with the garment industry.
The workers are constantly suffering from health hazards due to the poor safety
measures, and sometimes they even get killed for the risky structure of the factories.
Despite such risk and hard work the labors are mistreated and poorly paid. If the workers
Labor Union in the RMG sector - 8
try to stand up and protest against this injustice they are fired and blacklisted so that they
are not recruited by other factories. A labor union is created so that the workers can
negotiate with the employers through their collective bargaining power and improve the
working condition. So considering the working condition in Bangladesh, labor unions are
very much needed.
Though being part of a labor union is a worker’s right and though it is not at all
illegal, many workers are scared of joining a labor union due to fear of losing jobs, being
victims of misbehavior in the hands of the employer or getting blacklisted.
In the context of Bangladesh, it is often heard that the factory owners are accusing
labor union leaders for creating an aggressive attitude in the workers’ mind for the
leader’s personal interest. They also complain that labor unions in garment factories do
not collaborate with the workers in many occasions and bargains more than is applicable.
Labor Union in the RMG sector - 9
Chapter 4: Research Methodology
For this research paper both secondary and primary data were used. The primary
research consisted of analysis of data that was acquired by means of a survey and
interviews. The survey was planned for the workers in garment factories through a
questionnaire to find out the difficulties they face in their workplace and also their views
concerning labor union and whether established labor unions are able to solve their read
problems and defend their rights. The worker were suppose to answer the questionnaire
themselves but due to the constraint that they could not read English and it was also
difficult finding suitable candidate for the questionnaire when it was translated it Bengali,
so instead of a questionnaire survey, thirty randomly chosen workers were interviewed
separately and the questionnaire was filled up according to their response.
A top management official of a garment factory was interviewed for the research
paper though initially, the interview was planned for the owner of a garment factory. The
interviewee Syed Hamidul Karim, manager of Arunima Apparels Ltd. discussed different
aspects regarding labor union and the impact of having labor union in an organization.
Since the interview with a labor union leader could not be done due to some constrain a
labor committee member of the same factory was interviewed.
As for my secondary source for the research paper, most of the articles were
collected from the internet which included newspaper articles, journals and research
paper of other authors that was related to the research topic. Ideas and concept from two
books and a book review was also used in the research paper.
Labor Union in the RMG sector - 10
Chapter 5: Analysis and Findings
The analysis was done by surveying 30 garment workers. The overall result of the
respondents is discussed in this section. Among the 30 interviewee, 18 were women
workers and the other 12 were men. The age range of most of the workers, who are
surveyed, is within 18-40 years and almost all of them were working in the garment
industry for more then 3 years. The employment periods of the workers were the
maximum in 5-10 year category. For details please refer to the bar chart in the appendix.
Among the workers who were interviewed only 7 workers were member of a
labor union, and 3 of them were not a member of a labor union but a labor committee. A
labor committee is like a labor union is essence, its sole purpose is to protect the right and
to improve the working condition of the workers but they are deprived of some rights that
a labor union enjoys. It is a committee consisting of members from both the top
management and the workers. Most workers did not give any reasons for being part of a
labor union. Most of the workers who were not a member of any form of labor union did
not join the labor union mostly because it is of no use and they were also not very
interested to join. From their interview it seems they were reluctant to join since most of
thought it was quite unnecessary.
The difficulties that most workers faced in their work place were delay of
payment and unavailability of safety precaution, though many workers complained that
the wage scale is inappropriate compared to the work done. The average wage rate is
below the standard of a living wage, that is their wage is so low that it is difficult for
them to maintain their family life.
Labor Union in the RMG sector - 11
H ow often workers fac e diffic ulties in workplac e
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
A lmos t always V ery often Often R arely Never
No
. o
f w
ork
ers
The graph above shows how often does garment workers face difficulty is their
workplaces. The graph shows that 10 people out of the 30 workers who are surveyed
think that they rarely face any difficulties and 11 of them never face any difficulty in their
workplaces. There is only 2 respondent in the ‘very often’ segment and 6 in the ‘often’
segment.
The workers who rarely faced problems say that most of the problems were
unavoidable and bound to happen in any organization. Problems they faces apart from the
delay in their payments are mainly disorder in the production systems, which is more
related to the efficiency and skill of the labors then the fact that it is regarded as a
employers’ fault. Personality clashes between the workers themselves or the supervisor
is also very common. The more common types of problem that the workers face is
difficulty in flexible working hours and leave for personal reasons during peak
production period, or when significant number of workers are on leave.
Other than these problems, very few workers in the other to categories faced
unhealthy working condition and misbehavior by supervisor or employer.
Labor Union in the RMG sector - 12
A labor union c an improve the working c ondition of the workers
0
2
9
11
8
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
S trongly A gree A gree No opinion Dis agree S tronglydis agree
No
. o
f w
ork
ers
The graph shows whether the workers believe that the labor union can improve
the working condition in Bangladesh. As we can see from the graph that most people
have responded by saying that they disagree with the statement a labor union can improve
the working condition and nine people have no opinion regarding whether labor union
would be beneficial for improving the condition or not. They might have had no opinion
because they are happy with the current working condition or they are not sure whether
labor union would help or not.
Only 2 of the respondent agree with that a labor union can improve the work
environment. They think so perhaps because they might have faced or have heard people
facing difficult situation where the intervention by a labor union helped to improve the
condition.
Eleven of the respondent disagrees and eight people strongly disagree with the
fact that a labor union can improve the working condition. They think that labor union
leaders only pursue their self interest they have faced situation where the labor union
failed to help them.
Labor Union in the RMG sector - 13
The graph above shows the workers attitude towards labor union, union leader
and the work environment. Most of the respondents have a negative attitude towards
labor union and union leader and a positive attitude towards the work environment. The
following table will help to understand the attitude of the workers and also relation
between the attitude towards labor union and the other two.
Labor Union -0.8000Union Leader -0.9333Work Environment 0.8778Correlation (Labor Union and work Environment) -0.8798Correlation (Labor Union and union leader) 0.7154
It can be seen from the table that the correlation between the attitude of workers
towards labor union and work environment is negative, that is they are strongly
negatively correlated. This implies that if the working condition or the work environment
which consist of all the factors such as having better safety measure, healthy environment
and supporting and understanding employer is satisfactory to the worker than the need for
going to or forming a labor union is less. A satisfied worker will not be too willing to join
Labor Union in the RMG sector - 14
a labor union since it is not necessary for the worker to achieve his personal interest. On
the other hand unsatisfied workers would be willing accept any help they can get from
improving their working condition.
There is strong positive correlation between the attitude of the workers towards
labor union and that of the union leader. It is so because the effectiveness of a union is
judged by the efficiency of the union leader, who is representing of the labor union. If the
workers perceived that the union leaders are not truthful to their cause, the workers will
have a negative attitude towards the leader as well labor union itself. Many experts feel
that the workers are manipulated by the union leaders for their own personal interest and
they are highly indulge in corruption.
The values in the above table are calculated by assigning different values within a
scale of -2 to +2 to the different questions in the questionnaire. The questions are grouped
together accordingly and the average of the grouped questions is calculated to find the
attitude of the workers regarding the different aspects discussed above. For example
The question in the questionnaire “To what extent do you think a labor union leader
collaborates with its members?’ and “Do you think the labor union leaders are acting as a
good representative on your behalf?” are used to calculate the attitude of the workers
towards union leaders. The options scaled with the most positive option being +2 and the
negative being -2. The average value of the answers of the both questions is the value to
represent the attitude of the workers. The mean of all such values gives the overall
attitude of the respondents.
Labor Union in the RMG sector - 15
Interviews
According to Syed Hamidul Karim, manager of Arunima Apparels Ltd, in
Bangladesh having a labor union in any organization has a more adverse effect than
positive ones. He believes that the union leaders are not well educated in most cases and
lacks the skill to negotiate with the employers to achieve the best outcome for the
workers. They are more concern about their personal interest. He thinks that the way they
handle any issues or problems of the labors is better than having a labor union. The
literacy rate of the workers is also adding up to the pressure, since it is considerably poor,
the workers are easily manipulated. The strikes that are caused by the union leaders are
called only to pursue their own needs, these strikes are crippling the overall garment
industry, and the country is losing potential foreign investors and income sources. All
these factors are the reason for the failure of a labor union in Bangladesh.
They have introduced the idea of a labor committee due to the pressure from
foreign buyers and also seeing the need for a reporting channel so that the workers can
have a better work environment. He thinks in context of Bangladesh it is the best possible
solution for improving the working conditions of the labors.
A labor committee is a group which is formed by people who are from the top
management of the organization and a few workers are in that committee. The committee
has regular weekly meeting where all the different issues and complains of the workers
are discussed and a possible solution is prescribed. The only difference a committee has
from labor union is that it does not have the right to do unofficial meetings and also they
are deprived from having the right to call for strike.
Labor Union in the RMG sector - 16
A committee member, who is also a garment worker, was interviewed to
understand the functioning of the committee. The interviewee Laili Begum, an operator
said that the members of the committee is selected through a voting process, the workers
select the ones, who according to them would be suitable for the role. The members are
reelected after every two years; it is done too avoid any form of biasness or corruption.
The workers are encouraged to report to the committee about any problems they
face in the work place. If the workers wants to be anonymous while reporting a problem,
there is a complain box in the restrooms where the workers can drop their complain
letters in the box. The box is weekly checked for any complains and suitable corrective
actions are taken to correct the issues.
Labor Union in the RMG sector - 17
Chapter 6: Recommendation Steps should be taken by the workers, employers and authority to improve the
current condition of the labors. The labor unions can be more efficient if all the
stakeholders come together to diminish the causes of the failure to improve the working
condition of the workers such as corruption and lack of knowledge of the workers and
union leaders as well as of the owners. A healthy democracy should be established in the
country so that the labor can enjoy their fundamental rights to form any trade union. The
workers should be trained so that the cost of related to inefficiency is minimized.
The union leaders should be more accountable to the workers. The decisions
taken by the union leaders should be made discussed and approved by the workers. There
should some kind of regulatory body, so that the workers can take action again the union
leaders if they are involved in corruption.
The employers can encourage the workers to discuss their problems directly to
them. They can form a committee with members consisting of both workers and higher
management officials to discuss different issues relating to their problems. They can have
an anonymous reporting system for the labors, so that they present their problems to the
authority directly.
The foreign buyers have a huge role to play to improve the working conditions of
the workers. They should not look for only cheap labors but also quality and pay more to
the factories, so that they can maintain a higher wage rate. It would be possible if the
developing countries form an association and charge a fair price to the foreign buyers, so
that they can pay higher wage to the workers
Labor Union in the RMG sector - 18
Chapter 7: Conclusion
The unsatisfactory working conditions of the labors still persist due to the
exploitation of the workers by both the labor union leaders as well as the employers. The
workers are still deprived from their rights and are suffering from low wages and poor
safety measures. There is no implication of any law for protecting the rights of the labors
in the RMG sector in Bangladesh. Corruption and illiteracy of the workers are the main
reasons for the failure of labor unions, since they can be easily manipulated by the union
leaders for their own benefit.
If the factory owners and government does not take corrective measures to
improve the working condition of the workers then the country might lose its most
revenue earning sector. Recently, due to the increase in costs including wage rate and
constant occurrence of strikes many factories are shutting down or acquired by foreign
companies. If this persists in the long the government might fail to earn any revenue from
this once profitable sector.
Labor Union in the RMG sector - 19
Chapter 8: Reference
Ali, A. N. M. A. & Andaleeb, Z. (2008, May 24). Say 'no' to corruption: Laws relating to
trade union needs amendment [Electronic Version]. The Daily Star.
Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (2005). Labour market statistics: Labour law.
Retrieved on August 2, 2010 from http://www.bils-bd.org/labour_law.html.
Crane, A. & Matten, D. (2007). Business ethics (2nd Ed.). New York: Oxford University
Press.
Islam, S. (2005, January 5). In Bangladesh, garment workers' payday not a sure thing.
The American Reporter. Retrieved August 1, 2010, from http://www.brain-
storming.info/article.php?ida=59
Marx, K. (2003). Das capital (Vol-1), (S. Moore & E. Aveling, Trans), (F. Engels, Ed.).
London, Great Britain : Lawrence and Wishart Ltd. (Original work published in
1867).
Sinha, M. B. H. (2006, January 10). Garment strike in Bangladesh: Whose responsibility,
whose interests? Workers World. Retrieved August 2, 2010 from
http://www.workers.org/2006/world/bangladesh-0615/index.html
Webb, S. & Webb, B. P. (1920). The history of trade unionism(2nd Ed.) . New York:
Longmans, Green
(S. H. Karim , personal communication, July 21, 2010)
(L. Begum, personal communication, July 21, 2010)
Labor Union in the RMG sector - 20
Appendices
Appendix A Research Proposal
Appendix B Original Questionnaire
Appendix C Annotated Bibliography
Appendix D Detailed Outline
Appendix E 10 Completed Questionnaires
Appendix F Additional Charts and Graph
Appendix G Copies of Secondary Sources
Appendix H Drafts of the Paper
Labor Union in the RMG sector - 21