[Ip-health] [SYCB] From Grievance to Mayhem

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>From Grievance to Mayhem   What made the garment workers go on a rampage?
  Mustafa Zaman and Shamim Ahsan

  Last week's violent upsurge of the garment workers has ended as abruptly =
as it broke out. More than a week has gone by since then, but questions as =
to what made the otherwise submissive and compliant garment workers go on a=
 rampage and whether the rioters were really garment workers, remain unreso=
lved. While different labour organisations have interpreted the incident as=
 an explosion of pent-up deprivation and grievances of the garment workers,=
 BGMEA (Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association) leader=
s promptly found a neighbouring, competitor country's apparent hand in it.

  Normalcy has returned and workers are back in business, but there is no s=
cope of feeling relieved until the real reason, which is the long time expl=
oitation of the workers by their employers, sees its end.
  While workers and their representatives are blaming the melt down on the =
unresolved issues pertaining to the improvement of the workers' overall con=
dition, the owners are prone to generate conspiracy theories.
  This is not the first time the BGMEA or the garment owners have come up w=
ith a conspiracy theory. The recent fire incident in Chittagong's KTS garme=
nt that burnt some 50 to 60 people to death was also dubbed as an act of sa=
botage by the BGMEA leadership. Now, exactly on what solid evidence is this=
 conspiracy theory based on?
  BGMEA Acting President Salam Murshedi has at best a vague answer. There a=
re people and NGOs who are here to serve a particular country's interest, M=
urshedi says. He however does not stop here, but enlarges the list of accus=
ed by alluding to the involvement of certain political elements within the =
country.
  Shirin Akhter, a central leader of JSD and one who has been working with =
garment workers for a long time, summarily strikes off the conspiracy theor=
y. "This has been a part of our culture. We are always ready to put the bla=
me on others to cover up our own faults," Akhter says. Akhter has absolutel=
y no doubt that what the garment workers did on those two days was a sponta=
neous expression of their long suppressed anger.
  "Just think of the situation. In a large number of garment factories, if =
not most of them, there is no standard salary structure, no minimum wage, n=
o security of job. Workers are made to work as if they were machines. After=
 long hours of scheduled work they are often forced to work overtime and ve=
ry often they are not justifiably paid for those extra hours. Even monthly =
salaries are not paid on time and sometimes they go on working for months w=
ithout any salary because the owner's bill is stuck or something of that so=
rt. Then they are often mistreated by the factory authority, especially fem=
ale workers have to bear continuous verbal and sometimes even physical abus=
es. It's only natural that their anger will burst out one day, and that is =
exactly what happened there," Akhter argues.
  And add to the list the build up of uneasiness and tension in every spher=
e of life these days, Akhter urges. Prices of essentials have skyrocketed a=
nd people are deeply afflicted with acute power and water crisis. All these=
 factors have helped their long suppressed wrath to turn into an explosive =
expression, Akhter observes.
  The BGMEA boss admits that workers in some garment factories are treated =
badly, specially pay-wise. He also admits that things were not in good shap=
e in Universe garment factory from where the trouble erupted on May 23. The=
re were troubles there in the past too. "We came to know that workers had s=
ome problems and they also conveyed it to the factory authority, but the au=
thority mishandled the whole affair," Murshedi says.
  Garment workers are paid in two ways; some are paid monthly salary while =
others are paid against their work. The sweater manufacturing factories in =
particular pay their workers on the basis of the pieces they sew. "But prob=
lems arise as some factory owners do not declare the rate in advance or pay=
 less than the declared rate," Murshedi says.
  However, while Murshedi is ready to accept that the Universe authority ha=
d their share of fault, he refuses to accept that Universe's troubles had v=
irtually sparked off violence and rampage of such a large scale. "Look at t=
he pattern and breadth of the violence, it was clearly pre-planned. How wou=
ld you explain the vandalism inflicted by those 200 to 300 youths who wore =
jeans and sported helmets?" Murshedi asks.

At the absence of any platform through which the workers could vice their d=
emands, they have no alternative but to take matters into their own hands
  Regarding the garment workers' 11-point demand Murshedi claims that excep=
t for a few garment factories most of them already have been complying with=
 them. The garment factories who export their products are bound to comply =
with certain rules and regulations, otherwise they cannot even open Letter =
of Credit (LC), forget export, Murshedi points out. It is the compliance is=
sue for which hundreds of garment units have moved out from Dhaka. These fa=
ctories pay Tk 2,000 even to a fresher and an A grade worker makes around T=
k 5,000 to 6,000 a month including overtime pay, he claims.
  When asked that if a garment factory has to comply with standard rules an=
d regulations to sell their products how come some of them violate them, Mu=
rshedi points out that the garment factories which export their products ar=
e bound to comply with the set standards, not others. "There are some who d=
o not export on their own and basically work on subcontract. It is these fa=
ctories which mainly violate the standard rules and regulations," Murshedi =
explains.
  Shirin Akhter, however, rules out Murshedi's claim that garment factories=
 comply with standard rules and regulation, as they have to export their pr=
oducts. "It's like keeping your wife all made up during the day to show peo=
ple how well kept she is and then beating her up at night," Akhter gives a =
comparison to expose the garment owners' double standard.
  The recent flare up in the RMG sector has sent a chilling message to the =
Bangladeshis: All is not well in this industry. It is since the early 1980s=
 that this labour-intensive industry has been shifted from the developed na=
tions to the third world countries across the globe. This sector has litera=
lly been ferried to countries like Bangladesh, where labour is cheap.
  Today, in Bangladesh, the RMG sector accounts for more than 70 percent of=
 the total income from export. However, the huge labour force that is the b=
ackbone of this sector has been the subject of continuous exploitation and =
neglect. To this day the right to form unions remains an issue to which the=
 owners are not yet ready to give the nod. In absence of a platform from wh=
ere they would be able to voice their demands, the workers of the RMG secto=
r have been mired in unmitigated crisis since the beginning. A recent newsp=
aper report said that for the last 10 years the minimum wage for a garment =
worker has remained the same.
  However, that there is a need for an immediate looking into the issues of=
 worker's discontentment has hardly ever been acknowledged by the garment f=
actory owners. BGMEA is yet to acknowledge the fact that many a disgruntled=
 labourer of the sector have legitimate grounds to take to street agitation=
, and even resort to violence, to protest against the gross anomalies and c=
ontinuous ill treatment. While the BGMEA is in denial, the leaders of the w=
orkers are unequivocal in pointing out the fact that this flare up has been=
 the result of long-term abuse and exploitation.

When workers lock horn with the authority they do so in desperation
  "What the government and the BGMEA are claiming is that the workers of th=
e garment sector did not participate in the agitation and protest. Whereas =
it is a fact that they did. By concocting stories of outside intervention t=
he authorities are trying to hide the fact that they have been at fault for=
 quite some time," says Shamim Imam, General Secretary of the central commi=
ttee, Jatiya Gonotantrik Sramik Federation.
  He says that the garment sector has long been overshadowed by many an unr=
esolved issue. "For a garment worker there is no provision of appointment l=
etter, there is no service book. The fact that payment for overtime should =
be double compared to the payment for regular hours has never been consider=
ed; they have long been deprived of any weekly leave and yearly leave. In m=
any a factory the salary of the last two or three months always remain due.=
 And then there are other requirements -- the entrance passage must be six =
feet six inches high and 32 feet wide. The workers must be trained for fire=
 emergency, but very few factories actually practise," says Shamim. Jatiya =
Gonotantrik Sramik Federation has conducted a survey on the garment factori=
es in the Mirpur Area, where among 62 garment factories only two have been =
found to have trained their workforce as to what to do during a fire emerge=
ncy.
  Shamim has been working with the garment workers for the last ten years. =
He and others like him are of the opinion that the workers of the garment s=
ector have long been subjected to exploitation and ill treatment. "The rece=
nt flare up is the result of the long-standing dissatisfaction," says Shahi=
dul Islam Sabuj, Finance Secretary, of Garment Sramik Aoikyo Forum, whose p=
resident Morsheda Mishu were taken into police custody on May 23, the day a=
ll hell broke loose, and were released the day after. Shabnam Hafiz, presid=
ent of Garment Sramik Mukti Andolon, feels that to find the cause behind th=
e recent flare up one needs to look back. "Once the factories were shifted =
from Dhaka the workers were out of touch with the labour organisations, the=
refore, the treatment of the owners worsened," says Shabnam, who feels that=
 after all these years there is no letting up of the incidents of workers b=
eing beaten up by the owners' henchmen. She cites a recent example where tw=
elve workers
 who resigned from the workforce were recalled by the authorities only to b=
e beaten up. "After mercilessly beating the workers unconscious the authori=
ty even called the police to hand them over as dacoits. The intervention of=
 other workers somehow saved them," testifies Shabnam.

  The violent outbursts that we witnessed on May 23 may recur if the proble=
ms plaguing the garment sector are not addressed on an urgent basis. Becaus=
e what happened in and around Dhaka does not augur well for the country or =
for the future of this industry. Murshedi informs that BGMEA has an arbitra=
tion cell and it regularly summons owners who violate compliance regulation=
s and even penalises them. "Every month we deal with a number of garment ow=
ners who have violated regulations and we have also notified all our member=
s that from now on they will have to inform BGMEA if there are workers' gri=
evances so that we can check things at the right time," Murshedi says.
  Murshedi also discloses that there is a forum under the commerce ministry=
 comprising representatives from the workers, BGMEA and the government to a=
ttend to problems either related to compliance or workers' demand. Akhter a=
lso believes that if this forum works properly, which is not the case now, =
things will improve to some extent. She also proposes representatives from =
the NGOs that have been working closely with the garment workers as well as=
 those from the civil society to be included into the forum.
  The worker-owner relationship is also very crucial, Akhter adds. Workers =
do not have any sense of belonging, thanks to the owners' mistreatment of t=
hem and indifference to their well being. The owners will have to change th=
eir attitude towards their workers and give them space to speak out their m=
inds and the best way to do it is through trade unions.
  Murshedi however has serious reservations about trade unions. "The histor=
y of trade unions in our country is not pleasing. More often than not trade=
 unions have proved to be destructive for an organisation than constructive=
," he says. Shirin Akhter strongly objects. "The greatest of systems will a=
lso malfunction if badly conducted or if bad conductors run it. Healthy tra=
de union is the best answer to raise and address the grievances and aspirat=
ions of the workers, but if there is none the workers have no means to conv=
ey their demands and bargain with the owner."
  "Had the ILO (International Labour Organisation) convention been followed=
 by both the owners and the government the situation would not have come to=
 such a pass. We deplore the incidents of setting fire to the factories and=
 the rampage that accompanied the protest, but it can never be denied that =
garment workers have long been deprived of their rights," says Shamim Imam.=
 He denounces the havoc that a section of workers wreaked on the factories.

A section of angry garment workers are locked in a fight with the 'owners' =
henchmen.
  "We are against any attempt to damage the institutions that feed the labo=
urer. We deplore any violence aiming to harm the factories," asserts Shamim=
. He is in favour of a national-level initiative to resolve the present cri=
sis. He sees no other alternative to "talks between the representative of t=
he workers and the owners."
  "Owners and government representatives should sit with the labour organis=
ations to draw up long-term policies that would mitigate the grievances of =
the workers," proposes Shamim. He also points out that if the authorities f=
ail to sit with all the relevant organisations, both registered and unregis=
tered, then the attempt will be nothing but futile. "It has happened before=
 that many unregistered labour organisations working in the RMG sector have=
 been sidelined in favour of a number of organisations that are either seen=
 as satellite extensions of the BGMEA or connected to NGOs. For the real ar=
bitration to take place the authorities must sit with both registered and u=
nregistered labour organisations. SCOP is an example of how an unregistered=
 organisation played an important role at its initial stage as an arbiter,"=
 says Shamim. "The right to form a union has been acknowledged in the const=
itution of Bangladesh, but the RMG sector has been resisting all attempts o=
f workers to
 organise themselves under any such umbrellas," laments Shamim.
  Shabnam, who is involved with garment workers' rights since the mid 90s, =
feels that to steer clear out of the present crisis the authorities must wi=
thdraw all cases against agitating garment workers and comply with the elev=
en point demands of the workers. "The right to congregate and to form organ=
isation is the constitutional right of the workers, this the owners will ha=
ve to accept. What the government can do at present is that they can demarc=
ate the minimum wage and enforce it through a proper body," says Shabnam wh=
o hastens to add that "if the owners have their association then why are th=
e workers resisted from having one of their own."

The workers are back to their workplace, but until their grievances are dul=
y addressed such violent upsurge may very well recur
  BGMEA as an organisation of the owners has failed to play an essential ro=
le in forcing the industry owners to stick to ILO convention. The industry =
is rife with anomalies in fixing salaries and in setting overtime and work =
hours. It also utterly failed to maintain safety standard of the buildings =
that house the factories.
  At the cost of the labourers' rightful share of the benefits, and sometim=
es at the cost of their lives, the RMG sector has flourished in Bangladesh.
  Jamal Hossain, a knitting operator of World's Fashion Ltd at Gazipur, say=
s that even after 25 years there is no sign of implementation of factory ac=
ts that ensure weekly holidays along with other yearly holidays.
  "The death of a worker of FS Sweater is not the lone incident of killing,=
 there have been others in Narayanganj. Even the deaths in fire have never =
been investigated properly and the relatives of the victims have never been=
 fully compensated," says Jamal. As a worker he believes that it is through=
 talks that problems should be resolved. "The director of the FS Sweater (w=
hich belongs to the SQ group) was informed on May 19 -- a day prior to the =
incident of agitation and killing of one of the workers -- that Morsheda Mi=
shu, the president of the Garment Sramik Oikya Forum, was willing to negoti=
ate on behalf of the workers. But the director was unwilling to sit with an=
 outsider," recalls Jamal.

It's back to business at Savar EPZ but for how long?
  This unwillingness to sit for talks where labour organisations were willi=
ng to mediate has led to grave consequences. On May 20, workers of FS Sweat=
er went on a strike for the first half of the workday to press home their d=
emand for pay hike as well as to set free two of their co-workers detained =
earlier by police and for withdrawal of alleged false cases against 80 othe=
rs. The authority was noncompliant. As the workers went on a strike while r=
emaining inside the factory, power as well as water supply were cut off at =
the behest of the authority. This had agitated the workers. They rushed out=
 of the factory to find the main gate under lock and key. Most workers clim=
bed the boundary wall, while some scaled it down, to pour out on the street=
s to organise a procession.
  According to Jamal, a witness to the incident, police came charging in fr=
om behind while they were about to start a procession. They drove the agita=
ting workers to the nearby village and it is from this village that the wor=
kers were joined by villagers who alongside the workers retaliated. "What f=
ollowed is a chase and counter chase between the police and the workers. So=
hag, a worker, along with two others were killed as the police opened fire =
after things had almost calmed down," says Jamal. The body of Shohag was fi=
rst kept hidden in a warehouse and then handed over to the workers in the e=
vening.

Members of 'Garments Commercial Officers Welfare Association Bangladesh' ca=
ll for an amicable relationship between the garment factory owners and work=
ers
  The incidents on May 20 together with the incidents of May 23, when the w=
orkers of the Universe Garment along with workers of other garment factorie=
s went on a rampage, have sent a wake up call to those who have long been a=
dverse to the idea of trade unionism in this sector. In the absence of a re=
sponsible trade union, the enraged workers have gone on a rampage. The dest=
ruction that followed amounted to crores of takas, but it is not monetary l=
oss that one should mull over at this point. There are more pressing issues=
 to be resolved. Such violent outburst of pent-up anger might get repeated =
if rightful demands of workers are not taken seriously.

  (from the sources of the Daily Star News, BD)

  GMA-NEWS

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