RMG sector: Same old approach to contain agitation

The readymade garment (RMG) industry is in turmoil as a result of continuous workers’ protests in Gazipur and Ashulia of Savar over the last few weeks to press different demands. The garment owners, in the beginning, ignored the demands raised by the protesting workers and blamed outsiders and jhut (garment fabric waste) traders for instigating the movement. However, as the situation escalated further, the owners were forced to accept the demands partially. By that time, the workers’ agitation had already gone beyond control.

Following the regime change, the workers in the RMG and pharmaceutical sectors went on strike to press home several demands. The entrepreneurs in these sectors sat with their own factory workers in phases and eventually were agreed to accept some of the demands. Consequently, the situation in the pharmaceutical sector started returning to normal within a week. But it’s the opposite in the case of the RMG sector. The situation in this sector is deteriorating further rather than improving.

As of Thursday, the respective factory authorities had to shut down 94 factories in Ashulia and Gazipur for an indefinite period. Besides, production was disrupted in at least 150 factories on that day.

Ashulia is the centre point of the prevailing unrest in the RMG industry. Several top garment companies of the countries have factories there. At the same time, besides several factories in the Ashulia area of Savar is owned by some of the former presidents of the BGMEA and influential businesspersons who were very close to the recently ousted government. Mainly these people pull the strings from behind or directly to contain movement on different demands including wages.

The workers leaders blame the same old strategy adopted by the owners for the failure to quell the unrest prevailing in the garment industry for two weeks.

They say in the last one and half decades, the owners always used force – intimidation, physical assault and police cases, to suppress strikes. They even cite different conspiracies home and abroad behind the workers’ agitation. The owners tried to take the situation under control the old way this time too. However, it didn’t work due to the regime change.

The garment owners nevertheless feel that the main reason behind the unrest is the conflict between local politicians over the control jhut business. They are the ones who are instigating the workers. The situation has become grave as the law enforcement agencies are yet to fully resume their activities and therefore aren’t playing any active role as in the past. There are also a few complications with the leadership as several former and present BGMEA leaders, who had close ties with the Awami League government, are in hiding now.

RMG covers more than 80 per cent of our export products. The sector saw a massive disruption in production and export in consequence of the quota reform movement followed by the student-people uprising that toppled the Sheikh-Hasina-led government after 15 years. Amid this, the RMG industry was hit by this unrest while it was still recovering.

The foreign buyers of the sector are quite concerned. The garment entrepreneurs fear that they can lose 25 per cent of the work orders next season.

The local politicians locked in a race to take the control of jhut business in different industrial areas including Savar, Ashulia and Gazipur in the changed political situation. The conflict arose when the newcomers claimed supremacy in the business.

In these circumstances, a group of job aspirants staged demonstrations besieging the main gate of the Dhaka EPZ demanding equal opportunities for male and female in RMG sector jobs on 19 August. Unrest emerged when the factory of Ashulia-based Donglian Fashion (Bd) Ltd was shut down for an indefinite period.

Following that, the workers of Sky Line and Pearl Garments took to the streets with various demands on 27 and 29 August respectively. On 31 August, around 10,000 workers of the NASSA Group blocked the roads to press their 15-point demands. The next day, NASSA Group workers hurled brickbats at factories nearby. As the situation escalated, factories of some 40 business groups in the area declared holidays.

The workers went on to strike after that. At that point, outsiders intervened and carried out attacks at different factories to force the workers to join the demonstrations. The job aspirants also continued with their movement simultaneously.

The BGMEA leaders initially met with the top echelons of the government several times and asked for a stern action from the law enforcements to bring the situation under control. Failing to do that, they later convinced the government to conduct joint drives with the army, police and the BGB (Border Guard Bangladesh) as their initial plan didn’t yield. The joint force have arrested 14 people on charge of being involved in the unrest and instigating the workers.

Although the attacks from outsiders gradually came down and the movement of job aspirants ended after the start of the joint drive, the workers continued on their strike.

To calm them, the BGMEA leaders held a meeting with top law enforcement officials, Ashulia factory owners and workers leaders. A decision to raise the attendance by Tk 225 was taken in the six-hour-long meeting. Apart from this, the demands of raising the tiffin bill, hiring workers on the basis of skills instead of gender and abolishment of blacklisting the workers were accepted.

The respective authorities started closing down the factories until further notice from Wednesday as there was no improvement in the situation even after the meeting.

Asked about this, former BGMEA president Rubana Haque told Prothom Alo, “An initiative from the government to hold meetings with the owners and workers leaders to review the demands is needed at this point. At the moment, there is no alternative to assuring the workers of their demands and urging them to return to work.”

Last year, the workers’ representative proposed a minimum wage of Tk 20,393 in the Minimum Wage Board. The owners proposed Tk 10,400 as the minimum wage against the proposal. Failing to realise the demands, the agitated workers embarked on a movement. The three-week movement saw four RMG workers killed. As the situation went beyond control, the garment owners came up with a new proposal of a minimum wage of Tk 12,500, which was eventually agreed.

However, the new proposal couldn’t quell the movement. Eventually the government and factory owners resorted to suppression through police cases and subsequent arrests in addition to closing the factories for an indefinite period. A total of 43 cases were lodged in Gazipur and Ashulia on various allegations, including vandalism, arson and looting. Some 114 people have been arrested in these cases.

Analysing the demands raised by the workers from different factories, it was found that they raised some eight to 25 demands, including, increasing the annual raise by 10-15 per cent, an attendance bonus of Tk 800-1000, 50 taka tiffin bill and increasing the Eid holidays to 24 days, 12 days in each Eid. There are also demands of terminating some mid-level factory officials.

This correspondent spoke to several workers in Ashulia. They complained workers are subjected to harassment in different ways including verbal abuse. They don’t get the salary and allowances on time. At the same time, they are being deprived of the salary and allowances set by the Minimum Wage Board. They get laid off whenever they raise their voice for their rights.

A worker, willing to be unnamed, told Prothom Alo, “We have been working till 9:00 pm for over two months. Despite that, the concerned officials mistreated me badly as I asked to leave at 7:00 pm for some movement-related reasons. We raised some demands including production bonus, attendance bonus, a 30-taka raise in tiffin bills and payment against the annual leaves. But the officials turned down demands saying none of these will be met.”

Speaking to Prothom Alo, labour leader Babul Akter said, “The workers are struggling to keep up amid this high inflation rate. There must be a tripartite committee, including the government, factory owners and workers to review the demands. Laying off or factory closure won’t bring the situation under control.”

The top BGMEA leaders always remain in the good books of the government. Those who were close to the Awami League have served as the presidents of the organisation over the last 15 years. SM Mannan, general secretary of Dhaka north city Awami League, was elected the president in the last BGMEA election held in March this year.

The BGMEA president left the country even before the fall of the government. Now, in a changed context, the leaders and members of the organisation's election-centric alliance forum became vocal demanding the resignation of the entire board including the president. At one point, SM Mannan resigned. BGMEA senior vice president Rafiqul Islam took over as the new president. The demand from the forum to dissolve the board has put the current members in an uncomfortable situation. Almost all members of the board, except the senior vice president and a few others are mostly inactive now.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, BGMEA senior vice president Abdullah Hil Rakib said, “No other business forum or agency could not work like the way we did in the last one month. We tried to tackle the situation in the way we did in the past. However, the context is completely different this time. We adopted a very progressive approach. We hope the situation will improve soon.”

Khandaker Golam Moazzem, research director at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), a non-government research agency, told Prothom Alo, “Accepting the demands of the workers partially is an old practice among the owners. Usually the problems are contained in this way. The Industrial Police used to play a vital part to disperse a movement. But they are inactive now. Therefore, a decision has been taken to include executive magistrates with the joint force. This approach is also being assumed as a way to suppress the workers’ agitation.”

“The owners must come to a decision on principle to accept the demands of the workers within the legal frame. It needs to be done centrally and then a joint declaration should come up to inform the workers,” he said.

*This report appeared on the print and online versions of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Ashish Basu