WORLD WORLDWIDE FRANCE BANGLADESH News Journal Update - (en) France, UCL AL #344 - International, Bangladesh: Textile workers strike (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

 

In a country where the textile industry represents more than four
million workers, workers have gone on strike, occupied factories and
blocked roads since the beginning of November. The unions' demand to
triple the salary remained a dead letter and the repression increased.
---- Bangladesh, an Asian country located between India and Burma, is
now the world's second largest exporter of textiles. Major brands like
H&M or the ERAM group have their clothes made there, because labor costs
are extremely low. This sector alone represents nearly 85% of its
exports and the country has nearly 3,500 factories which employ more
than four million people, mostly women.

Despite communication focused on social and environmental commitments,
the constant desire of brands to reduce production costs leads to a race
to the bottom for wages and a deterioration in working conditions. The
high inflation that has affected the country since 2021 has resulted in
a continued deterioration of living conditions. There has been no
increase in the minimum wage for five years and workers sometimes have
to take out loans to feed themselves.

Their request: 190 euros per month
Since the beginning of November, massive strikes leading to
demonstrations, factory occupations and road blockages, particularly in
the capital Dhaka, have affected textile factories. Particularly those
supplying Western brands.

The minimum wage committee for the Bangladesh textile industry, bringing
together employers, has proposed increasing the basic monthly salary by
56.25%, bringing it to 12,500 takas (104 euros). An increase deemed
insufficient and described as "unacceptable" by the Bangladesh
Industrial and Garment Workers' Federation (BGIWF).

The unions' demands concern a tripling of the basic monthly salary so
that it reaches 23,000 Takas (190 euros) compared to 8,500 takas (70
euros) today. The Asia Floor Wage Alliance "a global social and trade
union alliance" estimates that a decent wage should be 53,000 Taka (440
euros).

After several weeks of strike, the movement has not yet won its case.
The political context accentuated the difficulties faced by the strikers
in achieving the satisfaction of their demands. The opposition is
demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and organized
rallies against the government at the end of October, which were harshly
repressed.

Government which accuses the strikers of being manipulated by the
opposition. The movement is marked by clashes with the police, riots
with sabotage and violent repression. This was already the case during
the strikes of 2019. Several demonstrators were killed by the police and
paramilitaries, and union leaders were arrested.

Going on strike also means standing up against those in power because of
the links between textile manufacturers and political circles. In
mid-November, the Prime Minister threatened the strikers with dismissal
if the agreement proposed by the employers was not accepted.

Adrien (UCL Bourges)

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Bangladesh-Greve-des-ouvrieres-du-textile
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