Bangla Workers

By Author: Mohanchen
Total Articles: 434
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The garment industries of Bangla Workers remain the lifeline of the country in terms of employment providing and earning of foreign exchange for the country. The sector flourished on the strong foundation of availability of easily trainable hard working cheap labour force in plenty. The factory owners took the advantage of this, they employed them with less than one thousand take a a month salary denying almost all other benefits. Twelve-hour shift was in practice in almost all garment factories defying the international code of eight hours a day shift. Since most of the workers are uneducated and female they were ignorant about the labor laws and their rights. The owners in most of the factories did not issue any appointment letters to their workers. So, despite working for months and years they remained outsides in the factories officially and thus were deprived of all benefits and rights as factory workers.

Taking the advantages of workers' poverty and ignorance the owners forced them to work in unsafe and unhealthy work place overcrowded with workers beyond capacity of ...
... the factory floor and improper ventilation.

Because of the carelessness of the factory management and for their arrogance factory doors used to be kept locked for security reason defying act. So, when fire breakout in certain garment factories located on the upper floors of Multistoried buildings, the workers were trapped in the building as the exits were locked. Many workers had to die due to such incidents and hundreds were injured. Yet with their power and connections the owners succeeded in locating their garment factories at the upper floors of Multistoried buildings.

Since the garment workers have come from poorer section of the population they have no other place to go or to switch over to any other profession, they kept the garment industries operative with their sweat and blood.

Despite so many fire incidents in the Multistoried garment factories they still work risking their lives to keep the industry running. Defying heavy rain, flood and scorching heat the garment workers attend their duties regularly to maintain the production schedule and export shipments in time.

Though the garment workers in many occasions have been denied of appoint-letters and were not recognised as the registered workers, were projected to the importing countries as the main contributor to the sector to get extra benefit in terms of quota and free access. They claim that any adverse effect on garment sector of the country will turn most of female garment workers into sex workers. So, for the humanity sake extra consideration should be given to the Bangladesh garment products considering the interest of the female garment workers. Such lobbying has been done in many occasions in the past and still continuing. Association of the factory owners in the past succeeded in managing different concessions for the garment sector of Bangladesh which were enjoyed by them keeping the Bangla workers away as the result of which the factory owners and exporters become richer from rich while the workers from poorer.

The salary the garment workers get at the end of the month is the lowest in comparison with same of any other country of the world. With this income they cannot provide the requisite food and shelter to the family members, education and medical support are almost luxury for them. Inspire of working for the whole month when they are denied timely and full payment, they turn furious and damage properties.