Garments Girls still deprived Working hours more than 8 hours, No right to Trade Union We often see thousands of girls beginning from teenage to middle age walking alongside streets of Dhaka city since early morning till midnight. Sometimes riding age old buses or other human haulers. Then they enter into some nearby multi-storied buildings. Sometimes they walk miles together. Their journey begins when crow cries at dawn. They are garments girls. Anybody can easily say who they are. They have come to this metropolitan city from far flung villages in search of livelihood. These RMG factories are spread over the whole city, particularly at Ashulia, Mirpur or Savar area. A garments girl wears a cheap sandal and a little tiffin carrier her lunch. She wears a very dirty saree or a kamiz. She is highly mal nutrient, skeleton looking. She works ceaselessly from 8 am till 8 pm every day. Her cravings are simple. An amount of money which can keep her body and soul together only. But that amount of money flies away from her like golden deer. As if it is not within her reach. One of these garments girls, Rubina Akhter aged 19 has been working for last 4 years. She joined as a helper but now she is an operator. Her monthly wage has increased a little over the years. Rubina says - “ I used to eat rice & smashed potato for last four years and now do the same. But no fish as yet. I need to send some money for my old parents at my village home. I stay in this big city despite thousand insurmountable problems because there is no job at my village”. Another Sharmin Begum (18), a little younger in age and also in looking. “I am working last five months”. Though she worked in another garments factory earlier but she lost her job after she got pregnant. Unfortunately the new-born baby died just after birth. Sharmin seems to be very sick, but she can not apply for leave. Lest it might terminate her from work. So Sharmin is working without any complaint. So this is the same story of tens of thousands of garments girls across the country. These down trodden workers at RMG factories keeping the nation economy vibrant & running. Hats off to them. They are working round the clock, ceaselessly to keep Bangladesh going ahead. But these ill-fortune RMG workers are often forgotten, deprived of human basic needs. They are also oppressed on many accounts. Their life is sub-human. Prices of necessities of life have jumped up three to four times higher in recent past. But their wages remain the same years after years. As if this is a glaring example of bonded labor slavery of the 19th century. Still continuing here in Bangladesh infamously. More than 76% of the total foreign exchange is being earned with sweat of the eye brow of these teeming millions. But they are forgotten the owners of RMG factories hardly concede to give any facility to RMG workers. Most of owners of RMG factories getting fatty in richness but the workers are deprived of human basic needs. They live a sub-human lives. But they are the true earners of foreign exchange for the country on which we live boastly and luxuriantly. There are provisions in our labour laws to get remedies but garments girls never get it. If they raise hue and cry, they are kicked out of job simply to starve to die. They gaily accept all irregularities/ oppressions only to have two squire meals a day. And that’s all. Garments works do not get any proper redress/compensation even after an accident happens. What they get is only sympathy and political rhetoric’s. Examples are Rana Plaza and Tazreen fire incidents. According to ILO (International Labour Organization), 20 lac workers are killed at work places annually across the globe and 12 lac become physically challenged for life. And almost 16 crore workers develop diseases relating to adverse working conditions. The number accidents and labour unrest are increasing in Bangladesh rapidly, according to a study of Bangladesh Institute of labour study recently. Garments workers’ Leader Shirin Akhter underscores the bilateral relations between workers and owners of RMG to bring forth a future healthy working environment. A study of Bangladesh Institute of Labour study stress the need for rationing, safe working environment and incentive packages for RMG workers for the ultimate development of this blooming industry and also retain the 2nd top position of Bangladesh as the worldwide apparel exporter. It also stressed the need for formation of Trade Unions in the industry. So that workers are not deprived of their due opportunities and also to convince them that they are not deprived by the owners of factories garments workers’ leader Nazma Akhter said – garments women are supposed to get 6 months maternity leave, when they are pregnant but in fact they only get 4 months she stressed on the need for dissolving all irregularities or disparities.
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 06:59:45 +0000