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Demonstration in Dhaka, Bangladesh in March 2018. Photo: © NGWFNGWF demonstration in Dhaka, Bangladesh in March 2018. Photo: © NGWFWorkers and trade unions in Bangladesh have been calling for years for an increase in the minimum wage in the clothing sector. Compared to the current minimum wage of 5,300 Taka, about 52 euros, the unions demand a tripling to 16,000 Taka, about 157 euros. By Western standards, this sounds like a drastic increase. In fact, however, the minimum wage has not been raised for five years, while the high inflation rate causes the cost of living in the country to rise steadily. Thus, families who have to feed on the already extremely low wages in the clothing industry are left with less to live on each year. Mim Akter, trade unionist and seamstress from Dhaka, summed it up during her visit to Germany in November 2017: “At the end of the month we go hungry or we take out a loan.”

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With the Bangladesh Accord, building safety in textile factories was to be improved after the factory collapse of Rana Plaza, which killed 1138 people on 24 April 2013. Since then, the safety of workers has improved noticeably. This year, the Accord will be renewed for another three years, but many companies refuse to join the agreement. But why actually? The Swiss CCC asked her, and here are the most popular answers for you.

 

Demonstration on 10.03.2018. Photo: © Garment Labour Union (GLU), BangaloreDemonstration on 10.03.2018. Photo: © Garment Labour Union (GLU), BangaloreAround 350 textile workers gathered in Bangalore (India) on the occasion of International Women's Day (8 March) for a peaceful protest to demonstrate for human and, above all, women's rights in the workplace. With candles in their hands, they formed a human chain and demanded the end of sexual violence in the workplace. However, other labour rights violations were also denounced: Low wages, constant pressure from prerogatives, harassment, lack of implementation of statutory childcare for workers and the obstruction of union work are some of the most common problems women face in factories.

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On a tour of Germany, two activists from Bangladesh have opened their eyes to people about the labour and human rights violations in their country's textile industry. They have shown consumers in Germany what the fight for better labour rights means for trade unionists and activists in Bangladesh: In view of the threat of harassment, insult, dismissal, imprisonment and use of force, it takes a lot of courage. Kalpona Akter and Mim Akter prove this courage day by day through their work. Here's the video of your trip.

 

 

 

© Sina Marx/FEMNET

In November 2017, Sina Marx, responsible for the Solidarity Fund at FEMNET, visited the FEMNET partner organisations Cividep and Munnade in South India. Together with Cividep, she looked at childcare in clothing factories in Bangalore. As part of a joint project, FEMNET and Cividep have been committed to improving childcare in the supplier factories of large brand companies since 2015. Campaign #WhoFits? This is also strong in Germany.

Together with the FEMNET-backed non-governmental organisation Munnade and the Garment Labour Union (GLU), she visited seamstresses at home. Here she talks about her experiences.

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Mim Akter (left) and Kalpona Akter report on the struggle for survival in the Bangladeshi clothing industry. Photo: © FEMNETMim Akter (left) and Kalpona Akter report on the struggle for survival in the Bangladeshi clothing industry. Photo: © FEMNETBangladeshi activists report on the daily struggle for better working conditions in the garment industry

Wages in Bangladesh's apparel industry are among the lowest in the world. Working conditions have not improved significantly since the collapse of the Rana Plaza building in April 2013, with over 1,100 dead and 2,500 injured. However, the Accord building and fire protection agreement has increased the safety of workers before a collapse or fire. But this does not mean that women's discrimination, massive overtime and trade union persecution have disappeared. When thousands of workers went on strike for a higher minimum wage in December 2016 in the Ashulia textile region of Bangladesh, factory owners and the government relentlessly beat back to intimidate workers and trade unions. 600 workers and trade unionists were charged, 1500 were simply fired, dozens were imprisoned.

Almost a year after the brutal suppression of the protests, Kalpona Akter and Mim Akter are in Germany at the invitation of FEMNET e.V. and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation to report on the struggle for better working conditions and fairer pay. During public events and lectures in front of students, at symposia, discussion rounds and press conferences, the two emphasized international solidarity as essential support for their struggle.

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Poster FEMNET Rundreise2017Berlin – Hanover – Bonn – Cologne – Düsseldorf – Mönchengladbach

Wages in Bangladesh's apparel industry are among the lowest in the world. Working conditions are catastrophic and accidents continue to occur with many dead and injured, such as the Rana Plaza collapse in 2013, when more than 1,100 workers died.

When thousands of workers went on strike for a higher minimum wage in December 2016 in the Ashulia textile region of Bangladesh, factory owners and the government relentlessly beat back to intimidate workers and trade unions. 600 workers and trade unionists were charged, 1600 were fired, 26 were imprisoned.

FEMNET e.V., together with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, is organising an event tour from 17 to 27 October 2017.

Almost a year after the brutal crackdown on the protests, Bangladeshi activists report on the fight for better working conditions and fairer pay.

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NGWF demonstration in July 2017

July was turbulent at FEMNET's partner organization in Bangladesh, the National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF): On 22 July 2017, the union celebrated its 34th anniversary. On this occasion, members and guests reviewed the achievements of the trade union and the developments in the Bangladeshi clothing industry over the past three decades.

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Munnade/GLU Demonstration on 01.05.2017. Photo: © MunnadeMunnade/GLU Demonstration on 01.05.2017.
Photo: © MunnadeIn 2017, the women's rights organisation Munnade, together with its trade union arm, the Garment Labour Union (GLU), brought together workers from the clothing industry on 1 May to demonstrate for the implementation of labour rights. More than 3,500 workers had come to fight for fair pay and the implementation of labour law.

The unions also called for the implementation of active and functional factory committees to combat sexual harassment in the workplace. The law was adopted in 2013 and requires all employers with more than 10 employees to put in place effective mechanisms to prevent sexual harassment and deal with complaints. However, the requirements are only implemented by a few employers. Sexual harassment by superiors is still common in many factories.

Ministry visit. Photo: © READMinistry visit. Photo: © READIn the spinning mills of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, young girls have to do the hardest work in the shift system for a starvation wage. Intermediaries lure the girls between the ages of 14 and 18 into the spinning mills so that they work there for three years at the lowest wage, in order to ultimately receive a sum that is supposed to represent their dowry. They are kept in overcrowded and poorly equipped sleeping barracks as if in captivity. They are recruited from poor families of the lower castes. FEMNET already has a lot to offer on this subject. Information and campaign work and in 2016 together with the Indian Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) READ A project has been launched to combat this modern form of slavery.

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22.04.2017: Rana Plaza in Bonn. Photo: ©FEMNET e.V.Bonn. With a street action in the middle of Bonn's city center, the women's rights organization FEMNET has drawn attention to today's memorial day for Rana Plaza. Four years ago today, he died at Factory collapse in Bangladesh More than 1,100 textile workers and 2,000 were injured.

In order to address the still widespread lack of transparency in industry and the consequences of fast fashion consumption, the FEMNET activists reconstructed a textile supply chain with three stations ‘in small’ on Bottlerplatz last Saturday, 22 April: In the first room was spun, in the next sewn and in the third, screeching customers rushed to clothes stalls. Countless passers-by stayed with this Pantomime street theatre information about the background of the textile supply chain.

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Workers of a partially collapsed factory protest for their safety

Workers protest to the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) for necessary renovations and building safety in textile factories. Photo: © NGWFWorkers protest to the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) for necessary renovations and building safety in textile factories. Photo: © NGWF

On the afternoon of April 5, 2017, parts of the 15-story Ananta Plaza factory building collapsed in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka, while around 3,000 seamstresses worked inside the building. The two factories located in the building, Ananta Fashion and Ananta Apparels Ltd, produce for H&M, C&A, Zara, Mango, Marks & Spencer, GAP, Levis, Jack & Jones and Abercrombie & Fitch, among others.

Although no one was harmed, the incident was strongly reminiscent of the Rana Plaza disaster in April 2013. Here, more than 1,100 people were killed in the collapse of a factory complex, over 2,000 were partially seriously injured. The fact that there was no repetition of the tragedy in this case is mainly due to the rapid reactions of workers and trade unions, who pushed for the immediate closure of the factory after the collapse of the rooms on the ground floor.

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