News - #SolidarityWorks! © FEMNET 09 July 2021 The pressure on the textile workers does not diminish: Factories Deduct Half the Cost of Vaccinations from Salary The situation of textile workers in Bangladesh and India remains tense. Despite rising numbers of infections and a national lockdown, factories in Bangladesh remain open. Indian factories are allowed to produce again with a full workforce if they vaccinate all workers within one month. The costs for this must now be partly borne by the workers. Bangladesh in a hard lockdown While the number of infections in India continues to decline, the situation in Bangladesh continues to worsen. Since July 1, there has been a strict lockdown for the entire country, which only allows people to leave the house in acute emergencies and for purchases. Our local partners report increased police presence and military patrols, which vehemently enforce the restrictions under threats of imprisonment and fines. Nevertheless, textile factories remain open as the only exception: Despite the rapid spread of the Delta variant and a low vaccination rate (2.6%)[1] The BGMEA (Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association) was once again able to assert itself against government decisions and maintain production. The factory owners fear that orders will migrate to other countries if a pause in production causes delays in deliveries. While offices, shops and all state institutions are closed, the sewing machines thus continue to run unhindered. Even the entire public transport system has been discontinued in order to protect people - which, however, poses great difficulties for textile workers. Without transportation to the factory, many of them do not know how to reach their workplace. The vast majority live too far away to walk. Only a few can afford to ride rickshaws, because it is more than twice as expensive. The streets of Dhaka are therefore filled - contrary to the actual plans - with people who demonstrate for the opening of local transport and demand transport options from the factories.[2] We need to understand that very little workers live around factory premises, and public transport is the only vehicle they can afford to reach their workplace from the distant destination. Now workers are either walking long distances, or sharing available transports, or simply paying much more than usual. In addition, workers are not on the priority list for the vaccination programme. As a result, we have put the workers not only in suffering, but also in danger. written by our partners of BILLS (Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies). Even if the continuous production means fewer wage losses, the health of the textile workers is frivolously put in danger. Little distance within the factories, inadequately implemented measures, lack of protective articles and lack of hygiene precautions pose an acute threat to them. Hospitals in the neighbouring regions of India in particular are already overloaded, and beds, ventilators and oxygen are also scarce here.[3] In India, too, the future remains uncertain. Despite falling numbers, fears of a third wave are growing due to further variants of the coronavirus. As in Bangladesh, the vaccination campaign is only starting slowly here, and medical care is still very limited.[4] Nevertheless, loosening is currently being initiated and even the textile factories, whose opening was only planned for September, are now allowed to produce again with a full workforce - provided that all workers can be vaccinated within four weeks. What initially sounds like good news, however, has a catch that mainly affects the workers. Due to the lack of availability, the vaccine doses must be purchased via private hospitals, per vaccination 1000 rupees are charged. However, the factories want to cover a maximum of half of the costs, which is why they have already started to deduct the other half from the wages of the workers. This corresponds to a seamstress in about one and a half working days - and also violates the law of the Payment of Wages Act 1936. Our partner organisation SAVE from Tirupur (India) currently mainly supports workers who are unable to work due to a COVID-19 disease and do not receive a wage. These include 26-year-old Sangeetha, who asked SAVE for support and received food rations for herself and her parents. The 15-year-old Manikandan and his parents, who both work in the textile industry, also fell ill with COVID-19. All three had to go to the hospital. When the boy was first released, he had no way to buy food and contacted SAVE. Support our partner work on the ground and help alleviate the consequences of the pandemic for women and children. DONATE NOW sources [1] https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/1203308/umfrage/impfstoffabdeckung-der-bevoelkerung-gegen-das-coronavirus-nach-laendern/ [2] https://www.thedailystar.net/business/economy/industries/news/rmg-workers-suffer-lockdown-halts-public-transport-2121681 [3] https://www.rnd.de/gesundheit/bangladesch-delta-variante-breitet-sich-aus-erneuter-corona-lockdown-D6X2LNLLZVKXV2DOZ74IRDKEXE.html [4] https://www.dw.com/de/indiens-sorge-vor-der-dritten-corona-welle/a-57949259
