Opinion | Bangladesh garment worker protests for living wage make clear price of fast fashion


In recent years, fast fashion – cheap, trendy high-street clothing that mimics catwalk designs for a fraction of the price – has seen great global demand. In catering to this, Bangladesh is second only to China.

Fast fashion garments accounted for 85 per cent of Bangladesh’s US$55 billion export revenue last year. The country’s 3,500 textile and clothing factories supply global brands such as Levi’s, Zara, Walmart and H&M.

The protests began after the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association offered to increase the monthly minimum wage by 25 per cent to US$90, the first increase since 2018. This did not meet expectations.
Members from various garment workers’ unions protest in front of the Minimum Wage Board office in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on November 7. Photo: AFP
Rising inflation means it was simply not enough. Instead, workers are demanding their wages be tripled, to US$209 a month, a figure still far below the minimum wage in many Western countries. But industry sources claim that even this nominal increase could make fast fashion unviable.

By its very nature, the industry thrives on exploitative practices. According to the Worker Rights Consortium, Bangladeshi workers face some of the worst conditions in the industry, including verbal and physical harassment, and unsafe working environments. From 2005 to 2013, preventable fire and building safety hazards killed nearly 2,000 Bangladeshi workers.

In April 2013 alone, 1,134 garment workers died after the collapse of Rana Plaza, which housed four garment factories. Subsequent inquiries established that the building had illegally added extra floors to maximise space and profit. Earlier audits from global retailers had been inadequate, and warnings had been dismissed.

04:55

Survivors of Bangladesh factory collapse still waiting for justice 10 years later

Survivors of Bangladesh factory collapse still waiting for justice 10 years later

The industry has since signed a landmark agreement to ensure the reasonable protection of all workers from fire and safety hazards, extending it to workers in Pakistan as well. But many garment workers are still waiting for justice.

While the accord addressed basic safety needs, the industry’s crushingly low wages have been conveniently overlooked by governments and conglomerates alike. That is why unrest has returned.

Cashing in on the unrest is Bangladesh’s main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which is demanding the immediate resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government. They want a caretaker government installed ahead of the general elections scheduled for January.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party supporters attend a protest demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka on October 28. Photo: EPA-EFE
Since then, thousands of activists and opposition party members have been arrested in nationwide protests, and a few have died. Last month, Hasina asked workers to accept the pay rise offered and resume work, or “go back to the villages”. Yet, despite the harsh crackdown, the protests for a better wage and quality of life have continued, threatening to derail elections.

In this era of globalisation, fast fashion is indicative of a much larger power struggle – one that plays out on a global scale, underlining the growing imbalance between rich countries and the rest.

As far back as 2018, the United Nations started calling for “brakes on fast fashion” and a discussion on the price it exacts. This means reassessing our priorities and understanding how the seemingly innocuous action of buying clothes can cause deep harm not just to human rights but also our environment.

The fast fashion industry contributes 2-8 per cent of global carbon emissions, with swiftly discarded clothes and their cheap dyes flooding landfills.

02:35

Singapore: Locals embrace clothes swapping to combat fashion waste

Singapore: Locals embrace clothes swapping to combat fashion waste

One survey, released in 2020, ranked the 15 European nations that produced the most textile waste every year: Italy was top, with nearly 466,000 tonnes, followed by Germany, France and Britain, each with more than 200,000 tonnes.

These habits are hard to break and are part of a complex web affecting not just people’s livelihoods but the economies of entire countries, including Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, protests in the South Asian nation continue to escalate. On November 2, the Bangladeshi police used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse more than 1,000 garment factory workers in the Gazipur industrial district just outside Dhaka, where about 300 factories remained closed. Armoured vehicles drove through the streets in a show of power, while protesters threw rocks. Local reports say that at least six people, including one policeman, have died.

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exports Association has urged global fashion brands to give garment factories “a fair price” so they can pass on these benefits to their workers.

These past months have shown that the search for accountability, for Bangladeshi workers (and, indeed, other exploited garment workers across Asia), must extend well beyond their own country’s borders. It is time for introspection, from the global conglomerates and the rich countries that are the consumer havens for fast fashion.

It’s also clear that much of this change must be driven by consumers ourselves. From shopping less to buying more durable clothing and purchasing from ethical brands that pay fair wages, as consumers, we all have the power to transform this troubled industry for the better.

Kamala Thiagarajan is a freelance journalist based in Madurai, southern India



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