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Top clothing brands snub Bangladesh summit

A recent strike has resulted in dozens of arrests but most will be released after buyers pull out of a summit
Top clothing brands snub Bangladesh summit

Bangladeshi garment workers demonstrate in Dhaka on April 5, 2016 to demand a minimum monthly wage rise. (ucanews.com photo)

Published: February 27, 2017 08:04 AM GMT
Updated: February 27, 2017 08:08 AM GMT

Five leading global clothing brands have decided to pull out from a major apparel summit in Bangladesh to protest a crackdown on hundreds of garment workers and to support their demands for higher wages.

H&M, C&A, Tchibo, Next and Inditex, the parent company of Zara, all major clients of Bangladesh's US$30 billion garment industry, said on Feb. 22 that they would not participate in the Dhaka Apparel Summit that was held on Feb. 25.

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), the trade body representing some 4,500 garment factories, organized the event, which focuses on the country's plan to achieve a target of US$50 billion in garment exports by 2021.

"C&A together with other apparel brands, including H&M and Inditex decided not to participate in the BGMEA Dhaka Apparel Summit," said Dutch clothing brand, C&A.

"We strongly encourage the government of Bangladesh to take immediate steps to ensure the protection of workers' rights, with special attention to legitimate representatives of the workers who have been arrested," C&A Spokesman Thorsten Rolfes told Agence-France-Presse.

The brands' decision was prompted by the recent firing of over 1,500 garment workers and the jailing of dozens of their leaders on charges of vandalism, extortion and burglary after they participated in a strike in the Ashulia industrial area, near Dhaka, in December 2016.

The strike lasted little over two weeks and tens of thousands of garment workers took to the streets for a three-fold increase in the minimum monthly wage which is presently US$68.

 

Lawful rights

A church official has joined rights groups and labor activists in hailing the decision.

"These clothing brands have taken a logical decision; they should pressurize the government to ensure the lawful rights of the workers," Father Albert T. Rozario, convener of the Catholic bishops' Justice and Peace Commission in Dhaka Archdiocese told ucanews.com.

Despite labor laws allowing workers to form trade unions, garment factory owners and the government resist it, he said.

"Trade unions and peaceful collective bargaining are vital for labor rights and they can improve the lives of workers as well as conditions in the factories. The owners must realize the rights of workers, otherwise clothing brands will continue to pressurize and even pull out from the country, which would cause a blow to our economy," added Father Rozario, a Supreme Court lawyer.

Babul Akter, president of the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation, a Dhaka-based labor group, also welcomed the decision.

"The brands have taken the decision out of social responsibility. This boycott puts pressure on the owners and government to ensure the rights of workers because it throws the industry into an image crisis," Akter told ucanews.com.

Akter claimed that, despite media reports suggesting 1,500 workers were sacked, the actual number is nearly 3,000.

"There was a meeting between the government, BGMEA and labor groups where the decision was made to release workers from jail, reinstate their jobs and open trade union offices. But there was no commitment on a particular date. We are waiting to see whether the decision is implemented or not," Akter added.

 

Factory owners unhappy

Bilash B. Gomes, a Catholic, and owner of Mark Mode Ltd. factory in Tongi, near Dhaka, said that if workers violate rules then the factory and the government have every right to take corrective measures and this is normal practice. "The brands boycotting the summit are trying interfere in our internal matter unwarrantedly and this will further instigate workers," Gomes said.

Gomes said he is against trade unions and does not allow them in his factory.

"Trade unions are an unnecessary hazard because workers' demands have no end and trade unions fuel labor unrest. We are already concerned about the rights of workers and we raise their salary 5 percent annually," Gomes added.

Muhammad Nasir, a vice-president of BGMEA also blasted the decision.

"We have invited about 4,000 individuals and organizations to attend the summit, so we don't care if five of them don't come," Nasir told ucanews.com.

"We are concerned about the rights of workers and the brands don't need to poke their noses in our internal matters," he added.

However, presumably, the pressure from the brands forced the government, BGMEA and labor groups to hold a meeting to try and find a solution to the crisis on Feb. 23.

Decisions were made to free the workers from jail, reinstate their jobs and pay withheld wages, Mujibul Haque, state minister for Labor and Employment told reporters after the meeting.        

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