Inside Bangladeshi garment workers’ ongoing fight for fair pay

“If the salary is not increased, I will have to let my child engage in child labour instead of education to meet household expenses,” said 32-year-old sewing operator Jahanara Begum in November as she waited for the new minimum wage to be announced for garment workers in Bangladesh. “It has become very difficult to bear the cost of food, house rent, children’s education, medical and maintenance expenses for parents with this low income of ours. To meet these needs, I have taken loans from my relatives or colleagues every month and re-borrow to pay off these loans.” 

Begum, alongside those working in the wider garment manufacturing industry, was hoping for the minimum wage to increase from 8000 Bangladeshi Taka (around £60) per month to 23,000 (around £170), and for the higher wage grades to increase proportionally. But as of December 1, the increase has been set by the Minimum Wage Board (made up of representatives from unions, employers, and the government, as well as university professors) at just 12,500 Taka – nearly half of what workers, campaigners, and labour organisations had been asking for.

Demands ranged from 23,000 to 25,000 Taka among unions, but 23,000 was the figure most workers and campaigners got behind. Crucially, it was supported by the Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA), an international campaign and alliance which conducts highly detailed studies to calculate exactly how much garment workers need to earn to cover living costs. 

Just like in the UK, inflation has caused living costs to skyrocket in Bangladesh. Begum has worked in the apparel industry for 18 years and works ten to 12 hours a day, while her husband works 12 to 14 hours a day – yet together they cannot afford to adequately feed their family. “Due to a lack of income, I am currently forced to reduce the amount of food I purchase. In order to meet the nutritional needs of my family, I am taking less food everyday,” she says. 

L, another garment worker with 14 years experience – who asked not to be named for fear of repercussions – says she is the only earner in a household of six, and she cannot afford to buy a litre of milk or a kilogram of meat for her children.

A May 2023 report by the AFWA stated that Bangladeshi garment workers reported per capita consumption of 1950 calories per day. AFWA sets the calorie standard for Asian garment workers at 3000 calories per day, taking into account the physical exertion required for factory work.

“It has become very difficult to bear the cost of food, house rent, children’s education, medical and maintenance expenses for parents with this low income of ours. To meet these needs, I have taken loans from my relatives or colleagues every month and re-borrow to pay off these loans” – Jahanara Begum

That’s a serious shortfall in nutrition and one that raises “serious concerns, as the consumption standards reported are significantly below the international poverty standards”, according to the report. Despite evidence of widespread malnutrition and a nearly unanimous demand for 23,000 Taka, the board didn’t deliver and workers now face being locked into this minimum wage (with a slight increase of 5 per cent per year) for the next five years, until the next Minimum Wage Board is formed.

In the months leading up to the decision, workers took to the streets in protest and were met with brutal state violence. 25-year-old machinist Rasel Howlader, a member of the Design Express Sommilito Sramik Union, was allegedly shot and killed by police in late October. The death of Anzuara Khatun, a sewing machine operator who’s been reported as being between 23- and 26-years-old, followed in early November after police opened fire on protestors.

“It [was] structural violence from the government until the wage was fixed, and now it’s [from] the factory management,” says Abiramy Sivalogananthan, South Asia Coordinator at Asia Floor Wage Alliance. Two more workers have died in the subsequent violence.

“Four workers have died and many more are injured. The government hasn’t taken any initiative for those workers. They don’t get compensation at least. [During] COVID when the world was shuttered, at high risk we still worked and they didn’t look after our safety. So maybe garment workers are not counted as human beings,” says L.

“Every consumer who buys the brands’ products needs to understand the real situation of the Bangladeshi garment worker. We always see that the brands are advertising women empowerment and supporting women of colour, and the consumer is not able to see that in the real lives of garment workers they’re suffering” – L

Even those who’ve escaped injury face consequences for protesting for a higher wage. M, another garment worker who also has 14 years experience in the sector, explains that factory admins are cross checking CCTV footage of protests and terminating those involved. In addition, L says management are targeting protestors and unionised workers, using tiny or non-existent faults in their work to illegally terminate them. Sivalogananthan characterises this behaviour as union busting.

Both L and M speak of seeing or being subjected to abusive language, hair pulling, and beating. Despite the risks involved in being part of a union, both underscore the need for “every single worker” to join a trade union so that they can use the power of the collective to support legal action against illegal termination and unfair treatment. 

Though the wage is now set, Bangladeshi garment workers can’t sit back and accept it. In fact, there is no guarantee they’ll even receive it, as Sivalogananthan says that as many as 45 per cent of factories don’t even pay the mandated minimum. AFWA plans to try and collect wage slips to track payments but due to the violence against workers, getting people to participate isn’t easy.

Efforts for sufficient pay and safer working conditions are led by workers, unions, and labour organisations, but brands could step in and use their enormous influence to sway things in a fairer direction. For instance, some factory owners argued that they wouldn’t be able to afford to pay 23,000 Taka per month, but if brands had stepped up ahead of time and committed to increasing prices accordingly, that would have helped make the case for a meaningful increase. 

“Buyers need to look after the workers who make their clothes. They’re ensuring their product quality but not ensuring the working environment and fair wages. They should take the initiative to implement these issues directly in the factory and should discuss separately with the workers” – L

To date, H&M is the only brand known to have reached out to its suppliers and confirm that it will increase prices paid to garment manufacturers to account for the minimum wage increase. According to information provided to us by Mostafiz Uddin, managing director of Denim Expert Ltd and founder and CEO of Bangladesh Apparel Exchange, H&M will absorb the costs in its product prices. He hopes the move will prompt other brands to follow suit.

“Buyers need to look after the workers who make their clothes. They’re ensuring their product quality but not ensuring the working environment and fair wages. They should take the initiative to implement these issues directly in the factory and should discuss separately with the workers,” says L.

Though the battle for 23,000 was lost, there are still others to fight. A mammoth effort is needed to protect the right to freedom of association, while Sivalogananthan believes it’s crucial to call for an annual minimum wage review. And it's possible to support these efforts from anywhere.

“Every consumer who buys the brands’ products needs to understand the real situation of the Bangladeshi garment worker,” says L. “We always see that the brands are advertising women empowerment and supporting women of colour, and the consumer is not able to see that in the real lives of garment workers they’re suffering. So if they stopped buying those products and did a human chain or a protest march asking for a better life for Bangladeshi garment workers, then the buyers would take the initiative to work with garment [factory] owners to build a better life for every single garment worker in Bangladesh.”

Garment worker advocacy organisation Remake has established a garment worker relief fund, donations from which will go directly to providing aid for medical costs, legal support, food, and other daily necessities.