Supply Chain Act What Bangladesh workers hope for

Status: 11.06.2021 11:59 a.m.

With the supply chain law, textile workers in Bangladesh now expect concrete improvements in their job conditions – in an industry for which millions of people work. Peter Hornung, ARD studio South Asia Anju Begum expects a lot from the German supply chain law. “ Once this law is in place, we will be able to take maternity leave with financial benefits, including overtime pay and other facilities, “she says.” We want this law to be implemented. ” Begum is a brave woman. She is 57 and has been working in a textile factory called Jesus Fashion Limited in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka for twelve years. She has been elected head of the works council several times, most recently three months ago.

“Always threatened with dismissal”

“We are facing a lot of difficulties,” says Anju Begum. “The factory doesn’t have enough work. That’s why we’re always threatened with firing. The management has repeatedly postponed our demands and unsolved problems.” Now the workforce is exerting pressure on the factory owner through the trade unions – which is now also having an effect. The head of the works council was actually able to achieve a lot for the workers: clean drinking water, functioning fans so that work is bearable even now in the heat, and emergency exits that are no longer blocked as they used to be. But there are many things that are not so easy to enforce. Anju believes that the fact that there is now a lever that can be used with German customers changes a lot.

Most of the time women work in the factories

“Once this law is in place, we will be able to share our complaints with buyers when they visit,” she says. “You will also find out that we have been informed of the new law.” Four and a half million people work in Bangladesh’s clothing industry, most of them women. The collapse of the Rana Plaza building eight years ago highlighted the conditions in the textile factories. More than 1100 people were killed at that time. The German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) says that things have improved a lot since then. There are new laws that are also being enforced. Nevertheless, the country still lags behind international standards in many ways. And that’s why the new German law is raising high hopes in Bangladesh – including Kalpona Akter, one of the country’s best-known worker activists.

New possibility of lawsuits

“ A supply chain law like this is really necessary in order to really hold companies accountable, “says Akter.” For us as a union, there is currently no way of holding German companies responsible. With such a law, we could also sue companies in Germany. That would be very, very helpful and would open a new window for the protection of the workers. ” However, the factory owners are much less enthusiastic, but they do not want to speak in front of the microphone. In conversation with the ARD – Studio South Asia says a manager that he is anything but comfortable with the new law – precisely because the possibilities for legal action for the workers’ representatives would be significantly expanded. In addition, it is to be feared that German customers will now put increased pressure on them.

By Peter Hornung and Shehab Sumon, ARD studio South Asia Bangladesh has imposed strict restrictions due to the increasing number of new corona infections. There is a strict lockdown with an all-day curfew – but there are exceptions. While most shops and markets are closed and local public transport is just as paralyzed as air traffic, Bangladesh’s textile factories are allowed to continue producing. “We have appealed to the government to keep the factories open,” said Khandoker Rafiqul Islam, vice president of the national association of textile manufacturers BGMEA ARD studio South Asia . The textile companies currently have so many orders: “It is our responsibility to deliver the work on time.”

Fear of another break-in – and of the virus

Bangladesh’s textile industry fears a similar slump as it did a year ago, when orders worth billions were canceled. At that time the government had also closed the textile factories. In addition, the international fashion companies wanted to lose significantly less weight because of the pandemic – a disaster for the country’s most important industrial sector, which is responsible for 80 percent of Bangladesh’s exports. Although the major customers came back later, they would have asked for large discounts in some cases, according to BGMEA. So one damage remained. But now it’s different – the sewing machines keep running. Also that of Shoheda Akhter, who has been working for “Solar Garments” for 16 years, one of the numerous textile factories in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka. Nevertheless, the 30-year-old is very worried. On the one hand, because she is afraid of losing her income again, as she did last year, her factory should still have to close. On the other hand, because she is afraid of the disease. Even with a low fever, she is afraid of being infected, says Shoheda. After all, with so many factory workers, it is not an easy task for companies to ensure safety.

Jharna Begum hopes not to get infected with the corona virus in the textile factory. But she is dependent on her work. Image: Shehab Sumon / ARD-Studio South Asia She goes to work on foot in the morning and does not drive an overcrowded company bus like many other workers. But the danger is real. Nevertheless, someone like her cannot actually afford to be afraid of corona, says Shoheda: “We get money when we work. If we don’t work, we don’t get anything. So we don’t have much leeway to think about the corona virus.” The equivalent of about $ 250 a month, Shoheda’s family of four lives on. Your own income is even more important since her husband lost a better-paying job in the textile factory because of Corona and can only work as a doorman. Shoheda’s colleague Jharna Begum feels the same way – the fear of loss of income is greater than that of illness. The security in the factory is not far off, says the 26-year-old. “Because this is a textile production, we have to work very closely with one another. We cannot keep the required distance at all. That is due to the nature of our work.”

Open textile mills less dangerous than closures?

In view of the corona risk, it is better to leave the factories open than to close them, says BGMEA Vice President Khandoker Rafiqul Islam, who is a factory owner himself. “During the lockdown last year, we found that the virus is more likely to spread when the bus stations are full and the streets are because workers are moving home.” At that time, the workers had fled the cities by the hundreds of thousands in pure need so as not to starve to death. But isn’t there a risk that the textile factories will become hotspots because of the working conditions? No, says the textile entrepreneur, all hygiene regulations must be observed. In addition, there are company-owned hospitals and isolation centers for the workers. The workers ‘organization “Bangladesh Center for Workers’ Solidarity” does not require the factories to be closed for safety reasons. Her most important demand: the workers’ wages must under no circumstances be cut or completely canceled – like last year, when many were suddenly left with nothing. Aika Fischbeck from the German women’s rights organization Femnet says that the international fashion companies should not be indifferent to what is going on in Bangladesh: “We not only see the factory owners in Bangladesh as having an obligation, but also the fashion companies commissioned should and must take responsibility also ensure that the factories can observe distance rules and hygiene measures in order to protect the workers from infection. ” The only hope left for the worker Jharna Begum is to get through the pandemic in good health despite the working conditions in the textile factory and to be able to continue to feed her family. Because her husband is unemployed because of the effects of the corona pandemic, so the couple cannot repay loans at the moment. But the 26-year-old is confident: “With the grace of the Almighty, he will get a job again as soon as the coronavirus is over.”