Textile industry in Bangladesh
[15] During the Mughal era, the most important center of cotton production was Bengal, particularly around its capital city of Dhaka, leading to muslin being called "daka" in distant markets such as Central Asia.
[25] In the devastating famine in 1974, one million people died, mainly of starvation caused in part by the flooding of the Brahmaputra River in 1974, and a steep rise in the price of rice.
[26] The Bangladeshi government began to realize potential for the industry to flourish and offered development stimulus such as "duty-free import machinery and raw materials, bonded warehouse facilities and cash incentives.
[27] The working environments and conditions of the factories that produce ready-made garments has undergone criticism in recent years concerning worker safety and fair wages.
"[39] Starting in 1974 the Multi Fibre Arrangement (MFA) in the North American market ensured that trade in textiles and garments remained the most regulated in the world.
While some smaller factories were documented making pay cuts and layoffs, most downsizing was essentially speculative – the orders for goods kept coming even after the MFA expired.
Samsul Alam and Kaoru Natsuda's survey of Bangladeshi garment firms, conducted in 2012, found that they almost unanimously credited the low cost of labor as the main contributor to the industry's growth in Bangladesh.
[57] The act which banned "importation to the United States of products which are manufactured or mined in whole or in part by children" would have resulted in the loss of lucrative American contracts.
These risk factors result in adverse health outcomes of the workers such as musculoskeletal complaints of neck, back, hands, shoulders and lower limbs.
[75] A case study conducted by Habib M. among sewing machines operators in Bangladesh, found that the high risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders was related to working in a sitting position bending the neck more than 30° for more than 6 to 7 hours.
[76] Additionally, sitting in a forward flexed posture causes the lumbar spine to flatten that leads to an imbalanced disc pressure and a static contraction of the extensor muscles of the back.
Sarder and colleagues found that seats in garment factories were devoid of a backrest, which would allow intermittent short breaks for resting the upper body from bending.
[83] Studies have postulated that hypersensitivity effects may be due to alterations in neutrophil function and sensitization, contributing to chronic inflammatory diseases of the skin and respiratory tract.
[85] It may take time to get these factories to comply with the Permissible Exposure Limit for silica but at least some measures are being implicated, or suggested, to have a positive health impact for the sandblasting workers.
[90] In Bangladesh, occupations which have the greatest exposure to noisy work environments are automobile drivers, traffic police, shopkeepers, road-side hawkers, and garment workers.
[91] As of 2000, garment entrepreneurs had a reputation for bribery, shirking custom duties, evading corporate taxes, making inadequate long-term investments in the industry, and avoiding social projects such as education, healthcare, and disaster relief that would benefit their workers and the communities in which they operate.
Major foreign buyers looking for outsourcing demand compliance-related norms and standards regarding a safe and healthy work environment which includes fire-fighting equipment, evacuation protocols and mechanisms and appropriate installation of machines in the whole supply-chain.
[94] In an effort to eliminate underlying problems and avoid further deadly tragedies in the RMG factories in 2010 Clean Clothes Campaign CCC, the International Labour Rights Forum (ILRF), the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC), and the Maquila Solidarity Network (MSN) contacted many of the RMG international buyers and offered a set of recommendations regarding measures that should be taken.
[95] In 2012 the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association announced plans to expel 850 factories from its membership due to noncompliance with safety and labor standards.
[96] Five deadly incidents from November 2012 through May 2013 brought worker safety and labor violations in Bangladesh to world attention putting pressure on big global clothing brands such as Primark, Loblaw, Joe Fresh, Gap, Walmart, Nike, Tchibo, Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, and retailers to respond by using their economic weight to enact change.
[102] According to The New York Times, Walmart played a significant role in blocking reforms to have retailers pay more for apparel in order to help Bangladesh factories improve safety standards.
The fundamental objective of BGMEA is to establish a healthy business environment for a close and mutually beneficial relationship between manufacturers, exporters and importers, thereby ensuring steady growth in the foreign exchange earnings of the country.
[107] On 9 May 2013 eight people were killed when a fire broke out at a textile factory in an eleven-story building in the Mirpur industrial district owned by Tung Hai Group, a large garment exporter.
The president of the politically powerful textile industry lobby group, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), told Reuters that "the Bangladeshi managing director of the company and a senior police officer were among the dead.
"[113] In addition, an "Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety - an association of 26 American companies including CAP and Wal-Mart" seeks to address these issues from an entrepreneurial standpoint, without participation of trade unions.
"[114] In June 2013 President Barack Obama announced that U.S. trade privileges for Bangladesh, the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), were suspended following the deadly 24 April 2013 collapse of Rana Plaza, considered to be the global garment industry's worst accident.
[107] In October 2013, the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) launched the "Improving Working Conditions in the Ready-Made Garment Sector" (RMGP) Program, a US$24.21 million, three-and-a-half-year initiative.
[124] The consulting firm affirms Bangladesh's textile sector will need to innovate, upgrade, and diversify, investing in flexibility, worker welfare, infrastructure and sustainability.
[127] Like other emerging and developing Asian countries, Bangladesh has a fast transition rate compared to other regions but still needs to improve, and it will require strong investments in infrastructure and renewable energy.
Welfare of garment workers is compromised by "long working hours, insufficient sanitation and medical facilities, dust and heat, as well as abuse and discrimination.
