Bangladeshi workers caught between low wages, galloping inflation, union repression

Inflation is hitting Bangladesh hard. Prices have been rising by about 10% per month for a year, in a country where half of the population was already living on less than a dollar per day. Trade unions are demanding food aid for garment workers, while NGOs have denounced repressive measures against unions, and have been calling for a new minimum wage increase.

In June, various garment workers’ unions staged a press conference in the country’s capital, Dhaka, asking the government to help workers, whose salaries no longer allow them to buy everyday essentials. Last year, the Prime Minister said it would consider such measures, but they have been rejected by parliament this summer.

The situation is a cause of concern for the IndustriALL union, which has called for the mandatory application of the new minimum wage, which was negotiated last year amidst painful, even bloody strife. After massive demonstrations, repeated negotiations led to the new monthly salary to be set at BDT12,000 ($105), up from the previous BDT8,000 ($67).

A salary that was deemed inadequate at the end of 2023 by the unions, which emphasised how the wage increase wasn’t enough to compensate for the inflation’s impact in previous years.  Manufacturers instead said that the wage increase risked undermining the competitiveness of Bangladesh’s textile industry, which accounts for 85% of the country’s exports, but whose export revenue severely shrank last year.

Bangladeshi garment workers’ wage demands are also inextricably linked to the country’s other problems. After being hit by a devastating cyclone in May, Bangladesh was recently struck again by severe bad weather, causing extensive flooding. In July, students staged huge demonstrations in Bangladesh, protesting against the 30% quota of public jobs reserved to the children of veterans of the 1971 independence war. A policy which, for a section of the population, merely favours the current government’s supporters. 

Rolling back union rights

In 2023, Bangladesh commemorated the 10th anniversary of the tragedy caused by the collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory. International pressure following the disaster forced the country to adopt a spate of measures to improve working conditions and worker safety. Chiefly to satisfy Western brands and their consumers.

In recent months however, NGOs have warned that the country has back-pedalled, especially in terms of union rights. IndustriALL said that some 43 penal proceedings have been initiated against 20,000 people, and that more than 100 workers have been jailed following minimum wage demonstrations.

“Many have lost their jobs and have been blacklisted by their employers, so they will struggle to find another job,” said the union, adding that “trade unions, our affiliated organisations among them, are demanding for worker harassment to cease immediately, for all criminal charges to be dropped, and for the workers to be suitably indemnified, as well as the families of those who have been killed by the police.”

Charges as negotiating tool

Amnesty International has denounced “arbitrary trials of garment workers,” drawing the attention to 35 criminal proceedings originating from complaints by companies that produce for major international brands. According to a preliminary report, charges could be brought against up to 44,450 workers, with some producers using the charges as a negotiating tool.

“Interviewed by Amnesty International, many local union officials have stated that failure to reveal the names of thousands of workers demonstrating against the criminal charges is being widely used as a threat and potential justification for dismissals, and to further intimidate factory workers,” said Amnesty. “The same tactic is also being used to reject any potential workers’ claim for damages and compensation following the demonstrations. This has acted as a deterrent for union officials and organisations defending workers’ rights, which have been silenced through fear of arrest, detention and imprisonment,” added Amnesty.

Bangladesh is the second-largest apparel supplier to the European Union, and the third to the USA. In 2023, the country’s exports to these two regions fell by a quarter. The drop was seen as a normalisation, after exports increased significantly in 2022, but is also a cause for concern for a country in which 40% of industrial jobs are in the textile sector.