Textile industry in Bangladesh
The textile industry in Bangladesh is a very important economic factor there. The share in the gross domestic product is more than 10 percent. 80 percent of the country's exports are generated in this industry. The textile industry in Bangladesh is repeatedly criticized for its poor working and production conditions, but at the same time it has contributed to a reduction in poverty and the associated increase in life expectancy and a reduction in child mortality. For the textile industry is Bangladesh , the Ministry of Textiles and Jute responsible.
Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh is one of the low-wage countries that can no longer feed its population through its agricultural production alone. The population therefore depends on industrial jobs in order to survive.
Despite the often poor conditions in the garment industry, many workers often prefer it to employment in agriculture, as there are even worse jobs in agriculture. Around 3.5 million textile workers are employed in Bangladesh, 80 percent of whom are women. Up to 20 million people, around one eighth of the population, are directly or indirectly dependent on the textile industry.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus advocates the thesis that work in this industry, while hard and underpaid, is also a "fantastic" contribution to the liberation of women, because it gives them the chance to rise from absolute poverty. In fact, in the years since the rise of the textile industry, the country has seen a great deal of positive development. The millennium goal of halving poverty was achieved in 2013. Life expectancy has increased, child mortality has fallen and the number of children attending school has risen sharply. Yunus spoke out against a boycott of clothing from Bangladesh, as this endangers jobs and thus the social advancement of seamstresses. However, Yunus also complained of inhuman working conditions, such as the one that appeared when the "Rana Plaza" factory building collapsed.
The textile industry in Bangladesh began to boom in the early 2000s. After China, Bangladesh is the second largest textile producer in the world. The European Union is the largest trading partner. Bangladesh annually exports clothing worth around 15 billion euros to western chains. According to media reports, there are around 5,000 textile factories in the country.
Companies in the fashion industry have increasingly relocated their production to Bangladesh in recent years. The country is the third largest exporter of clothing to Europe. Around 9% of all textile imports to Europe (EU 15) come from Bangladesh. There is a trend towards further expansion, as suggested by a study by McKinsey in which, among other things, leading purchasing managers in Europe and the USA were surveyed.
Criticism and demands on the textile industry
The textile industry is often criticized for committing human rights violations , which are commonplace, especially at suppliers to textile manufacturers. Higher safety standards, especially with regard to fire protection , and minimum working conditions are required.
The workers themselves also demonstrate for their rights. After the Sabhar disaster, hundreds of thousands of people have come together to fight for stricter safety standards and better working conditions.
According to Achim Berg , the problems of the textile industry lie in the infrastructure, the social conditions and the inadequate working standards as well as the shortage of skilled workers and the efficiency of the suppliers.
Accidents and deaths
There are repeated reports of accidents and deaths in connection with the textile industry.
In 2009, an 18-year-old seamstress who worked 13 to 15 hours a day, seven days a week in a Chittagong garment factory, died of exhaustion. The factory mainly produced for the Metro company. The group then ended its collaboration with the factory.
At least 117 people were killed and more than 200 injured in a fire in the Tazreen clothing factory in November 2012 .
More than 50 people were injured in a fire in a textile factory in the port city of Chittagong .
Accident in Sabhar 2013
The factory accident in Sabhar , near the capital Dhaka, killed over 1,100 people. A building with five textile factories and 3,000 workers collapsed. The accident is the worst of its kind in the history of the textile industry in Bangladesh. Finds show that textile retailers such as KiK , Primark , Mango and Benetton had their products manufactured there.
As a result of the accident, 18 endangered factories were closed in Bangladesh.
More accidents and deaths
At the beginning of October 2013 a fire broke out in a textile factory on the outskirts of the capital Dhaka, which was caused by a defective sewing machine. About 7 people were killed in the fire. Apparently the defective sewing machine had caught fire several times. So far, however, the fire has always been extinguished by the workers themselves.
At the beginning of May 2013, eight people were killed in another accident in a textile factory.
Trade unions, organizations and corporate engagement
In Bangladesh there is the National Garments Workers Federation , which works for better conditions. The campaign for clean clothing pursues the same goals, as does the Fair Wear Foundation .
Clothing produced in Bangladesh under fair conditions is now also available, which can be recognized by various textile seals , such as the GOTS seal, the IVN seal or the seal of the Fair Wear Foundation.
Companies that say they produce fairly in Bangladesh are, for example, People Tree, Jack Wolfskin , Schöffel, Vaude or Hess Natur .
Even at companies that are not allowed to adorn themselves with one of the seals mentioned, there are in some cases efforts to improve working conditions. According to the weekly newspaper Die Zeit , Ernsting's family and Peek & Cloppenburg "have production in Bangladesh in a decent way and at least pay extra bonuses in addition to the meager minimum wages".
Reactions and actions
A minimum wage was first passed in Bangladesh in 1994.
After violent protests, a commission made up of representatives from the government, employers and trade unions decided in 2010 to increase the minimum wage from 1,700 taka (around 19 euros) per month to 3,000 taka (around 34 euros).
As a result of the events in spring 2013, the cabinet in Dhaka decided that in future it will be possible for employees in the textile industry to form unions without the permission of the employer. By Textile Minister Abdul Latif Siddiqui , a further increase of the minimum wage was announced. In Bangladesh, the inflation rate is around 8 percent. The Bangladeshi authorities began enforcing safety standards in 950 factories identified by a commission of inquiry as potentially dangerous. H&M and Inditex announced their help to improve fire safety and other safety conditions in factories where they manufacture. The International Labor Organization (ILO), trade unions such as IndustriALL and others negotiated a five-year agreement that includes strengthening workers' rights, greater building security , greater fire protection, better training and financial support. Hundreds of textile factories are to remain closed from May 14, 2013 until further notice.
Uwe Kekeritz , Member of the Green Party , filed a complaint against the textile companies KiK , C&A and Karl Rieker at the national contact point of the OECD in Berlin on May 13th . Kekeritz cooperated with medico international and the Berlin human rights organization ECCHR for the complaint . He holds the German companies jointly responsible for the death of the seamstresses.
Web links
- "Even bargains have their price" Interview with DGB chairman Michael Sommer in ipg-journal, April 2014
- " Enforcing laws" Interview with the trade union activist Nazma Akter in D + C / E + Z, February 2015
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b [1]
- ↑ Time. June 12, 2014. Bangladesh: Sewing for the Liberation of Women, Author: Matthias Nass
- ↑ a b http://www.tagesspiegel.de/weltspiegel/textilindustrie-in-bangladesch-wie-westliche-firmen-mit-dem-fabrikunglueck-von-savar-umiegen/8160416.html
- ↑ [2]
- ↑ Time. June 12, 2014. Bangladesh: Sewing for the Liberation of Women, Author: Matthias Naß
- ↑ a b c d [3]
- ↑ [4]
- ↑ As of mid-2013, see Christoph Hein: Im Würgegriff der Textilindustrie, in: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, May 2, 2013, page 11 online , accessed on February 16, 2018.
- ↑ a b Archived copy ( memento of the original from March 26, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b [5]
- ↑ dpa: Collapsed textile factory: Violent protests after house collapses in Bangladesh. In: Zeit Online. April 26, 2013, accessed May 10, 2013 .
- ↑ Dead seamstress in Bangladesh: Metro ends cooperation with supplier. In: Spiegel Online . May 13, 2009, accessed June 9, 2018 .
- ↑ [6]
- ^ Deaths in fire in a textile factory in Bangladesh , Zeit Online , article from October 9, 2013
- ↑ [7]
- ↑ http://www.global-standard.org/.de ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ The time of July 29, 2010. Fashion is rarely fair.
- ↑ [8]
- ↑ Deutschlandfunk. News on May 13, 2013, 2:30 p.m.
- ↑ a b [9]
- ↑ spiegel.de May 12, 2013: Fire in textile factory: Grüner complains to OECD about Kik and C&A
- ↑ www.medico.de Press release May 13, 2013