Muhammad Yunus<\/a>, took over.<\/p>\n\n\n\nScores of factories closed and tens of thousands lost their jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But after a five per cent wage hike was agreed in September, the industry rebounded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The apparel industry accounts for about 80pc of Bangladesh\u2019s exports, earning $36 billion last year a vast Bangladeshi factory hall thrumming with sewing machines, garment workers churn out seemingly endless pairs of mountain hiking trousers for customers in Europe and North America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bangladesh\u2019s key clothing manufacturing industry supplying global brands was crippled by a revolution that toppled the government last year, in which garment sector protesters played an important role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While owners say business has bounced back, frustrated workers say hard-won concessions have done little to change their circumstances, and life remains as hard as ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is the same kind of exploitation,\u201d said garment worker Khatun, 24, asking that only her first name be used as speaking out would jeopardise her job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Production in the world\u2019s second-largest garment manufacturer was repeatedly stalled by the months-long violence before protesters forced long-time autocrat Sheikh Hasina to flee in August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An interim government, led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, took over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Scores of factories closed and tens of thousands lost their jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But after a five pc wage hike was agreed in September, the industry rebounded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The apparel industry accounts for about 80 per cent of Bangladesh\u2019s exports, earning $36 billion last year. \u2014 AFP<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are doing well,\u201d said garment producer factory owner S.M. Khaled, who heads the Snowtex company, employing 22,000 workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The South Asian nation produces garments for global brands \u2014 ranging from France\u2019s Carrefour, Canada\u2019s Tire, Japan\u2019s Uniqlo, Ireland\u2019s Primark, Sweden\u2019s H&M and Spain\u2019s Zara.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The apparel industry accounts for about 80 per cent of Bangladesh\u2019s exports, earning $36 billion last year, dropping little despite the unrest from the $38 billion exported the previous year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am working with at least 15 international brands, and our products will be available in 50 countries,\u201d Khaled said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAlmost all garment factories are operating at full swing after waves of unrest. We are on the growth side.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite challenges with a cooling of demand, Anwar Hossain, the government-appointed administrator of BGMEA, said the industry was returning to strength.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe largest contributor to exports was the apparel sector,\u201d Hossain said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The garment industry recorded a 13 per cent increase from July-December 2024 \u2014 the period after the revolution \u2014 compared to the same period the year before, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Workers tell a different story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Khatun welcomed the wage rise but said factory managers then hiked already onerous demands for \u201cnearly unachievable production targets\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Scraping by in the capital Dhaka\u2019s gritty industrial suburb of Ashulia, she earns $140 a month including overtime and benefits to support a family of four.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The wage increase of $8.25 a month seems a miserly addition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Opening her fist, she showed a 500-taka note, just over four dollars, all she had left after paying rent and other expenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have good facilities inside the factory, like toilets, a canteen, and water fountains,\u201d she said. \u201cBut we don\u2019t get even a 10-minute break while trying to meet the targets\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many factory owners were close to the former ruling party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the immediate days after Hasina was toppled, several factories were damaged in retaliatory attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some owners were arrested and accused of supporting Hasina, who is herself in exile in India skipping an arrest warrant for \u201cmassacres, killings, and crimes against humanity\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe weren\u2019t receiving salaries on time after the owner was arrested,\u201d said worker Rana, also asking not to be identified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNow, they\u2019ve offered me half my basic wage, around $60 to $70. I have a six-month-old child, a wife, and elderly parents to support\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hussain, who lost his job in the unrest, tells a common tale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While he has since found work packing clothes, the new job means he \u201cdoesn\u2019t benefit from the increment\u201d deal, while living costs have risen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHouse rents have shot up with the news of the pay rise,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taslima Akhter, from the Bangladesh Garment Workers\u2019 Solidarity (BGWS) group, a labour rights organisation, said that \u201cworkers are struggling to maintain a minimum standard of living\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Akhter said factory bosses must push back against global purchasers wanting to maximise profits at the expense of a living wage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGarment (factory) owners need to take more responsibility and learn to negotiate better with international buyers,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis industry is not new, and problems are not impossible to solve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the industry\u2019s apparent fiscal success, Abdullah Hil Raquib, a former BGMEA director, warned it was on fragile ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe stability in the garment sector we see now is only on the surface,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are doing well,\u201d said garment producer factory owner S.M. Khaled, who heads the Snowtex company, employing 22,000 workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The South Asian nation produces garments for global brands \u2014 ranging from France\u2019s Carrefour, Canada\u2019s Tire, Japan\u2019s Uniqlo, Ireland\u2019s Primark, Sweden\u2019s H&M and Spain\u2019s Zara.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The apparel industry accounts for about 80 per cent of Bangladesh\u2019s exports, earning $36 billion last year, dropping little despite the unrest from the $38 billion exported the previous year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am working with at least 15 international brands, and our products will be available in 50 countries,\u201d Khaled said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAlmost all garment factories are operating at full swing after waves of unrest. We are on the growth side.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite challenges with a cooling of demand, Anwar Hossain, the government-appointed administrator of BGMEA, said the industry was returning to strength.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe largest contributor to exports was the apparel sector,\u201d Hossain said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The garment industry recorded a 13pc increase from July-December 2024 \u2014 the period after the revolution \u2014 compared to the same period the year before, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Workers tell a different story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Khatun welcomed the wage rise but said factory managers then hiked already onerous demands for \u201cnearly unachievable production targets\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Scraping by in the capital Dhaka\u2019s gritty industrial suburb of Ashulia, she earns $140 a month including overtime and benefits to support a family of four.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The wage increase of $8.25 a month seems a miserly addition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Opening her fist, she showed a 500-taka note, just over four dollars, all she had left after paying rent and other expenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have good facilities inside the factory, like toilets, a canteen, and water fountains,\u201d she said. \u201cBut we don\u2019t get even a 10-minute break while trying to meet the targets\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many factory owners were close to the former ruling party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the immediate days after Hasina was toppled, several factories were damaged in retaliatory attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some owners were arrested and accused of supporting Hasina, who is herself in exile in India skipping an arrest warrant for \u201cmassacres, killings, and crimes against humanity\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe weren\u2019t receiving salaries on time after the owner was arrested,\u201d said worker Rana, also asking not to be identified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNow, they\u2019ve offered me half my basic wage, around $60 to $70. I have a six-month-old child, a wife, and elderly parents to support\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hussain, who lost his job in the unrest, tells a common tale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While he has since found work packing clothes, the new job means he \u201cdoesn\u2019t benefit from the increment\u201d deal, while living costs have risen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHouse rents have shot up with the news of the pay rise,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taslima Akhter, from the Bangladesh Garment Workers\u2019 Solidarity (BGWS) group, a labour rights organisation, said that \u201cworkers are struggling to maintain a minimum standard of living\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Akhter said factory bosses must push back against global purchasers wanting to maximise profits at the expense of a living wage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGarment (factory) owners need to take more responsibility and learn to negotiate better with international buyers,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis industry is not new, and problems are not impossible to solve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the industry\u2019s apparent fiscal success, Abdullah Hil Raquib, a former BGMEA director, warned it was on fragile ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe stability in the garment sector we see now is only on the surface,\u201d he said.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In a vast Bangladeshi factory hall thrumming with sewing machines, garment workers churn out seemingly endless pairs of mountain hiking trousers for customers in Europe and North America. Bangladesh\u2019s key clothing manufacturing industry supplying global brands was crippled by a revolution that toppled the government last year, in which garment sector protesters played an important […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":9501,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,396,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia","category-latest","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9500"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9500\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}