A report on

Garments Worker
Submitted to:
HOSSAIN, JINAT

Course Instructor: Economic Geography Faculty of Business, BBA Program, AIUB

Sec: F

Prepared By:

Name: Ahmed Md Shabbir Hassan Sayed Sakiful

ID Number: 09-13925-2 11-18437-1

AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY BANGLADESH.

Date of Submission: 28Th February,2012 Garments Worker

INTRODUCTION: Background:
The growth of the garment sector has provided an unprecedented wage-employment opportunity for women, since their labor is comparatively cheaper and garment manufacturing coincides with women's traditional image of being "clothing people". Women constitute more than 80 per cent of the total workforce employed in the garment sector.' Globalization in the garment sector has had both positive and negative impacts on workers' lives.'- But female garment workers appear to have undergone the greatest socio-economic changes. Positive socio-economic transformation brought about by wage employment in the garment industry, however, has not realized its full potential due to negative factors such as low wages, irregular wage payments, and job insecurity. Another study shows that female garment industry workers in Bangladesh suffer from various workrelated illnesses 3 , and that overwork and substandard working conditions resulting, from widespread violation of labor laws are responsible for this situation. In the absence of any strong workers' organization, garment workers, particularly the female garment workers cannot raise a collective voice against such violations of their labor rights. In recognition of the deeply entrenched and systematic discrimination against women in employment, and the particular demands of their reproductive role, the ILO has approved special instruments to respond to women's special needs. The most comprehensive and wide-ranging of the ILO's Conventions relating to women is Convention No. 111, Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) (1958). But without collective bargaining power women workers cannot achieve any of the labor rights provided by these Conventions and thus, cannot exploit fully the potentially positive impact of globalization.

1.2. Objective of the study:

This report has two objectives.

The Primary Objective: To partially fulfill the requirement of Research Methodology course curriculum for BBA. The Secondary Objective: o A major livelihood problem shift in the lives of garment sector women workers. o Relationships and decisions of daily life among women garment workers. o Social implications of relational adjustments in the new and shifting livelihood. 1.3 Field Research Methodology and Data: This work is based upon interviews with garment workers in two phases. In Phase One, a qualitative baseline study on livelihood changes was conducted among 46 women workers. In this research phase we followed sampling technique that drew upon workers in two different garment factories. Some interviews and observations were carried out in the workplace, including research among management, workers in a location most accessible and comfortable for the workersa meeting room or some other location in which they were relatively comfortable. For this phase of the research we utilized a set of structured interviews and checklists. In Phase Two of the study the focus was on "in-depth" and "insightful" investigation of the themes covered in the baseline study, as well as analysis of comparative changes that took place during the interval between the first phase and second phase study. The broad3

based results of the Phase One study are thus complemented, scrutinized and re-examined in the Phase Two study through in-depth interviews, observations, group discussions, and case studies. In this second phase, in-depth research was conducted through regular and interpersonal intimate communication.

1.4 Review of literature: Analysis of the Phase One interview data confirmed what has been documented widely in the literature: extremely low wages, little if any job security, irregular but often long hours of work without breaks, high job turnover, poor and unsanitary working conditions, serious health problems without access to health care, dangers in travel to and from work, poor living conditions, and sexual abuse. In addition, the Phase One research produced new insights, including competition for jobs by more highly educated rural immigrants, growing dependence on intermittent activities for income Supplementation, human trafficking in labor recruitment, the development of an informal sector in garment worker neighborhoods, and the rise of influential beliefs in the powers of spiritual and herbal healers some of whom touch their clients in sexually abusive ways. These preliminary observations confirmed that employment in the garment export industry is accompanied by radical changes in social relations within families, generational and gender conflict, disease epidemics, and widespread emotional distress. At the same time, many of the young women garment workers expressed that they experience a newfound independence in their break away from their traditional household roles under patriarchy. The newfound freedom of personal earnings and city life may be stimulus to independent thinking and empowering new social relations. The broad-based results of the Phase One study are thus complemented, scrutinized and re-examined in the Phase Two study through in-depth interviews, observations, group discussions, and case studies. 1.5 Limitations: The major limitation of this research is the management did not like to give much time to Take interview of their workers. Because of the usual huge commitments, Garments officials were very busy. Therefore, taking interviews with the workers and collection of other information regarding employees were very difficult. For better understanding of garments worker policy, certain information regarding the promotion policy, career program etc were required. But those information's are treated as organization secret by the organization. So that information could not be collected.

However, after strong persuasion some relevant information could be collected. Besides, maximum information used in this report is collected from Mr. Md Tariqul Alam, Asst. General Manager monitoring and evaluation division which are also very brief and lacked depth in contents.

02. The Way of Life:

2.1 Profile of Interviewed Garment Workers. 2.2 Garment Worker Age and Gender: Women made up 97 percent of the Phase One study population. Of 46 garment workers surveyed, 34 workers fall in the age group 16-20. It means that 72 percent of total workers of both sexes fall in the age group 16-20. Figure 1.1 graphically illustrates the preponderance of workers in a narrow age range in the garment factories. When asked about the reasons behind this unique age distribution on factory floors, workers expressed their opinion that the factory management prefers "tender women", for they are considered more industrious and productive than workers in other age groups. The factory management commonly believes that young women can work longer shifts, can risk working in the night, will remain committed, are ambitious to change their lot by learning, and are patient and easily controllable. These criteria are management constructions to rationalize current hiring practices; we will see below that the criteria are adjusted to conform to changing social conditions and altered perceptions of management. There is only 1 worker in age group 14-15. This is because the factory owners tend not to recruit child workers in fear of cancellation of contract orders by the buyers and imposition of newer restrictions and sanctions by the European Union and United States nations in charge of violation of the UNICEF- mediated declaration on elimination of child labor in 1997. Only a small portion of workers falls in age group 26-30.of 2 usually, the management does not appoint new workers older than age 25. There is a two-fold reason for a lower presence of older women: first, women workers at this stage tend

40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Number of Informants 14-15 16-20 21-25 26-30

34 Age level

Figure 1.1 Age distribution of 46 garment worker. To devote themselves more too family matters and to rearing or education of offspring, and second, most of them face termination on various fabricated charges. Two managers who have a few women workers in their factories over age 25 expressed disappointment with these workers. They complained that although these workers are more experienced and skilled than the newcomers, they often become sick and are left with friends on factory floors, and they enter into complicated family and marital problems. It was said that they often remain absent from factory work with excuses of child bearing and childcare. A management staff pointed out that as familial responsibilities increase over years, many senior workers resign under disapproval of their in-laws. "In-laws rarely approve women's compromise of must-do obligations for supplementary pursuits", he added. Four managerial people expressed their reluctance to recruit women in this age group. According to them, workers in this age group are less patient; they suffer from superiority complexes, they tend to bother others and blame juniors for their incapacity to work, and are said to become irrationally argumentative and disobedient to the factory management. They are said to often remain absent from work, to suffer from diseases, and to claim high salary. The respondents in the age group 26-30 did not accept this viewpoint. They mentioned that added household responsibilities affect their capacity to work in factories, but that management's unwillingness to hire them is more the reason for their lesser presence in factories. They do not admit that they work less or that productivity declines at their age.

2.3 Marital Status of Workers: Of 46 garment workers surveyed in the first phase of research, 21 women are ever married; 25 women are single. Formerly married women who are separated, divorced, or widowed; these categories together are referred to as "ever married". However, these classifications reflect informant self-identification. To respect confidentiality and privacy,

we chose to limit our probe and to accept the "married" self-classification, even though it was apparent from discussion that some relationships resembled "consensual unions". Table 1.1 Married women garment workers marital status Marital Status Single Ever married Married Separated Divorced Widowed
60.00%

No of Workers 25 10 5 6 2

% 54.35 21.74 6.52 13.04 4.35 100.0

Total 46 50.00% Married women garment workers marital status

40.00% 30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00% No. of workers % 1 2 3 6.52% 4 13.04% 5 4.35%

54.35% 21.74%

Married women garment workers marital s tatus

No. of workers No. of workers % Marital Status

10 54.35%

25 21.74%

5 6.52%

6 13.04%

2 4.35%

Single

Married Separated Divorce Widowed

Figure 1.2 Married women garment workers marital status "Marriage" among these men and women because, while there was hesitance to divulge details about "self', there was little reluctance to identify the marital status of "others". Our in-depth interviews and group discussions provided a more detailed sense of "marriage as process" in these circumstances. 2.4 Education Levels and Worker Skills: Lack of education among women workers is the most visible factor behind lower status and low wage in job. Both factory mangers and workers believe that education increases workers' consciousness, selection of jobs, skill, efficiency and confidence. Despite the fact that primary education is compulsory in Bangladesh, and female students (FS) get the advantage of free education up to Class VIII, only 30 percent of workers have primary education and only 18 percent have studied up to Class VIII. Also, the

Government of Bangladesh and the World Bank jointly provide monthly stipends to high school girls to encourage female education [GOB 1993, Directorate of Education, and Draft Proposal for World Bank's "Female Secondary School Assistance Project (FSSAP)"]. It was observed that the stipend has little or no impact on elevation of educational status of women garment workers. Of 38 workers with Class VIII level education, only two had received the stipend. 36 workers never received any such benefit; 29 of them were unaware of any such benefit;

Educational Status Illiterate unable to read or write Able to write name only Able to read and write letter FS: lower primary (up to Class III) Primary (Class V) Lower Secondary (up to Class VIII) Secondary (SSC) Higher secondary (HSC) BA (Pass) Total

No of Workers 3 2 8 8 13 8 2 1 1 46

% 5.7 4.3 17.0 17.0 29 17.0 5.0 3.0 2.0 100.0

Educational Status
35.00% Illiterate unable to read or write Able to write name only 30.00% Able to read and write letter FS: lower primary (up to Class III) 25.00% Primary (Class V) Lower Secondary (up to Class VIII) 20.00% Secondary (SSC) Higher secondary (HSC) 15.00% BA (Pass)

Total

10.00% 5.00% 0.00% 1

No of Workers 3 2 8 8 13 8 2 1 1 46

% 5.7 4.3 17.0 17.0 29 17.0 5.0 3.0 2.0 100.0

7 8

9 2%

N . of w rkers % o o

5.70 4.30 17% 17 29% 17 % % 5% 3 %

Figure 1.3 Educational status of 46 garment workers

No. of workers No. of workers % Educational Status

It is very difficult to record actual educational attainments of the garment workers 3 2 8 8 13 8 2 1 1 because they commonly offered other, sometimes spurious, information about formal education. 5.7% 4.3% 17% 17% 29% 17% 5% 3% more For garment workers, quality of education matters2% than years they had attended Ill it- Write Read Class Class could not BA school. Most Class VIII graduates SSC HSC read a newspaper or draft Bengali letters erate During our III V VIII properly. only& writeresearch period, workers who were SSC graduates always tended to write in English, and to supply their information in written form. Eight of them wrote "appointment letter number" instead of "worker identification number". However, none of them wrote the word "appointment letter" correctly. Through increased exposure to the media that enhances the imagination, the formal education of the better-educated workers makes them more susceptible to deception and fraud. Attracted to false commitments made by different persons, two workers who were SSC graduates changed jobs three times a year to obtain what were said to be better jobs. Upon provocation of two local mustangs (thugs), two of them left the factory twice for acting roles in Bengali films. One of them expressed the outcome saying, "He (the thug) has used me like his wife, and promised to wed me soon. I had always believed that he would give me a part (role) in cinema. However, he showed me nothing but a knife at last". The other girl was forcibly violated by several provocateurs. Most SSC graduates and Class VIII graduates proudly claim that they deserve better jobs, and that they hate their factory job because it does not pay due recognition to their educational attainment. They tend to accept a factory job as an amateur venture, not a place to involve themselves with commitment and sincerity. As a result, they contribute to the creation of a new form of alienation and division among the workers themselves. 2.5. Conditions of the Workplace 2.6. Worker Assessment of Workplace Facilities Garment worker perceptions about their job and workplace environment are captured in Table 7.5. It is readily apparent that no facilities are deemed sufficient by more than a very few workers interviewed, and that many facilities and conditions of the workplace are considered inadequate even if available. Outstanding among these are latrines, dining 9

space and/or common room, and workspace. Workspace is often characterized by the workers as very crowded, and many other studies have noted that this workspace crowding is associated with general tension, fear of entrapment, and fire hazard.

Table 1.3 Perception of workplace facility adequacy among 46 garment workers, rank-ordered by classification as "inadequate" and "unavailable", Workplace Facilities Childcare area Duty physician Common room Work space Breastfeeding area Change room Latrines Dining room Exhaust Emergency exit Window Ventilation Drinking water Level of Adequacy Sufficient Barely Adequate N % N % 0 0 1 2.10 0 0 2 4.35 0 0 2 4.35 0 0 8 17.39 0 0 5 10.87 0 1 0 1 5 7 10 38 1.9 0.5 0 0.5 10.87 15.22 21.74 82.61 4 2 10 48 25 25 6 7 8.69 4.35 21.74 22.6 54.35 54.35 13.04 15.22 Inadequate N 7 35 35 38 30 30 44 30 156 10 10 30 1 % 15.22 76.09 76.09 82.61 65.22 65.22 95.65 65.22 73.6 21.74 21.74 65.22 2.77 Unavailable N 38 9 9 0 11 12 0 6 7 6 4 0 0 % 82.61 19.56 19.56 0 23.91 26.09 0 13.04 3.3 13.04 8.69 0 0

2.7. Work Shift Length, Wages and Overtime According to the Factory Act 1965 (BAFLF 1999:57), no worker should be kept working more than 10 hours a day or 60 hours a week. More than 8 hours daily work is to be considered as overtime and paid twice the hourly remuneration. Extensive research suggests that these legal guidelines are not adhered to nor enforced. Our own study is no exception. We found that workers regularly work longer hours, and on occasion must work extended hours just to keep their jobs. Overtime commonly is not reimbursed at a 10

higher rate. And there is not in place a general practice of factory-centered occupational safety nets such as pensions, gratuity, bonus, welfare fund, medical or maternity benefits. The rate of overtime payment is not fixed in any garment factory. Our informants indicated that they are usually paid only half as much for overtime work as for "normal" hours, unless there are high profits from certain work-orders, or high demands to fill new work-orders. Only 8 percent informed us that overtime is paid at a rate equal to their regular hourly salary. Yet, 92 percent of workers we interviewed informed us that they earn 50 percent of their total income from overtime factory work. Employment agreements or understandings are so lax or uncertain that few workers find any security in the appointment. The owners usually do not provide any written document to workers as verification of their employment status. Only 23 percent of workers interviewed have received an appointment letter or other written verification. More than half (64%) of those receiving written confirmation of employment are "operators". The other workers never received any formal appointment letter. It was observed that many workers consider their factory work-record or worker identification number as appointment confirmation. Garment workers we interviewed expressed three types of insecurities: occupational, social, and residential. 46 workers of the study period informed us that some occupational insecurity lead to social insecurities for them. Thus, occupational and social insecurity of women are two intertwined realities among the workers. For instance, sudden closure of factories and dismissals compel workers to default on their living space rent, to turn to informal moneylenders who lend at high interest rates, and to withdraw children from daycare centers and schools. They become more vulnerable to sexual harassment and breakdown of conjugal relationships. Table 7.6 rank orders the frequency of responses of the workers about these insecurities in their lives. Dismissal, fire hazards and sudden closure of factories appear as major causes of tensions for women workers. Fire hazard and consequent stampede is a serious problem in garment factories. 467 workers have died in garment factory fires in the last decade. Around 3000 fire incidents of different kinds took place during this period (personal compilation from newspaper data). In 2000, the biggest fire stampede in .Chowdhury Garments of Narsingdi claimed the lives of 52 workers. On 17 March 2001, the BGMEA declared that it would pay the family of each worker who died in the fire Tk.100,000. The opinion of 48 interviewed workers was that this is too small an amount to compensate a family for loss of an earning member. Compensation packages declared after each accident often remain unrealized (The Daily Star, 20 Sep 2001). 2.8. Health Implications of Working Conditions Occupational health hazards are a companion of the garment workforce. A 1997-98 North-South Institute project titled Gender Impacts of Globalization: Women's Health in Bangladesh's Garment Sector notes that garment manufacturers claim increasing pressure from retailers that intensifies "their need for an inexpensive, flexible, labour force". Absence of effective governmental interventions means the industry characteristically involves long work hours, cramped quarters, poor ventilation, absence of appropriate toilet facilities and clean drinking water, fire hazard, poor wages, and lack of protection from harassment, assault and rape in travel to and from factories. In our research, attention was given to health implications of specific working conditions, workplace safety, wage levels and industry compliance with wage guidelines. We found

11

that every worker claimed to suffer from both short term and long term health problems. Even a worker with less than a month as a garment worker came to suffer from headache something she claimed had never bothered her before. Most women workers perceive seating arrangement and lack of adequate space for movement as their primary problem; this is followed by unavailability of pure drinking water. According to the Factory Act of 1965 and 1979, latrines and urinals must be provided in sufficient numbers, i.e., one latrine for every 25 workers, for both men and women workers. However, no workers in our study were informed of the availability of such facilities in their respective factories. Our study respondents drew attention to two types of health problems: short-term, temporary ailments, and long-term health problems. Temporary health problems, such as headache, fatigue and drowsiness, dizziness, allergic reactions, nausea, and depression, are attributed to the stifling conditions of most factories, conditions related to closed doors and windows, frequent electricity failure, high humidity, inadequate numbers of fans, dust carried in on sandals, airborne cotton thread particles, and fabric chemicals. Common long-term health problems include tuberculosis, asthma, repetitive intestinal tract infection, ulcers, and repetitive strain injuries (see Table 1.4). Table 1.4 Garment worker perceptions of principal reasons for occupational health problems Health Hazard Sources Seating arrangement congestion Unavailability of pure drinking water Inadequate number of latrines Suffocationclosed windows Factory and fabric dust Electricity failure Frequency 31 30 29 27 26 24 % of 46 67.39 65.52 63.04 58.69 56.52 52.17

Table 1.5 Rank-ordered health problems suffered by 46 garment Short term Health Problem Fatigue from boredom Headache Skin irritation Allergy Coughing Sneezing Number of Respondents 44 40 40 37 36 32 % of 46 95.65 86.96 86.96 80.43 78.26 69.56

workers,

12

Aggrieved feeling & depression Back strain Diarrhoea Eye soreness Hair loss Muscle spasms Night fever Nervous breakdown Long term Health Problem Asthma and lung diseases Ulcer Leuchorrea - yeast infection Rheumatic fever Low blood pressure Leucaemia

28 21 10 8 8 8 6 4

60.86 45.65 21.74 17.39 17.39 17.39 13.04 8.69

Number of Respondents 22 22 14 14 3 1

%of 46 47.83 47.83 30.43 30.43 6.52 2.17

Most workers classify illnesses or diseases as physical or psychological (mental). Physical illnesses basically are attributed to congestion and suffocation, or the lack of air, light and ventilation associated with locked windowpanes. Despite the fact that the stifling conditions lead to widespread complaint and distress, and affect productivity, factory managers say they keep the windows closed for two reasons: (1) To keep fabric color protected from sunlight, and (2) To prevent workers from stealing goods and instruments by tossing them out of open windows. Mental health problems that respondents associate with work in the garment industry include profound mistrust or paranoia, enmity, claustrophobia and other phobias, depression, and sudden short-lived irrational aggressive outbursts ("sudden insanity").Women garment workers have limited understanding of modern medical services and lack financial ability to access them. They still prefer and trust alternatives to modern medical treatment. In Table 1.6, the status of the physicians whom garment workers prefer to consult offers a picture of their access to health care options. Most workers consult homeopathic physicians. Table 1.6 Rank-ordered first preferences for type of medical practitioner for consultation by garment workers

13

Status of Physicians Homeopathic physicians Herbal healers, Kaviraj Religious healers / fakirs/ Sorcerers Dispensary-compounders, salesmen NGO clinics Hospital "outdoor" (outpatient clinics Total Frequency Frequency % of 46 Status of Physicians

Frequency 12 10 4 8 9 3

% of 46 26.08 21.75 8.70 17.39 19.56 6.52

46

100.00

30.00% 25.00% 20.00% 15.00% 10.00% 5.00% 0.00% 1 2 3 4 5 6

Frequency 26.08 21.75 8.70% 17.39 19.56 6.52%

12

10

8 8.70% Religious

3 17.39% Dispensary 19.56% NGO 6.52%

Hospital

26.08% 21.75% Homeopathic Herbal

Figure 1.4 Status of physicians of 46 garment workers. .They do so because homeopathic treatment (a) is relatively inexpensive, (b) is readily available, (c) uses medicines that can be purchased on credit, (d) is offered by physicians available in nearby areas, (e) is considered is free of side effects, and above all, (f)

14

homeopathic physicians listen sympathetically to the worker's problems and take time in treating them. 2.9. Housing and Living Conditions of Garment Workers In our research, the large majority of garment workers (79%) lived in slum dwellings (clusters of tiny shelters built by local power-brokers on illegally occupied large contiguous areas of state-owned khas lands) or in squatter settlements (isolated and disjointed smaller clusters of shelters formed on dikes and on both sides of railway lines through spontaneous individual initiatives of homeless people). Some of these dwellings are makeshift shelters constructed of materials like sheets of polythene, cardboard, or several layers of overlapping newspaper. This is the common type of shelter for most garment workers. They offer little security and little protection from rain. Others are thatched walls and roofs coated with cement or lime clay. Most living quarters are small single room houses in which the size of the single room does not exceed more than nine square feet. Garment workers live in these types of shelters and, because of the affordable rent in comparison to more solidly constructed slum quarters, they consider this small size adequate. Because they offer little protection from the rain, just prior to the rainy season many workers attempt to leave these quarters. The owners of these shelters (local thugs, political party activists, underworld bosses) are particularly on alert during these times, and during April and May the bosses tighten their grip and force the tenants for advance payments for the next three to four months. In group discussion sessions and extensive conversations in which there was considerable opinion exchange, workers expressed that most landlords were gracious to let them go away; in some cases they waived outstanding rent, but in other cases concession was made only in exchange for sexual favors. There also are brick-made rooms in many slum dwelling areas that resemble tombs from the outside because of the small vent holes for ventilation. Among workers interviewed, 5 workers live in this type of room. Each such room has an iron or tin door, offering a bit more security than the makeshift shelters, but rent is relatively high, ranging from 1200 to Tk.1800 per month. While these rooms might comfortably accommodate one or two people for sleeping, it is often the case that two to four workers share these rooms. There are three principal reasons for sharing: (1) to ease the burden of rent, (2) to provide a greater sense of security, and (3) to enhance collective strength in the face of numerous and regular occasions that threaten their sense of appropriate modesty. Most slum and squatter settlement dwellers lack sanitation facilities. Toilet and shower facilities are the most serious problem of these settlements. A toilet means a small booth built with rugs, sacks or coconut leaves over drains, canals, ditches or fallow low-lying muddy wastelands. These toilets present serious health problems to surrounding neighborhoods. Men and children simply often use surrounding open khas lands (public, government owned lands) as toilets. Women and girls must shower in minimum privacy with small amounts of water brought from outside. Women collect drinking water from taps illegally installed on Water and Sewerage Authority (WASH) pipes designated for water supply to city dwellers. They rarely boil water, so outbreaks of diarrhoea, cholera and water-borne diseases are not uncommon.

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Supply of water and electricity is available on the basis of capacity to pay extra money. Most makeshift shelter owners have access to electricity and water through illegal connections. Workers perceive that connections are provided either through "give and take" understanding between corrupt officials of city corporations and mahajans, or through the use of political power and threats of violence by mahajans. Workers themselves perceive that illegal electrical connection and use of hotplates might be a reason for frequent power failure in Dhaka City. Although a rather open "secret", use of electric hotplates for cooking is not talked about. Women garment workers generally prefer to pay extra money for electricity to watch TV, or to use small table fans for cooling and hotplates for cooking. Only a few shelter rooms were observed with black and white TVs. Few houses were observed without black and white TVs. Some of these TVs are connected to cable networks (via a satellite dish). For lack of time to watch television, some garment workers do not have their own TVs, but watch them at a neighbors place. Living accommodation for most garment workers has been so dismal and compromising that many workers prefer to remain inside the factory as long as they candespite an unhealthy factory environmentin order to get some comfort from fans, lights and protection from rain. Twenty-one workers stated that they would prefer to serve rich families as domestic servants during the rainy season, but these families tend to refuse recruitment of garment workers. The workers mentioned four specific reasons for the tendency of these families not to take them in as domestic workers: (1) Age is one factor. (2) Because garment workers are believed to attain a sense of empowerment and selfassertion through factory jobs, these families fear that the garment workers would not be committed to household duties and may not follow the orders of the household masters; (3) These families prefer to recruit domestic help for longer periods to attain better service; a single season is often required for domestic help to become familiar with everyday duties in these households; and (4) Hiring families also tend to suspect the seasonal job seekers as members of criminal rings like thieves, burglars, blackmailers, etc. These impressions of garment workers are borne out by middle class practice. Although the middle class households in Dhaka have begun to experience an acute shortage of domestic help, these households are not recruiting garment workers on grounds that the women lack reliable personal references, and that they might be thieves or part of crime rackets.

03. Social Status

3.1. Economic and Occupational Status, and Shifts in tendered Division of Labor: Generally, there are two types of factory positions for women workers: "helper" and "operator". A worker starts her job with the status of helper. Helpers do not perform any 16

fixed work standardized by shop-floor division of labor. They are posted at several workposts according to the kinds of work the respective factory performs at different times for different work-orders. Of 46 women workers, 82 percent were helpers in their respective factories. Figure 1.5, adapted from Choudhury and Paul-Majumder (1991), illustrates the gender division of labor in Bangladesh garment factories, and is borne out in our research. Other than sweater and jacket factories that recruit mainly male workers, this gender division of labor is followed in:

Production Manager (M) Sewing Section Finishing Section Floor in-Charge (M) Cutting Master (M) Cutter (M) Cutting Helper (M) Floor in-Charge (M/F) Supervisor (M/F) Operator (F) Sewing Helper (F) Supervisor (M) Ironer (M) Folder (F/M) Finishing Helper (M/F) Source: Choudhuri and Paul-Majumder. Figure 1.5 Sex segregation in Bangladesh garment factories (M = Male, F = Female) most garment factories. As Siddiqi (2000:13) notes, it exposes the irony of men viewed as professional tailors in Bangladesh while women are the preferred workforce in garment manufacturing for export. This division of labor is consistent with Esther Boserup's (1970) analysis in several Asian and African countries of differential legal treatment accorded men and women, provisions of working environments, and gender differentiated wages and workloads in industries and manufacturing units. Boserup (1970:22) showed that women work in

Cutting Section

17

labour-intensive low-level technology industries of low investment, and women hold relatively low-paid and low rank positions. Siddiqi draws attention to the gendered discursive practices in the RMG that essentially "domesticate" the sewing machine and "feminize" the production process. In 1987, the Bangladesh Wage Board declared Tk.50 as the minimum daily wage of garment workers, which means the factories are obliged to pay at least Tk.1500 monthly salary. Yet, no factories adhere to the rule. We found the average salary to be around Tk.1000 per month. All workers do overtime work to supplement their income. Income through overtime work is variable, depending upon a worker's capacity to manage time and energy and stability of job. Workers were asked about how they survive with this shortfall and what the strategies are to compensate for this shortfall. In formal interviews and in group discussion sessions every worker pointed out that their salary level has three implications for livelihood: (1) over-time work provokes serious health concerns; (2) they must buy food and daily necessities on credit and fall into a vicious cycle of poverty; and (3) they borrow money from informal moneylenders or others who make them indebted for life. They also stated that sometimes people try to take advantage of their indebtedness. Moneylenders are men, and these men try to take advantage of them either sexually or by other means such as assigning them housework or imposing high interest rates for money lent. Through mortgage (bandhaki) of their valuables, they also lose hard-earned home appliances that are needed each day, appliances they have sometimes acquired through factory-sponsored brand-name purchases (e.g., Singer electronic products). In the second phase of our study, all 50 respondents expressed their opinion that their destitution begins with money lending more than any other reason, even more than the hardship and low income from the factory jobs. Most workers live on their own income. A few of them (11%) are the principal household income suppliers. These principal breadwinners are made up of women who are divorced, widowed, or abandoned. Nearly 10 percent of the workers in our study are unable to live on their own income, and often depend on other members of their family who work and reside elsewhere in Dhaka (see Table 1.7).
Table 1.7 Household or family role of 46 garment workers Economic Role in HH/Family Self-dependent on own earnings Principal breadwinner Dependent on family earnings Other Total No. of Workers 35 5 4 2 46 % 76.09 10.87 8.69 4.35 100.0

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80.00% 70.00% 60.00% 50.00% 40.00% 30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00% No. of workers 1 76.09% 2 10.87% 3 8.69% 4 4.35%

No. of workers No. of workers %

Economic role in HH/Family

3.2. Domestic Group Arrangements 4 35 5

76.09% can see 10.87% characterization of garment worker living facilities, most workers 8.69% 4.35% As we from the Self-dependent. Principal Bread winner. or residentialon Family Income. Dependent stability. Transience is a characteristic of Other. experience little privacy, security,

their livelihood struggle. Many are "alone", yet in very close proximity with other people. Residence patterns are not easy to generalize, but Table 1.8 gives some idea of the social connections made by garment workers in their daily domestic arrangements., the data are combined for the total number of 46 women workers. Table: 1.8 Domestic arrangements of 46 garment workers interviewed Domestic arrangements Solo, live alone Live with parents Live with patrilateral joint family Live with other relatives No of Workers 27 15 3 1 % 58.59 32.61 6.53 2.17

Total

46

100.0

19

7 .0 % 0 0 6 .0 % 0 0 5 .0 % 0 0 4 .0 % 0 0 3 .0 % 0 0 2 .0 % 0 0 1 .0 % 0 0 0 0 .0 % N . o w r es o f ok r 1 5 .5 % 8 9 2 3 .6 % 2 1 3 6 3 .5 % 4 2 7 .1 %

No. of workers No. of workers %

Domestic arrangements

27 58.59% Alone

15 32.61% with parents

3 6.53% with patrilateral Joint family

1 2.17% with relatives

Figure 1.7 Domestic arrangements of 46 garment workers interviewed More than half of the workers (60%) live alone. Some workers live with their parents, who are also migrants to Dhaka. In all of these cases of workers living with parents, the parents migrated to Dhaka in connection with job opportunities for their daughters. Several of these workers live in joint family households with paternal uncles and their wives. A small number of workers live under the care of paternal uncles, with a brother and his family, or a sister and brother-in-law and their family. All of these arrangements are very changeable, due to limitations of living accommodations, but also because of domestic conflict in relation to entitlement understanding. Workers may suddenly move to other places without taking family members with them. Also, parents or other senior relatives may move for job reasons, and may leave their daughters or nieces to fend for themselves. 3.3. Gender Relations in the Lives of Garment Workers Entitlement Notions. 3.4. Entitlement Notions:

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Our research suggests that women employed in the ready-made garment industry are undergoing change in their sense of entitlement. There is a rising sensitivity to their historic subordination to male interests in the family and society, but also a fear of their vulnerability and insecurity. The data in show that in our baseline survey and in-depth study barely half or fewer continue to embrace many of the normative principles of their traditional system. Still, given the treatment they experience as wage labourers in the garment industry workplace and in domestic, it may appear interesting that such a high percentage continue to hold to many of these principles. The way women garment workers manage their income and spending indicates their household entitlement. Table 1.9 reflects that the majority of garment workers (mostly women in our study) feel that their garment sector Table - 1.9 Woman garments worker embrace of normative principles % Normative Principles Men are always superior Women get security mainly through men Men should always be kept satisfied Men have the right to women's income Women's principal duty lies in household Husbands should not be challenged F 21 18 16 15 13 17 45.65 39.13 34.78 32.61 28.26

36.96 Table 1.10 Women garment workers' sense of entitlement to own wage earnings and control over expenditures, (N = 46)

Husband/Father/Other: Forces wage earner to hand over salary Claims or interferes with wage earner's salary Asserts right to spend earner's income Claims benefits from wage earner's income Imposes decision on how to spend earner's income

Yes 16.0 46.2 36.3 61.3 26.4

No 84.0 53.8 63.7 38.7 73.6

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Jobs give women more control over their earnings; however, only about half or fewer suggest no one interferes or makes claim on their earnings. Nearly three-quarters see decision-making to be a joint effort or theirs alone, while 26 percent still consider decision-making to be dictates of men. Although women garment workers have better access to and control over their earnings. 3.5. Marriage as Security for Women: Many young women garment workers face the contradiction of expectation to marry young on the one hand and, on the other hand, strong impediments to doing so that emanate from their own families. Most are drawn to establishing relationships with men and to marry, and most form these attachments in Dhaka City. Given the strong conservative social customs of Bangladesh society, why do women garment workers become compromised in quick marriages? To most workers, marriage is conceived as a strategy to protect their honor and security. The main reason cited by many such women workers for marrying is their "craving for security". The ready-made garment industry offers little security at work, and even less outside of the factories, especially in transit to and from work in the late night.

4. Major Findings:
4.1. Empowerment of Women and Poverty alleviation: The employment opportunities created by the RMG industry have saved many families from starvation. The industry employs mostly women/girls. The girls/women working in this industry are individually better off economically; they

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support their parents and other family members. The RMG industry has substantially contributed to the alleviation of poverty of the group concerned. The members of these families can now buy better food, better clothing, better medial services, and enjoy better life.' Before such employment, these girls/women were below the internationally recognized poverty line. Now most of them are perhaps above that line. 5 Participation in gainful employment has empowered some 1.2 million working g irls/women economically. Since these working girls are now financially somewhat empowered, they support their families financially-, some of them even send their little brothers and sisters to schools. By spendin g their small income, they create demand for other products that creates multiplier effects on employment and income 4.2. Social and Cultural Transformation: In addition to its economic contribution, the expansion of the RMG industry has caused noticeable social and cultural changes. It has changed the traditional patriarchal hegemony of fathers, brothers and husbands. The economic empowerment has improved the status of women/girls in the family. They are no longer at the mercy of the male members. They now can participate in decision-making with their parents or male counterparts in the family; even they can make major decisions about their future life. Gaining power to make decisions or gaining some freedom of choice is the most significant achievement in the life of a woman in Bangladesh. Relatively free movement of these working girls/women has changed social attitude towards them. The society does no longer consider them as mere "women" who are born only to bear and rear children. Working in the factories at night is not a social stigma or major risk for young women any more. Purdah is no longer a social compulsion. They can go for shopping on their own without being accompanied by male guardians. One can find urban shopping centers crowded with women/girls. Even 15 years ago such scene was very rare in Bangladesh. This is a visible cultural transformation that may be attributed, at least partially, to the growth of RMG industry. However, along with such improvement in social dimensions, some negative impacts are reported. It is alleged that there are cases where relations between husband and wife, father and daughter, etc have been strained because working women/girls mix freely with men while working in the factories. Examples of increasing number of divorces are also cited. In some cases, it is alleged that children have gone astray because they did not get proper care of the mothers; this happens because mothers could not spend enough time with children. May be, there are some truth in these allegations. But most experts believe that the net effect is positive, and on the whole, the contribution of RMG industry is highly visible. 6 Many of these girls/women have achieved the status of supervisors and managers replacin g their male counterparts. A good number of them work as top executives. This has led to a salutary social transformation.

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4.3. Social Relations and Self-interest Contradictions of Labor: Labor commodification selling one's own labor in the marketplace offers an illusion of individual independence. In a context where the traditional social net is undermined and cannot be reproduced and becomes more oppressive than supportive, the attractions of wage tambour are juxtaposed with the oppression of tradition. Self-interest meets collective family interest, but under earning and living conditions typical of the ready-made garment industry that cannot satisfy both, these interests become confrontational. Garment workers experience relational conflict of four kinds: (1) worker-management, (2) worker-coworkers, (3) worker-family members, and (4) worker-neighborhood residents. Conflicts between workers and their family members illustrate irreconcilable differences introduced with labor commodification. Entitlement to household amenities often appears as a matter of conflict. The conflicts are often over use of items obtained by the working member. Workers living with other-family members tend to mark entitlement to belongings deemed personal because they were selected and purchased by the wage earner. As members of poverty-stricken households, brothers or sisters who do not earn want their working sisters to share their personal belongings with them. However, the earning workers are unwilling to share their belongings with others. We observed that 37 single workers dwell separately from their family members although family members stay nearby. In each of these cases the workers mentioned that they like to enjoy freedom in what to do and what not to do after returning from factory. Their family members did not respect their individual control over such items as towels, clothes, soaps and perfumes. Annoyed with such behavior, workers attempt to gain some independence by arranging to live separately from other family members.

05. Recommendation of the problems:

Introduction of an area-based ration-provision system could lessen the frequent relocation of workers and encourage residential and employment stability. Workers would like rationing cards to buy everyday needs such as rice, flour, lentils, sugar, salt and edible oil at subsidized prices from ration-stores.

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Approximately ten years ago a ration system was popular among low-income people government employees because it provided them some reasonable food security. Since the ration system was region-specific, beneficiaries in a region tended to stay in that area. Low-paid government employees who work in remote rural regions now enjoy this benefit as a kind of incentive. It is often thought that such incentives lower their tendency to move from one place to the other, because they lose entitlement to the ration-system if they leave the place they were identified with. From this example, several workers in a discussion session said that if they were assigned a ration card in the area where they lived, they would be less likely to relocate in order to retain their ration card entitlement. These workers suggested that factory owners or NGOs could lobby the government to set up ration stores for garment workers in factory zones. In addition, and particularly in the absence of more general occupational benefits for workers, our informants suggested that provision of festival allowances would recognize the benefits of subsidized time off the job and remove the threat of penalty for participation in societal events that are part of a thriving society. Our informants join those of many other studies to highlight the importance of a healthier and safer working environment, including such specific things as wide emergency exits, readily available emergency medical care and facilities, and some form of insurance in the event of injury. Friday (Islamic holy day) clinics should provide free but mandatory weekly health checks and vaccinations. Such services should be made available to all garment workers in the interest of improved living standards and control of the spread of disease. There continues to be an urgent need for medical facilities to serve garment workers. If constructed, this ten-story, 150-bed modern hospital will be the largest welfare project of BGMEA. We suggest that additional satellite clinics be set up in all factory zones to give all workers access to medical care for common ailments such as headache, fever, allergy, nausea, gastrointestinal disorders, and fatigue. We suggest that at least one specialized clinic be set up for specific treatment of reproductive, sexual and venereal diseases of workers.

A most critical need cited by the workers in our study is for provision of safe nighttime transportation from the factories to home. Safe travel is such a prominent need for women garment workers that it obviates the urgency for a special subsidized morning and nighttime bus service for women workers only. Recently, the semigovernment corporation, Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, launched a bus service for women, but only in zones where the routes are profitable. A subsidized bus service could operate under certain conditions:

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Only the factory gates will be considered as pick-up locations, and b) Identity cards would be used to identify garment workers from other women passengers. Subsidized low-cost housing targeted to garment workers should be considered seriously, and additionally should be accompanied by schools, day care centres, a women's co-operative and other nearby shops. BRAG received a government loan worth Tk.100 million to construct ten low-cost hostels for women garment workers in of Dhaka City (Daily Ajker Kagoj, 13 November 2007). The project is yet to implemented. Primary schools for children and young dependents of workers (e.g., brothers or sisters) are funded by the Government of Bangladesh, International Labor Organization (ILO), United Nations International Childress' Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and BGMEA.

06. Field Research Experiences:

At the beginning of the study, we started to meet, eat and chat with the garment workers on their ways to and from factories and in their residences to capture an overview of garment worker characteristics and experiences. We tried to be as informal, friendly and spontaneous as possible with them. Instead of writing on paper, upon their consent we recorded their responses on mobile phones in order to build uninterrupted communication with the informants. Being concerned with research ethics, we explained as vividly as possible to them the objectives of our mission. Yet, we discovered through several crossexaminations and listening to the recorded phones that the agreeing research participants concealed or misreported personal information their name, age, marital status, number of children, salary, present and permanent address, and migration history, i.e., all of the variables that typically make up the opening section of conventional standardized interview schedules. At a later stage we learned that the factories preferred unmarried and e decimally young tender girls. Such young tender girls also are most preferred as brides. Consequently, both employed informants and prospective brides tended to hide their actual age and marital status, and we thus came to appreciate some of the reasons for information distortion. The initial setback intrigued and inspired us to dig as deeply as possible into the question: why do the respondents welcome the researchers with friendly and co-operative gestures while deliberately hiding their identity from these researchers? In our pursuit to find the answer, we observed that women garment workers of Dhaka lived in extremely harsh realities of mistrust and suspicion of "outsiders". An informant asked: "Are you both spies of the factory malik (owner)"? Another informant asked with suspicion: "Do you earn money selling our stories to foreigners?" Two informants uttered their annoyance, saying that they had faced many such "well-dressed" men and women researchers before, and that they only had wasted their valuable time and disrupted their normal life-style in the name of "so called research". A worker cautiously requested us to confirm that her mother's suspicion that we were members of a racket of women-traffickers or pimps was

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incorrect. Four workers denied talking with the lone male researcher in fear of community rebuke and gossip, and out of shyness. All of these reasons tempted them to hide their identity by misreporting personal information their names, salary, addresses and migration history. The experience provided us with insight that gender stereotypes within the greater societal context of Bangladesh affects women's behaviour, even in the context of research.

07. Conclusion:
The garment sector in Bangladesh has, depended on a huge inflow of destitute and helpless women workers. The garment factories typically recruit young women aged between 15 years to 30 years and terminate older women workers on various fabricated charges. This type of factory-generated unemployment appears as a mounting problem of the sector. Commodification of labor moves women workers further from traditional social, contractual, mutual, and non-wage labor dynamics into a wage labor economy with a fundamentally different organizational base and different morality that emphasiss individuals over families and corporate groups. But this urban employment development has also offered income-generating opportunities to some who may otherwise be destitute, and women may gain some new recognition or individual control of their lives. Despite their plight, women garment workers in Bangladesh attain access to and control over decision-making regarding their own spending and livelihood, and "relative freedom of speech and of movement". These individualizing tendencies can challenge normative gender relationships and social organization among garment workers, often coming into direct conflict with patriarchy, religious sanctions and the traditional order, and undermining the established social safety-net. Lack of recognition of women's wageincome within a patriarchal social system also contributes to women workers assuming a double burdendomestic responsibilities and low-waged workplace duties in their new urban settings.

Garment sector buyers and the intermediaries often claim that the outsourcing helps poor countries to employ their growing reserve of part-timers, temporary workers, freelancers and many more people displaced from otherwise striving economic sectors. Advocates of such claims point to a phenomenal advancement in 'empowerment' of women through creation of huge job facilities for poor women workers who lack adequate skill and education to work in off-household jobs. Although public rationalizations draws attention to "inherent" qualities and skills of women and children (e.g., nimble fingers), evidence is

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strong that the industry favors the most vulnerable members of society for their apparent docility. Numerous studies reveal that, apart from the positive aspects of increased job opportunity for women, their subjection to newer forms of systematic exploitation is intensified through creation of labor-shortage in rural household-based production, increased job market competition between surplus laborers, decline in cost of labor misery, deteriorating health, lack of education, increased patriarchal domination, physical and social insecurity, sexual abuse and exploitation, and mounting violence throughout society Information regarding the history of migration to Dhaka City was gathered from all 46 women workers in our study. The study traced selected urban workers back to their rural origins to understand the dynamics of rural-urban linkages and was complemented by several visits to rural domestic groups related with selected urban workers. This aspect of the research examined the range of ties and networks of workers with their natal households and communities and culture and value systems of origin.

7. Appendix:
7.1 Bibliography: Absar, Syeda Sharmin. 2006a. Problems surrounding wages: the ready made garments sector in Bangladesh. Labour and Management in Development Journal 2(7):2-17. 2001b. Basic Needs of Women Garment Workers in Bangladesh: A Narrative-Based Study. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, The Australian National University. Canberra.Afsar, Rita. 2006. Sociological implications of female labour migration in Bangladesh,pp. 91-60 in Globalisation and Gender: Changing Patterns of Women's Employment in Bangladesh, Sobhan Rehman and Nasreen Khundker.

7.2: Questionnaire:

Questionnaire

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(A study on lifestyle of the Garments Workers in Bangladesh)

Name of the Garments Industry: B. Location: .. C. Duration: D. Products: E. Total Workers :
A.

1. Name of the respondent: 2. Address: 3. Age: 4. Marital Status: below 15 25-30 Married Separated 15-19 Above Unmarried others Divorced 20-24

5. Religion: . 6. Educational Qualification: Illiterate/Can sign only Incomplete primary Complete Primary Incomplete Secondary S.S.C H.S.C & Above

7. How many members you have in your family: . 8. Where do you live now? Family. Hostel/Mess. 9. Are you collected drinking water? Yes No Others.

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10. Are you the only earning member of your family? Yes No 11. How many children do you have (If married)? None 1 2 3 12. Are you interested enough to send your children in School? Yes No Undecided 13. Are you provided with financial support from your family? Yes No Occasionally 14. Why did you choose to work in Garments? To support your family To be financially established To get rid of poverty To reach any long term goal Lack of cooperation from Husband 15. How much salary you get from your garments monthly? Below1000 1000-1499 1500-1999 2000-2499 2500-2999 3000 & Above. 16. Are you satisfied with your salary? Very satisfied satisfied somewhat satisfied some dissatisfied very dissatisfied 4 above

17. Did you need loan? Yes No 18. Do you get any incentives? Yes No Sometimes

19. How many times you get bonus from your garment? One Two More than twice.

20. Is the bonus-amount sufficient enough for you? Very satisfied satisfied somewhat satisfied some dissatisfied very dissatisfied

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21. Does the Garments provide you the salary in time? On time Irregular very irregular

22. How many months/years are you in the garments Job? ---------------------------23. How long you are working here? Below 3 months 1-2 years 3-5 months 2.1-3 years 6-8 months 9-11 months More than 3 years

24. How much official Holidays you get in a month/year? . /month /year 25. Are you provided with any child-care facilities? Yes No

26. Is there any Medicare facilities? yes No Only first Aid

27. Your companies work place facilities are? Sufficient adequacy in adequacy unavailable

28. The restroom what you use is that hygienic? Yes no Fair

29. Does the company provide you any kind of security when you back to Home overnight? Yes No sometimes 30. Do you feel safe in your work place? Yes No 31. Did you get support from your family to work in Garments? Yes No forced 32. Are the male colleagues cooperative enough with you while working?

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Very cooperative

No

Fair

33. Does the Supervisor under whom you work behave properly? Yes No No Comment 34. The Tiffin-period you get is that enough for you? Yes No 35. Do you suffer from any kind of fear on your working place as below? Building Collapse Setting Fire Accident with tools Physical harassment Sexual harassment others 36. Is your working place well -ventilated? Yes No Fair 37. Do you face any type of job stress? Yes No Sometimes 38. If Yes which type of those? Physical Psychological others 39. Which type of problem you face in your workplace? Uncooperative Colleagues Lack of refreshment Monotony High Breathing others 40. Do you encounter any kinds of hazards/problems on the way to home? Yes No sometimes 41. How many hours you have done overtime? 1 2 3 more than 3

42. If yes, what kind of problem you face? Bad comments from roadside boys Lack of seat in transport Bad weather 43. Is there any post accident financial help from your Garments? Yes No sometimes

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44. If you are provided with the opportunity to work in other job, would you accept the proposal? Yes No Undecided 45. Does your wages me the basic needs? Yes No

46. If Yes the reasons are: a). b). c).

47. If No the reasons are: a). b). c). 48. Are you seeking for any kind of government facilities? If you want what are those: a) b) c) 49. Any other comments you want to share with us? a) b) c) 50. Which type of principal reasons for occupational health problem? a) b) c)

Thanks a lot

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