BD garment workers draw int’l attention to their plight
Posted: 2010.07.21
Millions of garment workers in Bangladesh, who have fetched for the national exchequer more than 12 billion US dollars a year, have drawn global attention to their plight at home.
Global organizations dealing with labour rights are now paying keen attention to the Bangladeshi garment sector workers’ demand for adequate minimum wages. They have launched movements, started signature campaigns globally and are communicating with the Bangladesh government, said sources in the industry and government Tuesday.
A senior official of the Ministry of Labour told newsmen that the Netherlands-based Fair Wear Foundation (FWP) has appealed to the Bangladesh government to ensure adequate minimum wages for RMG workers. “At this moment the current minimum wage of your garment sector workers is below the internationally recognised poverty line and does not meet the basic needs of the workers and their families,” said the FWP.
According to its own resume, FWP, which works with several dozen European apparel brands, is an international verification initiative dedicated to enhancing the quality of the workers’ lives all over the world. “We urgently ask you (government) to consider seriously the demands of garment workers and ensure that a new minimum wage will be of a level with which workers can afford to pay for their basic needs,” said FWP’s board that has representatives from European federations of manufacturers, retailers and trade unions. “Such a minimum wage will be essential for factories supplying our member companies in order to comply with our code of labour ethics,” added the FWP
