India is cashing in on the on-going labor unrest in the Bangladesh's ready-made garment sector as a good number of foreign orders for different types of apparels on the eve of the upcoming Christmas Day have been reportedly shifted to India from Bangladesh due to possible delays in delivery and uncertain situation.
As a result, India's RMG supplies to the foreign markets have recorded significant growth. According to the latest data published in a report on Wednesday, India's RMG exports by value in August increased 12% year on year, the highest monthly rise in the fiscal year that began in April.
On the other hand, as per Bangladesh Bank's statistics, our garment shipments went down 5.2 percent to $33.04 billion in the July-May period of the last fiscal year compared to the same period a year earlier. And there are fears that this negative growth could be sustained in the coming months though labor turmoil in our RMG sector shows some signs of abating.
Workers' agitation in our apparel industry began soon after the fall of the Awami League government on August 5 with hundreds of factories either torched or closed down across the industrial hubs of Ashulia and Gazipur. This put our poster child, RMG industry, at a critical crossroads.
Evidently, many RMG factories have still borne the brunt of attacks, property damage, looting and arson that sparked serious concerns about safety and security of RMG workers. Most importantly, this disruption came at a time when factories were immensely trying to meet the deadlines for winter and Christmas orders from global buyers.
Who is to blame for this fiasco in our RMG sector? Some of the advisers of the interim government point the finger at outsiders for violent protests as they disguised as RMG workers to incite the unrest by taking advantage of the country's political situation.
Similarly, factory owners also pin the blame on external elements for the unrest. They also claim that these outsiders belong to some political parties seeking dominance, especially for scrap business. This is a common practice in our RMG sector that people backed by political parties rein in the scrap business.
But general RMG workers have also raised some legitimate demands including equal opportunities for men and women in the case of employment in factories, increased wages and arrears, improved working conditions, lighter workloads and other benefits.
However, the government has already taken all out actions and deployed adequate security forces including army personnel to quell the turmoil. With the deployment of forces, the situation has improved a bit but still remained volatile. This gives a message that security measures alone cannot resolve the underlying grievances of the workers.
This is why there is an urgent need for factory owners and the government authorities to sit with the workers to address their justified demands in order to bring back peace and security in the RMG sector.
