Home-based RMG workers largely invisible: BLF Study

Home-based garment workers, who mostly work on a piece-rate basis for export-oriented apparel factories across the country, especially the subcontracting ones, remain largely invisible, according to a latest study.

These workers are unorganised and lack bargaining power, often unaware of labour laws, wages and working conditions, leading them to accept unfair terms and endure poor working conditions, long hours, and delayed payments, frequently involving middlemen.

The majority, or 50.6 per cent, of the surveyed workers left factories for reasons like pregnancy, child-care responsibility, marriage, high work pressure, factory closure, long working hours, workplace abuse or harassment and automation.

The findings of the report styled 'Assessment on the Socio-economic Condition of Home-based Ready-made Garment Workers in the RMG Supply Chain' by the Bangladesh Labour Foundation funded by Oxfam and the European Union were presented at a city hotel on Wednesday.

"About 93.6 per cent of the surveyed workers are working on a piece-rate basis, while the average piece rate is Tk 5.25 (ranging from Tk 0.60 to Tk 30). And the average monthly salary ranges between Tk 4,000 and Tk 5,000," shares Mir Mohammad Ali, lead researcher and assistant professor in aquaculture at Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University.

Almost all or nearly 99 per cent of workers are paid in cash with no bargaining power over wages in fear of losing works, according to him.

Many workers and their families are illiterate or less literate, with little understanding of health, safety and gender-related issues at work, the researcher says, adding that this vulnerability is compounded by a lack of organising skills and official recognition.

Furthermore, the government is still to ratify ILO Convention 177, he notes while explaining to address these pressing issues.

The BLF conducted the study on 362 home-based garment workers who work for export-oriented apparel factories mostly subcontracting ones.

The BLF shows about 15,000 home-based workers are rife at Ashulia, Savar and Gazipur industrial zones, while county data is unavailable with possibility of existence of such workers in Narayanganj, Chattogram and Tangail.

About 80 per cent of the workers are climate-displaced migrants, while only 15.5 per cent migrated for family reasons and the rest 7.5 per cent are staying in their native homes like Gazipur areas.

Around 55 per cent of the surveyed workers engage in seasonal work (five to six months yearly), while 45 per cent work regularly, with higher rates in Ashulia and Gazipur, according to the study.

The average working hour is 6.89 hours per day, with a maximum of 13 hours and a minimum of 2 hours, it revealed.

The study also found 12 types of work they performed, including hand stitching, tipping, stone work, linking, mending, crocheting, embroidery, lace and button work, stickers, sequin work and cutting thread.

Again, 93 per cent of the workers in question are women, mostly married, with over 50 per cent being young adults.

They mostly depend on middlemen who take a substantial share of their earnings, further limiting fair wage distribution, disclose the findings.

The supply chain is dominated by subcontractors (53 per cent) and vendors (35 per cent) with factories directly managing only 18.8 per cent of work orders.

Workers typically receive orders on a piece-rate basis with 93.6 per cent paid per piece and only 6.4 per are found receiving fixed monthly salaries.

The study also revealed that their workplace safety remains inadequate, with limited access to protective equipment and first-aid facilities and they face limited access to healthcare, relying mostly on pharmacies and public hospitals.

Most workers operate from home, often involving family members in production.

Addressing the event, labour secretary AHM Shafiquzzaman acknowledged the vital contribution of these workers and, on behalf of the government, pledged to prioritise their formal recognition.

He stressed that the apparel sector trade body-BGMEA-should ask its members especially those do subcontracting to offer work orders to licensed vendors to initially ensure better pay.

He also accentuated the need for collaborative efforts, calling upon civil-society organisations, development partners and trade unions to support.

Speakers stressed the importance of recognising home-based workers within the formal labour framework and emphasised the need for policy interventions to safeguard their rights and the necessity to ensure fair wages and improved working conditions for such workers in alignment with global labour standards.

They also pressed for ratifying ILO Convention 177.

The report's recommendations included legal recognition and protection, expanding DIFE inspection to subcontracting factories and home-based garment workers in the RMG sector.

It also called for buyers to adopt fair pricing strategies that enable suppliers to pay living wages to all workers.

Vanessa, Contract Management, OXFAM Australia, AKM Nasim, member of Labour Reform Commission and AKM Ashraf Uddin, executive director of the BLF, among others, spoke there.

munni_fe@yahoo.com