WOMEN’S WORK IN THE GARMENTS INDUSTRY IN BANGLADESH

Employment is an important part of women’s economic empowerment. But we need Decent Work and a Living Wage. Bangladeshi garment workers have not had a pay rise since 2010. Women in the garments sector face barriers to realizing their rights at work, to social protection and social dialogue.

RIGHTS AT WORK: LIVING WAGE

ASHULIA PROTESTS 11- 19 December: Ashulia garments workers staged a walkout, demanding higher minimum wage. Thousands of garment workers protested and faced violent police action. Police arrested garment workers and labour leaders, and shut down national union federation offices. The offices in Ashulia remain closed till now.

WORKPLACE SAFETY We need policies to increase women’s employment, right to work, and bargaining. We also need stronger regulation around occupational health and safety. 4 years after the Rana Plaza collapse, factory workers still work in unsafe and dangerous conditions.

GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN REGULATION Many European companies signed the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, overseeing over 1,600 factories. There is a divide between those who have and haven’t signed the accord.

Orders can be outsourced to smaller rural factories which are largely unregulated and where child labour is prevalent: an example of how global supply chains are impossible to regulate in one country.

RANA PLAZA COLLAPSE

2ND ANNIVERSARY OF COLLAPSE

2030 AGENDA