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While
we are on the subject of evil... HISTORICAL
EVIL:
"The Triangle Fire," by Leon Stein with a new introduction
by William Greider. (Cornell University Press, 2001.)
EVIL
IN THE RAG TRADE:
"NO SWEAT: Fashion, Free Trade, and the Rights of Garment
Workers," edited by Andrew Ross. (Verso Press 1997.)
BORDERLINE
EVIL:
"Border Witness," by Maureen Casey and Brian Casey. (The New
York State Labor-Religion Coalition, 2002).
COSMIC
EVIL:
"Evil in Modern Thought: An Alternative History of Philosophy,"
by Susan Neiman. (Princeton U. Press, 2002.)
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> NO SWEAT NEWS >
NEWS ARCHIVE
Nazma Akhtar, A Life in Labor.
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| Nazma
Akhtar, one of BIGUF’s founding mothers.
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Nazma
Akhtar, a founder of the Bangladesh Independent Garment
Workers' Union Federation (BIGUF), on her experiences as a seamstress
and labor organizer in Bangladesh. Interviewed for Bienestar International
by journalist Iqbal Hossain..
Iqbal Hossain: Please tell us about your early life and your
involvement with the garment worker's movement.
Nazma Akhtar: I was eleven years old when I started work
in the
garment trade. My salary was Tk300 per month [approximately $9.60],
with an overtime pay of Tk100-Tk150 [$3.20-$4.80]. I used to work
eight to fourteen hour days.
When I was fourteen years old, I got a job at a bigger garment
factory, called Comtrade Apparels Beximco. They did not pay us
regularly. There was no guarantee of permanent employment, no
designated place to have lunch. Sometimes we ate standing in the
rain. There were problems using the toilet, and there was no provision
for maternity leave. Sometime they would stop suspend overtime pay
for 3 to 4 months. After a while, around 800 of us gathered in front
of the factory head office to informed the officials of our problems.
They listened, and made some improvements. But they feared the unity
we were forging among ourselves. So they changed the management
of the factory. The new managers brought in thugs to intimidate
us. One of our leaders was taken away and severely beaten. Several
of our senior leaders were sacked.
Again we gathered in front of the factory gates. Again thugs tried
to
break up the crowd. We subdued them, and handed them over to the
police. We informed management of three demands:
1. Remove the thugs
2. Justice for the worker beaten up
3. The fired workers must be re-employed
We
stood in front of the main office all day long, but it was of no
use. We returned home empty-handed. Next day, we found that the
factory gate was padlocked. Days went by, and still there was no
work.
Management tried to sub-contract work to other factories. We anticipated
this, and held a sit-in in front of the factory so that nothing
could not be removed. The sit-in lasted for eleven days. Workers
from other factories supported and fed us. Eventually, facing huge
losses, the employers accepted our demands. But they were still
determined to keep us from organizing. Management refused to give
the Hindus among us time off for the holiday of Puja. We took the
day off anyway. Next day at work, there was an argument with the
officials, with lots of pushing and shoving. One woman had her clothes
torn off; another sustained head injuries. We weren't allowed through
the gates. Next day, the gate was padlocked.
Six months went by in this way, during which time many of us were
forced to looked for work in other factories. When we joined with
workers from other factories to demonstrate at Beximco, police
attacked us with batons. The same thing happened when we demonstrated
at the National Press Club.
In 1991, the factory opened again, but 80 of us, including me, were
blacklisted, and it became very difficult for us to get employment
elsewhere. It was hard going at that stage.
In 1993, the Asian-American Free Labor Institute (today, the American
Center for International Labor Solidarity) contacted several of
us,
and helped train us as organizers. A director of the organization
agreed to help us create a garment workers union that would be run
by
the women workers themselves. Starting on the factory level, we
forged
an industry-based federation, the Bangladesh Independent Garment
Workers' Union Federation (BIGUF), registered in 1997.
Iqbal: Is there still child labor in garment factories of
Bangladesh?
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| In
the zone, a world away. Manufacturing soccer balls
in Pakistan. |
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Nazma:
Before 1995, 30% of factory workers were children. But after
the 1995 Memorandum of Understanding [an agreement among the
Bangladesh and U.S. governments, the garment industry management,
UNICEF and the International Labor Organization to put an end to
child
labor in the garment sector] we brought child labor down to less
than
2%.
Iqbal: How strong do you think BIGUF is?
Nazma: BIGUF is one of the prominent labor organizations
of
Bangladesh. We have three offices, where we educate garment workers
about their rights, and help them organize. If workers are sacked
in
the process, we take steps to bring the issue to the authorities.
We have 50,000 members. Right now, 24 garment factories have organized
unions. And we have good relations with those employers. There are
25 members in our executive committee, 20 of which are women. The
president and the general secretary are women, as well, and we intend
to keep that unchanged. It's crucial that BIGUF leaders were once
garment workers themselves.
Iqbal: What is the biggest problem facing BIGUF?
Nazma: The biggest problem is this: there is no written law
in
Bangladesh prohibiting trade unions, but there is an unwritten
agreement that prohibits registration of garment union federations.
As
a result, workers are often fired when they try to organize. It's
still routine for overtime pay not to be honored, and for pregnant
women, even those in their eighth month, to be denied maternity
leave. Employers continue to dismiss workers as they please. And
workers are denied weekly holidays and other basic benefits.
Iqbal: Do the big companies avoid you?
Nazma: Yes, big names like GAP, NIKE, Was, the lMart etc.,
have codes of conduct they are supposed to observe, but the codes
are posted in English in most factories, so workers can't read them.
And the big companies try not to deal with trade unions. They make
organizing difficult for us.
Iqbal: What is the ultimate ambition of BIGUF?
Nazma: Our main goal is to raise the minimum wage of a garment
worker so that it supports a decent life. We want parliament to
help us
ensure that workers can live decent lives.
Iqbal: Do you think that Western consumers have a role to
play in the
movement to create a better conditions for garment workers in
Bangladesh?
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| Nazma
Akhtar, one of BIGUF’s founding mothers.
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Nazma:
Absolutely. We request that Western consumers help us ensure that
multinational corporations abide by their codes of conduct and do
not prevent workers from organizing trade unions. Sometimes large
companies cancel their orders to factories under pressure from consumers.
But loss of jobs only makes matters worse for
workers. We want factories to stay open as we try to establish
workers' rights.
It will help if Bienestar uses unionized factories. That can exert
a
wide-ranging positive influence, showing other companies that there
is
greater profit in using unionized factories. This can encourage
employers to allow unionization rather than opposing it. Such an
outcome would benefit business and workers simultaneously.
Also, there are problems in enforcing codes of conducts. Factory
inspectors routinely overlook violations. If BIGUF is given the
chance
to inspect Bienestar's factories, we can guarantee that workers
are
not abused. In any case, we ask Bienestar to make sure that whoever
inspects factories not be under factory owner's control.
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