Industrial unrest in Bangladesh

1. Industrial unrest in Bangladesh

2. Group - SMART MD. ARIFUR RAHMAN 09310058

3. Historical background of Industrial Unrest Industrial unrest started at the beginning of the industrialization. Due to the reason of quality control, marketing, price fixation and disposition of profits among workers and employers raises the industrial disputes. This, later on created the trade unionism. INDIA, In the pre-independence days, workers were “hired & fired”, as the principle of demand and supply governed industrial relations. There were hardly any laws to protect the interests of workers except the Employers and Workmen Act, 1860, which was used to settle wage disputes. In the let 1970s and early 1980s industrial relations in India were characterized by violence (especially in the thanaBelapur area and in Modinagar). For instance, on June 29, 1981 the president of the HMS Worker’s Union was beaten and murdered. WALES, Historian John Davies looks at the unrest at the beginning of the Labor movement in Wales, which later on moved to industrialized unrest.

4. Meaning of Industrial Unrest • The term industrial unrest is used to describe activities undertaken by the labor and other working people when they feel grievances and protest against pay or conditions of their employment. Industrial unrest can also be defined as the total range of behaviors and attitudes that express opposition and divergent orientations between industrial owners and managers, on the one hand, and working people and their organizations on the other. • The unrest actions may include strikes, sit-ins, slowdowns or work-to-rule. Historically, riots also took place, such as the action taken by the Luddites during the Industrial Revolution, and other machine-wrecking outbreaks.

5. Core Problems behind Industrial Unrest in Bangladesh • Absence of effective wage bargaining • Absence of effective grievance solving mechanism • Poor policy structure • The influence of Trade unions • Aspirations • Discipline • Technological cause • Psychological causes • Legal causes

6. Garments Industry in Bangladesh For Bangladesh, the readymade garment export industry has been the proverbial goose that lays the golden eggs for over fifteen years now. The sector now dominates the modern economy in export earnings, secondary impact and employment generated. The presented information reveals that the tendency of low labor charges is the key reason for the transfer of garment manufacturing in Bangladesh. The practice initiated in late 1970s when the Asian Tiger nations were in quest of tactics to avoid the export quotas of Western countries. It is essential to identify the outcomes of the process of moving production from high pay to low pay nations for both developing and developed nations. It is a bare fact that most of the Third World nations are now on the way to industrialization.

7. Contributions of Garments Industry in Bangladesh RMG business started in the late 70s as a negligible non-traditional sector with a narrow export base and by the year 1983 it emerged as a promising export earning sector; presently it contributes around 75 percent of the total export earnings. Over the past one and half decade, RMG export earnings have increased by more than 8 times with an exceptional growth rate of16.5 percent per annum. A 1999 study found the industry supporting approximately USD 2.0 billion worth of economic activities (Bhattacharya and Rahman), when the value of exports stood at a little over USD 4.0 billion. So, Readymade garments contributed a paltry 4% of total export earnings in 1983; the share rose to 75% by 2000. Readymade garments accounts for 9. 5% or more of GDP; that is about 40% of the contribution of the industry sector. The readymade garments industry developed in Bangladesh and emerged as the major export in about two decades.

8. Chittagong Fashion Group Chittagong Fashion Group is established in 1984. It has an experience of 26 years of producing various types of apparel products. They have a reputation of producing good quality of garments. They basically produces men's Dress Shirt, Sports Shirt, Casual Shirt, Ladies' blouse, Pajama set, Boxer short, Boys/Girls Shirt, School Shirt, Sleep Pant, Five Pocket Denim, Skirt, Cargo Pant/Shorts, Chino, Bermuda, Trouser. Chittagong Fashion Group exports their product especially to USA, Canada, Europe, Japan and Dubai. They have total manpower of approximately 3700 and machineries of 1800 approximately. Their production space is about 200,000 sqft and their production lines are 25. Their total production capacity is 7.5 million/year which is a huge quantity.

9. Reasons behind Industrial Unrest • Economic issues • Social issues • Workers treated as machine or product • Physical issues • Political issues • Administrative issues • Gendered division of labor • Safety problems

10. Outcome of Industrial Unrest • Strike: • Low productivity • Gherao • Absenteeism: • Picketing: • Factory shutdown/lockout • Factory on fire • Unemployment increases

11. Recommendation measures to change the scenario • Role of government • Role of trade union: • Role of employees • Role of environment

12. Conclusion: The Ready-Made Garments (RMG) industry occupies a unique position in the Bangladesh economy. It is the largest exporting industry in Bangladesh, which experienced phenomenal growth during the last 25 years. Given the remarkable entrepreneurial initiatives and the dedication of its workforce, Bangladesh can look forward to advancing its share of the global RMG market.