completed a few months previously. The rescue teams who come to help don’t have any proper rescue equipment. Instead they have to search for the trapped workers using just their hands. Tragically, this results in a death toll of 61, with over 100 workers seriously injured.
But why is the number of casualties so high? In Bangladesh, there are frequently no working emergency exits at factories. The majority of the 3,000 factories that produce goods for export, such as my fleece body warmer, do not meet legal safety requirements. Most factories only have one entrance and exit, which is closed during working hours so that no one can sneak in or out. With crowded rooms, bad lighting, and poor safety procedures, is it any wonder that there are so many major accidents in the manufacturing industry? Over the last decade, official accident logs suggest that hundreds of textile workers have been killed and thousands have been badly injured, but the real figures could be even higher. And these numbers don’t take into account minor injuries, for which there are no records.
Around two million people work in the textile industry, and 90 per cent of them are young women under the age of 25. They have to work up to 100 hours a week! In Europe, the average full-time working week is only 41.6 hours long. In Bangladesh in 2010, the national minimum wage was raised to 3000 taka (around €19.80 euros/£16.00 pounds) per month. Despite this, the majority of the average seamstresses’ wages is still spent on rent. In order to support their families, textile workers must work overtime, and lots of it. However they are rarely fully compensated for the overtime they do, and sometimes they aren’t paid for it at all. Often, the only bonus is that they get to keep their job. On top of working long hours, female workers are frequently harassed and sometimes even beaten by their supervisors. This is why they keep striking. They want better treatment in the workplace, and a higher minimum wage, one that they and their families can live on. At the same time, the factory owners are feeling the pressure of worldwide competition. They are determined to keep trying to achieve the impossible: to make better quality clothing for less and less money.
15 September 2005: 1:00pm
Tack, tack, tack, tack! Men have the final word at Taslima’s factory too. The seamstresses aren’t allowed to stand up without permission from a male supervisor. They’re not allowed to go to the toilet without permission. They’re not even allowed to talk! The seamstresses are constantly being harassed – and today the supervisors are particularly angry. But why? Tack, tack, tack, tack . After a million stitches – or that’s what it feels like to Taslima – comes the long-awaited announcement of the lunch break. “Half an hour, and not a second longer!” cry the supervisors. The workers leave their desks and gather into small groups. Everyone eats and talks at the same time. A message is passed from group to group, “Everyone working on the fleece body warmer job has to have them finished by the end of the day. No one is allowed home until the order is complete!” Oh no , Taslima thinks to herself, throwing her leftover rice and vegetables onto to the floor in anger. Meanwhile, many women make use of their short lunch break to queue up for the toilet. They don’t know when they’ll get another chance to go.
Tack, tack, tack, tack . . . Taslima is back at her workstation. She’d barely started to recover from the morning’s workload before she had to get back to work. Luckily she’s still young, and has enough energy to carry on. Taslima is determined to make a success of this job: under no circumstances does she want to end up like her mother. Her mother has eight children and stays at home all day. After she’s cooked, she lets everyone else eat first, then eats whatever is leftover. Which usually isn’t much. Taslima and her sister are the first members of
But why is the number of casualties so high? In Bangladesh, there are frequently no working emergency exits at factories. The majority of the 3,000 factories that produce goods for export, such as my fleece body warmer, do not meet legal safety requirements. Most factories only have one entrance and exit, which is closed during working hours so that no one can sneak in or out. With crowded rooms, bad lighting, and poor safety procedures, is it any wonder that there are so many major accidents in the manufacturing industry? Over the last decade, official accident logs suggest that hundreds of textile workers have been killed and thousands have been badly injured, but the real figures could be even higher. And these numbers don’t take into account minor injuries, for which there are no records.
Around two million people work in the textile industry, and 90 per cent of them are young women under the age of 25. They have to work up to 100 hours a week! In Europe, the average full-time working week is only 41.6 hours long. In Bangladesh in 2010, the national minimum wage was raised to 3000 taka (around €19.80 euros/£16.00 pounds) per month. Despite this, the majority of the average seamstresses’ wages is still spent on rent. In order to support their families, textile workers must work overtime, and lots of it. However they are rarely fully compensated for the overtime they do, and sometimes they aren’t paid for it at all. Often, the only bonus is that they get to keep their job. On top of working long hours, female workers are frequently harassed and sometimes even beaten by their supervisors. This is why they keep striking. They want better treatment in the workplace, and a higher minimum wage, one that they and their families can live on. At the same time, the factory owners are feeling the pressure of worldwide competition. They are determined to keep trying to achieve the impossible: to make better quality clothing for less and less money.
15 September 2005: 1:00pm
Tack, tack, tack, tack! Men have the final word at Taslima’s factory too. The seamstresses aren’t allowed to stand up without permission from a male supervisor. They’re not allowed to go to the toilet without permission. They’re not even allowed to talk! The seamstresses are constantly being harassed – and today the supervisors are particularly angry. But why? Tack, tack, tack, tack . After a million stitches – or that’s what it feels like to Taslima – comes the long-awaited announcement of the lunch break. “Half an hour, and not a second longer!” cry the supervisors. The workers leave their desks and gather into small groups. Everyone eats and talks at the same time. A message is passed from group to group, “Everyone working on the fleece body warmer job has to have them finished by the end of the day. No one is allowed home until the order is complete!” Oh no , Taslima thinks to herself, throwing her leftover rice and vegetables onto to the floor in anger. Meanwhile, many women make use of their short lunch break to queue up for the toilet. They don’t know when they’ll get another chance to go.
Tack, tack, tack, tack . . . Taslima is back at her workstation. She’d barely started to recover from the morning’s workload before she had to get back to work. Luckily she’s still young, and has enough energy to carry on. Taslima is determined to make a success of this job: under no circumstances does she want to end up like her mother. Her mother has eight children and stays at home all day. After she’s cooked, she lets everyone else eat first, then eats whatever is leftover. Which usually isn’t much. Taslima and her sister are the first members of
Similar Books
