[A-List] Bangladesh: "improving labour relations"

["Michael Keaney" <michael011@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Bangladeshis savour rigour of life driven by army rule
By Jo Johnson in New Delhi
Financial Times: March 14 2007

In the typical life cycle of military regimes, the early months are the
best. Thus it was in Pakistan in 1999 when General Pervez Musharraf's
decision to exile an elected prime minister prompted many in Karachi to
celebrate by offering neighbours ladoo, a sugary, yellow cake typically
shared at weddings or following the birth of male children. And so it is
now in Bangladesh, two months into a state of emergency during which a
military-backed caretaker government has won public acclaim for its
systematic purge of the country's kleptocratic political elite.

Few are happier than garment factory owners. The industry directly
employs 2.1m people, accounts for more than 5 per cent of GDP and brings
in three-quarters of the country's export earnings. Most significantly,
the government has moved to privatise container operations at Chittagong
port, potentially enabling manufacturers to decrease turn-around times,
a key to -survival in the cut-throat global apparel trade.

"This is the best government that Bangladesh has had in 16 years," says
Miran Ali, a western-educated entrepreneur who hopes to double his
turnover to $50m by next year. At present, it takes three weeks for him
to ship fabric from Shanghai, 10 days to unload at Chittagong and then
15 hours to drive the fabric to one of his factories in Dhaka.

"This is a huge disadvantage if you think that Hennes & Mauritz works on
a 110-120 day lead time," he says.

Labour relations are also improving, at least from the view of
management and shareholders, as all strikes have been banned.
Bangladesh's garment workers are among the lowest paid in the country,
earning a minimum wage of 1,662 taka ($24, ?18) a month, less than a $1
a day. It is a marked change from last May, when violent labour unrest
among low-paid garment sector workers prevented some of Mr Ali's buyers
from leaving their hotels.

Kalpana Akhter, secretary-general of the Bangladesh Garment and
Industrial Workers Federation, says the caretaker government must
implement the minimum wage and ensure women have access to maternity
benefits and day care facilities.

At one factory making white cotton capris for H&M in Dhaka, a young
woman is being dragged into a lift, having collapsed at her sewing
machine. "Many of the women here are anaemic," said its embarrassed
owner. "We give them advice on how to spend their money sensibly, on
vegetables and so on, but they buy cosmetics."


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