Garment workers, health, elderly - Bangladesh in 2019

“My name is Tahmina and I’m 25 years old. I worked as a garment worker for a 5.300BDT salary (58 EUR) per month but later, I became an operator in another factory and there I received 7,300BDT (80 EUR) as monthly salary. In 2015, I became a member of NGWF and attended several trainings, meetings and processions. I learned about the rights of workers and received women leadership training. In 2017, I started to organize workers by myself and in July I was elected secretary of our union. In 2019 however, I was fired verbally without any further notice from the factory. One month later, a grievance notice was sent to me for legal payment of 105,838BDT (1,150 EUR) to the factory management. I filed a case against them with the help of NGWF and their Legal Aid. The case was solved and I received 100,000BDT (1,087 EUR) as compensation. With that money, I bought some land for farming. I feel honored to be a member of NGWF and my dream is to grow awareness about labor rights among workers”.

First, NGWF is helping its garment workers members through legal aid assistance and advocates for better working conditions in Bangladesh through rallies, hunger strikes, human chains, memoranda handovers to the government, etc). In total, 62.330 members have improved their existing job, for example through basic training on labor rights and advanced training on collective bargaining. NGWF is also helping their members to get better social security coverage. Over 100.000 workers (67% women and 84% youngsters) were made more aware about social security through posters and leaflets and 55.000 workers were reached through their media releases regarding the situation and rights of garment workers. Many of the staff and members of NGWF are young workers, since they focus on youth leadership and development.

I am Sumi from Bhola Barishal in Bangladesh. I am 25 years old. I was forced by my parents to marry at the age of 17. As a day laborer, my husband hardly had any work. At that time, we could only eat one meal a day. I could not take care for my family, so I went to Dhaka on my own. There, I joined a button factory at the age of 19, which my husband also joined later. After working there for a couple of years, we got our first daughter and later we got a second one. Hence, we felt sick several times during that year. It was very hard to live with a limited budget, since we had to spent a lot for doctor visits and medicines. Then, I heard about a medical camp near the factory where I work. I went there and took a health insurance of GK. Now we can visit a doctor and buy medicines at a lower cost. Together with my husband I participated in some awareness raising trainings on various health issues, personal hygiene and occupational health safety. I also try to teach my children about personal hygiene. Now, my family feels less sick thanks to the health services provided by GK. 

The second WSM partner in Bangladesh is Gonoshasthaya Kendra (GK), the largest health provider after the Bangladeshi government. They started out by focusing on the rural areas, but now they also include garment workers. As it became clear in the above testimony, through the services of GK more people have enrolled in social security schemes or systems of social insurance (like pensions, maternity benefits, unemployment benefits, etc.). People also have improved access to health, because they subscribed to a health insurance system or were reached by activities offering health services by partner organisations, such as health camps, awareness raising, health insurance, day observation, personal hygiene, etc. In 2019, over 100.000 members (54% women and 79% youth) have achieved better access to health services. GK also provided over 150 people with vocational skill training to be able to find a better job and to have an improved income security. For example: after completion of computer and embroidery training, 40 out of 60 women got new jobs.

The exchanges between GK and OKRA regarding elderly also continued, with OKRA Coordinator Mark DeSoete and three other staff from OKRA visiting Bangladesh. They also invited an actor who, based on his experiences in Bangladesh, created a play that will tour around the OKRA meeting points in Flanders during 2020 raising awareness about the issues of elderly and social protection.

Last, a lot of people benefited from the services provided by the WSM synergy program in Bangladesh. Nazma for example got training on social protection and labor law arranged by the synergy activity. As an activist and women leader, she was motived to learn about important labor laws and rights. On the 22nd of April 2019, all workers put forward a Charter of Demand to their factory management. Now workers get a weekly holiday, attendance bonus, maternity leave and casual leave with payment, medical facilities, etc. “Workers are finally enjoying their rights, which is a great achievement for me”, said Nazma.

As an impact of the activities of the WSM partners in the past three years, the WSM supported activities contributed that over 60.000 people found a new job or improved their existing job. Almost 300.000 people had better coverage, be it for social security or access to health. Three important legislation were also passed to benefit garment workers: the minimum wage was increased; Safe Working Condition were improved and freedom of Association for trade unions and collective bargaining were better guaranteed.

In 2019, over 600.000 people reached through:
For labour standards: over 160.000 garment workers (60% women and 70% youth) reached through:

• Over 150.000 garment workers are more aware of their rights through campaigns and public outreach. 
• Almost 3.000 garment workers are newly organized
• Almost 400 received basic or advanced training 
• Over 3.200 garment workers received legal assistance. 
• Over 1.200 workers were mobilised to demand to increase the minimum wage. 

155 people got vocational skill training through GK, and they raised awareness regarding women driving.
200.000 workers were made aware of their social security rights and 30 got a basic training.
Almost 200.000 people were involved to improve their access to health because of GK, with 15.000 people getting direct medical attention.

Partners: NGWF, GK, OHS Initiative, BSPAN               Budget 2019: 100.000€
Donor: Own WSM funds                                                   Programme: 2017-2021

No to contractualization; Yes to a national minimum wage! - Philippines 2019

"I’m Analou Paquera, 27 years old and currently working in the UNI ELEMENTS ENTERPRISES located in Malanday, Valenzuela City (Manila metropole). I was born in Cotabato, Mindanao and I choose to migrate to go in Manila to look for a better job because of lack of opportunities in my province. I am working in UNI ELEMENT since 2015 as part of the production line. I make the chemicals that are necessary to produce liquid soap and bath soap.
In 2015, my salary was 250PHP (4,5 euros) for 12 hours of work. I had no benefits like SSS (social security), PhilHealth or any other social insurance. In the company there are many violations of the labour law by the employer, lack of overtime payment, 13th month pay. The workers are also exposed to the chemicals without protective equipment, which are very harmful. In 2019, I met the organizer of Young Christian Workers (YCW) in Malanday Valenzuela with my fellow workers and we have shared about of all the young workers in the UNI ELEMENTS Factory. We decided to organize my fellow workers to change our reality.
We filed a case in the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for the violation of the minimum wage regulations, for the non-remittance of our social insurance benefits and to get our underpaid salary of a period of almost 5 years. After negotiating with the employer and the DOLE, we finally got our unpaid salary. My employer paid me 45.000 pesos (800 USD) back pay. He was also forced to increase my daily salary from 250 pesos (4,5 euro) to 700 pesos (12,5 euro).
Our experience in organizing to demand salary increase was not easy. We have faced many challenges in organizing dialogue and negotiations with the employer and the DOLE, because we didn’t know before how to do it. But YCW helped us by sharing their own experience on how to deal with this. As of now, we still need to continue to organize the workers here in UNI ELEMENTS because even though my salary was increased, my job status is still as contractual worker.”

Political, economic and social context of the Philippines
Throughout 2019, the Philippino government continued curtailing the freedom of speech and association of human and labour rights activists, independent journalists and trade unions. With Executive Order 70 the red-tagging of progressive workers’ organizations as communist and terrorist organizations has intensified. The authorities have already used EO70 to target local unions in areas where there are Chinese investments.  At the International Labour Conference in Geneva the ILO decided to schedule a high-level mission to the Philippines for an investigation into the killing of 43 labour activists in the last 3 years, a mission which to date the Philippino authorities has not yet allowed to enter the country. In the meantime, due to the passing of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act (TRAIN) in 2018 prices of basic goods and services continued to rise in 2019. One study found that the law can create a monthly loss of up to 3.000 pesos (± 53 euro) per family. Last year the Expanded Maternity Leave was adopted, extending maternity leave with full pay from 60 to 105 days. A Universal Health Care Act was also passed, supposedly lowering out-of-pocket health expenses but according to the partner organizations, this law will only contribute to the further commercialization and privatisation of public health care services.

India passes two of the four proposed and controversial labour codes, with dire consequences for workers, especially informal

From the Working Peoples Charter:
On July 4, the Economic Survey argued that a higher national minimum wage is central to addressing inequality and widespread poverty in the country. A couple of weeks later, the government of India trashed its own analysis by proposing a “starvation wage” of Rs. 178 a day. The Central government hit the nadir with a minimum wage hike of Rs. 2! Experts allege that it is a precursor of what is in store for millions of workers as the cabinet passed two of the four proposed labour codes – Code on Wages as well as the Code on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions.

 Working people are a national asset - undermining their well-being is the biggest anti-national act. Need based Minimum Wage should be guided by Supreme Court jurisprudence laid down in Raptacos case, which is based on principles and test laid down by judiciary, and if any committee, any advisory board decided below this, has to give reason and recommendation.

The two codes were tabled for discussion yesterday by Sri. Santosh Gangwar, Minister of Labour and Employment. With this the Parliament has struck the proverbial hammer on the fate of millions of workers, robbing them of the possibility of decent work and wages, omitting the principles of determining minimum wages, an equal workplace and avenues for access to justice. Primarily driven by the interests of the industry, this predatory piece of legislation is all set to alter the labour protection landscape in India beyond repair and reclaim. It clearly shows that there is a clear drive to `informalise the formal` or `levelling down` which has been central to the overall architecture of the emerging labour regime.

This predatory piece of legislation is all set to alter the labour protection landscape in India beyond repair and reclaim.  With this the Parliament strikes the proverbial hammer on the fate of millions of workers, robbing them of the possibility of decent work and wages, an equal workplace and all avenues for access to justice.

Putting an end to contractualization in Philippines

Contractualization, while in most cases illegal, is a commonly used practice in Philippino companies to give workers temporary employment for just less than 6 months preventing them to be regularized. Short-term contract workers do not have the same benefits as regularized workers, such as social security, health insurance (Philhealth), unpaid leaves, a 13th month bonus. Moreover, contractual workers will be less eager to become a union member as they risk not having their contract renewed. While the Philippino president had vowed to phase out contractualization and has signed an executive order to that end, in reality the practices of labour-only contracting and job contracting are still omnipresent in Philippino companies. 

KMU decided to focus their campaign against contractualization on mass filings for regularization, which appeared to be much more effective than individual legal aid to the workers. Contractual workers would file a document to the Department of Labour and Employment that they want their company to be investigated on compliance with the regulations on contractual work and security of tenure and that they want to be regularized as permanent workers. The lists that were filed contained some 2.900 to 3.000 companies with 300.000 workers which could be up for regularization. In some cases (Coca Cola, Magnolia), several hundreds of workers managed to become permanent workers, while others were not granted such status.

Due to the attention that was given to the campaign against contractualization, the All Workers’ Unity (an alliance of labour centers advocating for a national minimum wage and for an end to contractualization), could not make substantial progress on the demand for higher minimum wages. 

Negotiating wages in Indonesia

South Sumatra is one of the regions where the development of KSBSI is quite strong, with 5 federations who have a total of 15.210 members. The monthly provincial minimum wage in South Sumatra in 2018 was 2.600.000 Rupiah (± 165 euro) and increased to 2.800.000 Rupiah ((± 176 euro)  in January 2019. In Indonesia, the majority of workers receive wages that are composed of the provincial minimum wage and a fixed allowance. This means that there is no difference in wages between workers who have a work experience of less than one year and wages of workers who have a tenure of more than one year. To increase the income of workers in South Sumatra, KSBSI is very serious in advocating for increases in provincial minimum wages. With the existence of a wage scale structure, it is expected that there will be an increase in wages and there will be rewards for workers who work more than one year. This year there are 12 companies that have handed over the structure of the wage scale to the South Sumatra labour agency.

Mr. Ali Hanafiah was born in Palembang, on 8 July 1969. He graduated from STIH Sumpah Pemuda University in 2010. He is the regional coordinator of KSBSI in South Sumatra. Before he was the chairperson of KSBSI at plant level for 2 years and chairperson of the branch board of NIKEUBA (KSBSI’s service sector federation) for 12 years.  Currently he is a member of the provincial wage council and vice chairperson of the tripartite social dialogue at province level as a representative for the workers.

Political, economic and social context
In 2018 Indonesia’s economic growth tended to be stable at about 5%. Increasing religious sentiment, abused by Islamic fundamentalists, stirred up fears that conservative parties would claim victory in the regional elections, thus also influencing the national elections in April 2019. Identity and religious politics risk to divert attention from the agenda of economic development, prosperity and social welfare that is being promoted by the current Indonesian administration under President Joko Widodo. On 28 September an earthquake and tsunami hit Palu and Donggala in Central Sulawesi, killing 2.113 and injuring 4.612 people. Both KSBSI and SBMI provided immediate assistance to their members in the area and the families who became victim of the tsunami.

Minimum wages, wage scale structure and social security
Since presidential regulation 2015/n°78 was adopted, yearly minimum wages in Indonesia (set at provincial or district level) can only be increased by inflation and growth of gross domestic product. Based on those two criteria the growth of the provincial minimum wage for 2019 was fixed at 8,03%. While KSBSI is not in favour of Regulation 2015/78, as it prevents the trade unions from fully freely negotiating minimum wages such as foreseen by the ILO Minimum Wage Convention, it does not believe that in the current political constellation the regulation can be overturned in the short term. Currently KSBSI focuses in its training for local union leaders, activists and members on the implementation of the wage scale structure, as October 2017 was the deadline for companies to register their wage structure at the Labour Department. However, most Indonesian employers are still not aware about their obligation to determine a structure and scale of wages in the company taking into account the class, position, period of employment, education level and competence of the employees. Seen the limitations that have been imposed to the regular minimum wage negotiations, the trade unions see the wage scale structure regulation as a way to differentiate wages at company level, so that at least at plant level it will be possible to still negotiate higher wages. The workers should be informed of the wage scale structure in their company.

Mumbai construction workers share their challenges

During a meeting with 15 male construction workers in Mumbai, they shared some of their challenges.

With only one of them born in Mumbai, all the others had moved from the country side looking for work and half goes back home for over three months a year. This is very typical for workers in the informal sector, with people working half the year on fields and half in construction, mostly getting paid per day in both sectors. One said: “I started working in 1994 and have never had a longer term contract, so I don’t get any pension now that I am too old. My daughters support me, working as domestic workers, though one of them is handicapped.” Nine of the 15 started working before they were 18 years old, several before they were 14 as helpers and one even started when he was eight years. Though the legal minimum wage for them is fixed at 25.000INR or 320EUR, nine of them make less. Only one is not a day worker: “I used to work in a garment factory, where I made 18.000INR or 230EUR monthly, but after the union demanded an increase of pay, the management closed the factory and relocated it to another state.” Daily wages are low and women make at least 20% less. “In part, it is also because there are still many cases of bonded labour, people who are in debt and so agree to work for less, which drives down the wages.” All of them were in debt, not to banks but to small private moneylenders who often charge exorbitant interest rates. “We have no access to social welfare schemes, because you have to be a registered worker for at least 90 days at the same company, and so day workers like ourselves are effectively excluded.” 

These stories illustrate why the five WSM India partners focus on a decent living income for the informal sector, especially for three sectors: the domestic, agriculture and construction workers.

ANRSP attends the ASEAN People's Forum

The ANRSP, represented by Bismo and Ath Thorn (Cambodia Steering Committee Member), attended the ASEAN Civil Society Conference/ ASEAN People Forum in Singapore from 2 till 4th of November 2018. ACSC/APF is a gathering of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Southeast Asia to engage with ASEAN on the issues affecting the region. ASEAN is composed out of 10 countries in South East Asia; Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Cambodia, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar. The 10 states of ASEAN have very different political systems, which are reflected as well in their representatives attending the forum. After initially focusing on lobbying towards, due to the lack of response, ACSC/APF will mainly build an alternative model of regional integration and people’ solidarity across the Southeast Asia region. In Singapore, delegations were limited to maximum 200 peoples or 20 delegations per country -compared to a total of more than 1.000 people in the ACSC/APF Philippines in 2017, certain topics were considered ‘sensitive’ and there were no officials present from ASEAN or Singapore.

We Need 160USD! Bangladeshi Garment Workers Hunger Strike to increase Minimum Wage

The National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF) is organizing a token Hunger Strike on 12 October, 2018 by garment workers in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka to demand: reconsideration & increase of the declared minimum wage, basic to be fixed at 70% and not 51%, immediate declaration of the wage for all other grades, annual increment to be fixed at 10% and to increase the wages of other grades proportionately. The President of the federation Mr. Amirul Haque Amin declared this program from the Press Conference held at the auditorium of Dhaka Reporters Unity on 4 October, 2018, in the presence of the other central leaders.

Brussels region sisters with Chennai, India and supports domestic workers there

Today, overlooking a gorgeous view of Brussels, our delegation composed out of Sr Vallar from Chennai and Sr Jeanne Devos from NDWM signed the agreement between WSM and NDWM to start a project supported by the Brussels Region. Hosted by State Secretary of Brussels Capital Region Bianca Debaets, this project of two years will be supporting the work done by the National Domestic Workers Movement in Chennai and Tamil Nadu to improve rights and skills of domestic workers. During the visit, Sr Vallar explained that even though the Tamil Nadu government, after decades of lobbying, finally adopted a minimum wage for domestic workers, it was at the rate of 37 INR per hour or 43 eurocent, which was the rate demanded by NDWM... in 2010, so hopelessly insufficient for domestic workers to live on! 

From right to left: Francina Varghese, Jeroen Roskams  and Bruno Deceukelier (WSM), with Sister Vallar and Sr Jeanne Devos (NDWM), with from the Brussels Region Ms Bianca Debaets and Emmanuel Boodts and Pieter-Jan Mattheus, Regional Secretary from Beweging

As comparison, neighboring state Kerala placed the minimum wage at 137INR, or 1,6€. While it is a good thing there is finally a minimum adopted and a mechanism to punish employers who don't respect this, this low rate might even turn out to be counterproductive, as employers paying more might feel they can now offer less. In short, still a lot of work to do, but NDWM feels up to the task, now also with this first ever project with the Brussels Region!

NGWF demands the Prime Minister of Bangladesh to determine the minimum wages of Garment workers

On 13th of September 2018, the minimum wage for Bangladeshi garment workers was fixed at 8.000BDT, which is largely insufficient for garment workers to live. The previous minimum wage, dating from 2013, was 5.300BDT and trade unions were demanding a substantial increase to 16.000BDT to compensate for inflation. On 26th of September 2018, after hundreds of garment workers gathered in a Bangladeshi Flag Rally in front of the national press club in Dhaka, this demand was submitted in a memorandum to the prime minister.

Speakers highlighted the following points:

• The announced 8.000BDT is for 7th grade workers, which are basically helpers, representing only 3% to 5% of the total garment workers. No minimum wage was announced for other types of workers, including the main driving force operators.
• Of the announced 8.000BDT (gross wage), only 4.100BDT is considered as basic wage, or only 51% of the gross wage. This means all aspects which refer to the basic wage, like overtime, festival bonus, service and retirement benefits, will be very low as well. For instance, if a worker gets 20BDT per hour for general duty, with this low basic wage, in doing overtime, she or he will get only receive 20,40BDT.
• No mention is made to a yearly wages increase rate, while trade unions recommend an annual inflation by 10% rather than the previous 5 %.

 The following 4 demands are included in the memorandum:

1. The announced wages have to be reconsidered and increased.
2. Wages of all categories of workers have to be defined, including operators.
3. The basic wage must constitute 70%, not 51% as currently is the case.
4. Yearly wages increase must be 10%.

Brands’ support for a living wage for garment workers in Bangladesh

The Minimum Wage Board in Bangladesh will reconvene on Wednesday, 29 August, to set the new statutory minimum wage for workers in Bangladesh’s garment industry. Ahead of this meeting Clean Clothes Campaign, the International Labor Rights Forum and Maquila Solidarity Network jointly urged major brands sourcing from Bangladesh to publicly support workers’ demands. These include the minimum wage of 16,000 taka, a statutory framework to govern pay grades and promotion and other welfare measures. Inditex – the owner of Zara, Bershka, Pull and Bear and several other labels – was the first to publicly respond in a positive manner.

Tamil Nadu Govt Sets Rs 37/Hr Minimum Wage For Domestic Workers, 7 Yrs Of Jail For Paying Less

The Tamil Nadu government in southern India has fixed minimum monthly wages for domestic workers in a recently released notification. The issued notification recognises skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled domestic workers. It is a big step by the state government as a part of Labour Reforms which aimed at setting guidelines for the unorganised sector. There should not be any distinction between the wages of a male and a female worker.

The notification is based on the recommendations made by an eight-member committee, headed by the Deputy Commissioner of Labour of Coimbatore. The committee had meetings with labour inspectors, domestic workers union and employers to understand their needs.

Any violation of the notification can land into punishment of up to seven years imprisonment with fine.

While this is an important step forward, a national policy is needed for the safety of domestic workers which would ensure their overall well being which includes health, education of their children etc. The Ministry of Labour has been working on a policy for domestic workers since last three years.

A decent income for a decent life - ANRSP position on Minimum Living Wages

In a context of persisting dependency on the informal economy for large numbers of people, worsening loss of livelihood because of limited access to the resources (land grabbing, pollution…) and growing precariousness in the formal economy because of increasing non-standard forms of work (short term contracts, on call work, zero-hour contracts, platform etc.), one could be tempted to forget about the level of income or wages. After all, ‘any job is better than no job at all’. And yet, it is precisely in this context we have to guard and guarantee the right of every person to have the necessary resources and income to lead a life in dignity.

We are aware of the important links between the remuneration of ones work, social protection allowances, access to quality social services like health. Low income, bad housing or limited healthy food leads to illness and health expenses and the incapacity to work and to earn an income and vice-versa. In this position paper we will however focus on the revenue one earns for work. The right to a Minimum Living Wage has been recognized in several international conventions and declarations, like the Constitution of the ILO (1919), the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR 1948), and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESC 1966) and ILO convention 131 (1970).

As members of the ANRSP, we adhere to these international conventions and declarations and we consider a Minimum Living Wage to be a legally binding concept. It is a right that has to be respected whatever the situation, the form or statute of labor, without any discrimination. However, we have to acknowledge the international texts remain broad and are in need of specification. So far there is no globally accepted definition and methodology to calculate living wages. Enterprises often use this as justification for not paying a living wage and refer only to minimum wages set by national laws as legally binding concepts.

In reality, the current minimum wages are not sufficient to guarantee the needs for workers and their families and don’t allow to lead a life in dignity. They are also greatly insufficient to stop the current race to the bottom, fueled by global competition and businesses desire to maximize profits. The ILO constitution and the UDHR not only mention a ‘minimum living wage’, but also a just share of the fruits of progress to all and a ’just remuneration’. In addition to this, sustainable Development Goal 10 focuses entirely on the reduction of inequality. Apart from just taxation and redistributive social protection, a sufficiently high share of labor in the overall wealth is a key to achieving this objective.

Commemorating Rana Plaza 5 years after in Dhaka

It feels strange to be in Dhaka on the 24th of April. This day is Bangladeshi’s 9/11, a day of commemoration where all newspapers headlines refer to the Rana Plaza tragedy that happened five years ago and which claimed the lives of 1138 garment workers and left more than 2.400 injured. The front page headlines aggressively remind us that "promises made mostly not implemented". There are over twenty five events commemorating the human made catastrophe, like rallies, human chains and others, some gathering survivors and family members. The events are filled with frustration and anger and demands. 

Invited by WSM's partner, the garment trade union NGWF, I went to a lighting of candles by children orphaned by Rana Plaza. It was a sad affair, with around twenty kids, most under ten years old, who were babies or toddlers when Rana Plaza collapsed, stealing their mother or father away.

A woman still cries recounting what happened, others blink tears away. They share their stories in front of cameras and mikes, highlighting their misery and sadness. And there is a lot of suffering to be shown, there are a lot of cameras and mikes to record. Bangladesh is in no way over what happened, though it sometimes seems the rest of the world has mostly forgotten and needs to be reminded of one of the worst industrial tragedy. It alerted people buying a T-shirt in the West to the world of sweat and exploitation that had gone into bringing a cheap T-shirt to their closets.

How to compensate

People here, gathered by trade unions and civil society are still demanding for better compensation for the victims, because the compensation paid to 5.000 workers had to use as reference their age and salary. While the formula is sound, with a legal minimum wage of currently 53€, this doesn’t amount to much. If a worker dies in a work related accident, family still gets a measly 1.000€, which even after Rana Plaza hasn’t been increased. NGWF demands that the amount would be calculated according to ILO Convention 121, adding compensation for pain and suffering.

What improved and what hasn't

What has improved are the security standards, with inspections and renovations done in almost 4.000 of the 5.000 factories in Bangladesh. This is done by multi-stakeholder initiatives gathering brands, factory owners, civil society and presided over by the ILO. This is an important achievement which was recently reconfirmed, with the Bangladeshi Accord on Fire and Safety renewed, despite resistance from government and employers. Still, it is a slow process and daunting task to improve safety. Since Rana Plaza, almost 100 factory accidents have happened, injuring 450 people and killing 80. But what hasn’t improved are the working conditions and wages. Trade unions like WSMs partner NGWF are an increase from the current legal minimum wage of 53€ to a living wage of at least 160€ per month. Organizing garment workers remains problematic, with half of trade unions which are applying for registration rejected and hampering the freedom of association.

Unlike 9/11, the Bangladeshi government doesn’t like that attention still goes to this tragedy, to the lack of adequate compensation and the ongoing problems in the garment sector. There is no monument at the site of the collapse, demands that the 24th of April would become a national holiday to observe workers safety day were not followed. Authorities are reluctant that events during the commemoration are organized at the site, not even a medical camp WSM’s partner GK wanted to organize for the injured. They are wary of journalists, often imposing they agree to be accompanied. The government is worried negative press will deter brands from ordering from Bangladesh, while the garment sector is very important for the economy.

Beacons of hope

At the event I attended, the orphans on the front row looked a bit bewildered at the eye of the camera. Most had no idea of what was happening, and why they had to be put on display. Rana Plaza caused extreme suffering and many want to remind the world of it, rub our noses in it, not make us forget. The children lit candles, which are supposed to symbolise hope. Many of the candles were blown out by the wind and had to be relight.

Rana Plaza site on the 24th of April in the afternoon,
with only few people and the flowers of the morning ceremony at the monument.

 At the Rana Plaza site, people and organisations queued for hours in the morning to deposit flowers at the small monument with a hammer and sickle, made by some communist organisation, since the government hasn't put anything there.


Where the ruins used to be is now a field, where relatives wander, the only way to visit the grave of their loved ones, as several bodies were never recovered. By the afternoon, most have left, the site feels lost again. Just some people mingle about, watching the occasional journalist come to take footage. The only sign of the government is three police trucks full of watchful men. No declarations were made by the government, not even an attempt at defending their actions or show some progress was made.

A woman I recognize from a physiotherapy session at GK comes to sit at the monument,
still wearing orthopedic braces on her back and arm.
She is obviously trying to send a message, but I am not sure many are there to listen.

The ANRSP meets in Manila

Almost fifty participants, members of the Asia Network on the Right to Social Protection (ANRSP) gathered for six days in Manila to discuss the issues decent living income and social protection. With the input from various international experts, like from the ILO, WageIndicator, ITUC and ITUC Asia Pacific, as well as from experiences in the Philippines regarding the state of the health system, two members from each of the eighteen WSM partners from the six Asia countries agreed on elements to be included in a living wage, compared methodologies and applied them in their national context and found current minimum wages largely insufficient.
A common position on minimum living wage was drafted by the steering committee members, before the participants went on field visits organized by the WSM Filippino partners to a jeepney union and two public hospitals.

Before the second half of the meeting, which focused on social protection, started,  OKRA from Belgium and GK from Bangladesh jointly facilitated a session on the impact of elderly in society and the links it has with social protection. The two other networks in Asia focusing on social protection, the Network for Transformative Social Protection and the Asia Round Table on SP also explained their priorities and how we could complement each other’s work. At the end, plans for the international network on the right to social protection were also discussed as well as the action plan for the years to come and where the network would be advocating. Participants afterwards expressed a 84% satisfaction of the content and how useful it was for them, stating it “helps me a lot to understand the various issues affecting the lives of the people especially in terms of SP and DLI. It helps me to see the whole picture of what kind of SP we have in Asia.”

Short video: why is India refusing to pay decent wages?

In the last three decades, the value added by a worker to the economy has grown by 210%. But the real wages paid to the worker has increased only by 14%. Is this what the workers deserve?
A wage that  keeps them hungry and half alive, that denies their children education, nutrition and decent future?

Workers Voices: Documentary on Bangladeshi Garment workers speaking up and organizing

Sramik Awaaz: Worker Voices is the first film to fully explore the lives, work, and organizing efforts of Bangladesh’s garment workers. Through interviews carried out in 2014 and 2015, and filming through 2016, the film chronicles the barriers faced by the mostly female workers at home, at work, and in life. These interviews reflect some clear policy prescriptives for improving the rights of workers not only in Bangladesh, but the issues raised echoes in workforces around the world even among low wage workers in US and Europe. The film was crowdfunded and produced by Chaumtoli Huq and directed by Mohammed Romel.


See the full movie (in Bangladeshi) here.

Bill tabled for domestic workers rights in India

NDWM informed that one of the members of Parliament, Shri Shasitharoor, who had promised his support to NDWM, drafted a private member's Bill called Domestic Workers Act-2016 for the rights of domestic workers which is tabled in the Lokhsabha. He drafted the Bill and shared with NDWM for feedback on definitions, wages, work hours, benefits, and rights to obtain a comprehensive and effective bill. It is listed for the 5th of August 2016. Find the full content of the bill here.

On another level, Assam Government is also moving ahead on minimum wages. A Committee has been constituted to advise the  Govt of Assam in the matter of fixation/ revision of minimum rates for the employment of domestic workers.

Madras High Court dismisses writ petitions challenging Government Order on Minimum Wages for Garment Workers

The Division Bench upheld the Tamil Nadu government’s writ appeal (WA 867/2015) and dismissed about 550 petitions filed by garment manufacturers to quash the revision in minimum wages for tailoring industry. The Division Bench of the Madras High Court constituting of Justices Ulavadi G. Ramesh and M V Murlidharan decided to uphold the Government Order 59 2D, dated from 3 December 2014.

Earlier in 2005, the government had issued a notification on minimum wage which was not implemented by the garment manufacturers. The manufacturers had gone to court and obtained a stay order in their favour. It had taken a huge effort from GAFWU and trade unions to get all the petitions of the manufacturers dismissed. In 2012, the government once again started the process of revising the minimum wages, and finally notified it by the GO 59 dated 3 December 2014.

The two-member Division Bench in their order held that given the long history of non-payment of minimum wages, an exemplary interest of 6 percent should be paid on the unpaid wages/arrears since December 2014 within a period of two months. Further, the court directed the government and GAFWU to ensure effective implementation of the revised minimum wage and the payment of arrears.

The recent Textile Policy of the Government of India claims to promote both employment and exports. A 6000 crore incentive package has been proposed for this sector. The policy is aimed at deregulating this sector further in terms of statutory obligations of employers towards workers. The government, in fact, is legalizing longer hours of work, non-contribution of employers to statutory PF for new workers, providing tax breaks in the name of employment generation to incentive employers. The protection to workers has virtually been reduced to the protection under minimum wages. In this policy context, the implementation of the revised minimum wages is crucial for over 1 million garment workers, mostly women.

Philippines: alliance to increase the minimum wage

There are currently about a thousand wage levels in the Philippines, regulated by Republic Act 6727 or the Wage Rationalization Act of 1989 which created the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board, which determines the varying levels of minimum wages for the regions in the country. An alliance of organisations composed out of COURAGE, ACT, and three WSM partners: trade union confederation Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) and the Young Christian Workers of the Philippines, are demanding the scrapping of RA 6727 and in its place, the enactment of a National Minimum Wage Law. This alliance came behind a joint demand: a National Minimum Wage of 306€ or PHP16.000 per month for the public sector (health workers, teachers …) and 14,3€ or PHP750 per day for workers in the private sector.

The 9€ or PHP466 daily minimum wage for private-sector workers in the National Capital Region and the 173€ or PHP9.000 monthly salary of government employees on Salary Grade 1 do not cover even half of the Family Living Wage, currently pegged at 20,8€ or PHP1,086 a day. The alliance arrived at their demanded amount by multiplying PHP1.086, which, according to independent think-tank Ibon Foundation, is the family living wage by 30 days and then dividing the product by two. The alliance supports also different sectoral wage struggles, like an entry level salary for nurses of 480€ or PHP25.000 per month. 66 million Filipinos are living on 2.7€ or less per day while the cost of living for one family is estimated at 635€ per month.