Labour unions and labour movements in the readymade garment industry in Bangladesh in the era of globalization (1980-2009)
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2011
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Abstract
Bangladesh has been part of the globalized ready made garment (RMG) industry since the early 1980s. In 2008-09 there were 4,825 RMG factories in Bangladesh employing 3.1 million people. This workforce included 2.38 million women and is an illustration of a globalization process termed the feminization of labour. Bangladesh's RMG industry has flourished because its workers are among the lowest paid garment workers in the world. This dissertation 1s a longitudinal case study of labour umons and labour movements in the RMG industry in Bangladesh between 1980 and 2009. The research and analysis are informed by insights from classical Marxist theory, world-systems theory, and Ronaldo Munck's influential "globalization and labour" thesis. In the early years of the RMG industry there was relatively little resistance by the workers to their abject exploitation. The reasons that workers failed to resist included the harsh tactics of factory owners who would terminate, sue or arrange to have local leaders assaulted by paid thugs or the state police; the failure of civil society organizations, with the exception of a few leftist unions, to support the workers' struggles; and the fact that the garment workers were 'first generation' rural migrants to the city who lacked any knowledge of workers' rights. In May 2006 there was a massive protest by RMG workers that secured a significant increase in the minimum wage and the first tripartite agreement in the industry's history. This victory for workers was partially undermined by unions that work collaboratively with the employers ' association. Nevertheless the May 2006 upsurge changed the terrain of struggle as evidenced by the 2007 concession that legalized labour unions organizing in the export producing zones. My conclusion is that until the state changes its elite-centered policy, until the owners change their feudal mindset and abide by the labour laws and ILO conventions, and until international labour organizations are free from any hidden, protectionist agendas, militant labour movements are the only way that Bangladesh's RMG workers will be able to successfully pursue their demands.
Description
Bibliography: p. 256-280
A few pages are in colour.
Includes copy of ethics approval. Original copy with original Partial Copyright Licence.
A few pages are in colour.
Includes copy of ethics approval. Original copy with original Partial Copyright Licence.
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Citation
Rahman, Z. (2011). Labour unions and labour movements in the readymade garment industry in Bangladesh in the era of globalization (1980-2009) (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/4128