Benequista, Nicholas

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Yakub, a machine operator at a garment factory 
in Bangladesh, recalls the first time he became 
involved in the workers’ rights movement: 
The movement began for many reasons, but the 
failure to pay arrears was the main one. Some of the 
older workers had not been paid their salaries for 
several months. Basically, they were the front-runners 
in this movement. They discussed all these issues 
with us secretly, though as newcomers we didn’t 
understand much of it. ... The word spread among 
the workers that no one would work tomorrow. ... 
The next day, although all were waiting outside the 
gate, none were allowed to take their posts. The clamour 
began when all the workers tried to enter together, to 
break through the factory gate. The owner informed 
the police, and the police started beating the workers; 
many were injured. All the workers came down to 
the street, even those who didn’t know what was 
going on. Basically, at that time, all the workers 
became united.
The process of globalisation has brought workers in 
poorer countries such as Bangladesh into direct 
competition with workers in wealthier, industrialised 
countries, exposing the stark inequalities in working 
conditions that exist between the two. Trade unions, 
the media and human rights activists have since 
made consumers increasingly aware of the conditions 
under which some of their goods are made. The 
international garment industry has come under 
particular scrutiny, with the conditions at Bangladeshi 
export garment factories featuring regularly in the 
campaigns of international advocacy groups.
The attention has led to the introduction of codes 
of conduct in the export garment sector, obliging 
companies to provide minimum labour standards 
for their workers in order to export goods on the 
international market. Research explored whether 
this compliance to codes of conduct or willingness 
to abide by a certain set of regulations, actually 
led to greater accountability in the garment industry.
This case study of the Bangladesh garment export 
sector shows that a context where companies adhere 
to codes of conduct is not the same as a culture of 
accountability where citizens mobilise to hold their 
employers and other companies to account. However, 
in the informal garment industry, where there are no 
formal codes of conduct, accountability mechanisms 
are being strengthened by an increase in trade union 
activity and collective bargaining and localised protest 
by workers.
Consumer awareness
The garment industry in Bangladesh is a combination 
of the export and domestic sectors. The export sector 
employs 1.8 million workers, of whom 1.5 million are 
women. The expansion of the export sector coincided 
with a period of radical economic reform in the late 
1970s. Various incentive schemes channelled domestic 
investment into the export sector so that around 
95 per cent of garment factories in the country are 
owned by local private capital. 
Consumer awareness campaigns have highlighted 
the long hours, absence of contracts, delays in payment 
and violations of health and safety standards that 
Bangladeshi export garment workers face. A journalist 
at the Citizenship DRC Inception Workshop on Inclusive 
Citizenship in Bangladesh 2001 said, “The women 
workers in the Bangladesh garment industry have 
had more public attention to their rights than any 
group of workers in the entire history of the country.” 
Faced with the threat of bad publicity and boycotts of 
their goods, international buyers such as Nike and 
Gap adopted codes of conduct on working conditions 
(these international standards are different from the 
national labour laws drawn up by the state, which set 
out the rights of all Bangladeshi citizens). Failure to 
comply with international basic labour standards now 
carries penalties for the garment manufacturers that 
supply these buyers, most notably the potential loss
—
The Fabric of Accountability 
in Bangladesh’s Garment 
Industry
Citizenship DRC Case Study Series
—
Backed by Popular Demand: Citizen Actions for Accountability02
of business. But has the proliferation of codes of 
conduct contributed to a culture of accountability? 
Codes of conduct
The research showed that when companies that dealt 
with foreign buyers adhered to codes of conduct, 
conditions improved for the workers in the factories. 
In some large factories, health and safety standards 
improved and other benefits were introduced such 
as timely payment of salaries, proper overtime rates 
and maternity leave. Such changes were few, 
however, as many employers still managed to evade 
all but the most visible aspects of the codes of conduct. 
The research showed that in the absence of a popular 
movement, codes of conduct do not necessarily lead 
to genuine accountability. 
•	 Employers have formalised their relationships 		
with each other and with the government, but 		
relationships with workers remain exploitative 		
and rooted in the informal economy. Few see 		
their workers as citizens with rights 	
and obligations.
•	 Although there is evidence of greater 			
compliance with codes, it is due to the 			
companies’ vulnerability in the international 		
buyer-driven value chain, rather than a genuine 		
value of accountability. International brand-		
name companies are more concerned about 		
their reputation than the needs of workers. 
•	 Fewer than five per cent of export garment 		
workers reported a trade union presence in 		
their workplace, and only around 20 per cent 		
had heard of the country’s labour laws.
Seeds of accountability in the domestic sector 
While the export sector is huge, most garment 
workers, many of them poor women, work informally 
and outside the export sector, beyond the reach of 
international buyers and codes of conduct. In economic 
terms, these domestic sector workers have little 
strategic importance because they do not bring foreign 
exchange into the country. The international codes 
are irrelevant to them, yet civil society leaders and 
some government officials have stood up to support 
them. It is still too early to declare significant 
improvements in accountability have occurred, but
it is here that the seeds of a genuine culture of 
democratic accountability can be found – in the 
presence of popular movements.
Although workers are still largely unaware of their 
rights, they are less willing to tolerate injustice in 
the workplace. There are more visible signs of 
resistance such as resignations, shop floor protests, 
walk-outs and street protests over the minimum 
wage. Women interviewed as part of the research 
process appeared to be learning the principles of 
collective bargaining. Many of the actions were 
focused on getting paid regularly and for overtime, 
rather than on workplace conditions. 
A number of developments triggered by the rise of 
the export garment industry could have positive future 
implications for them. These include:
•	 the new national labour code set out in law but 		
yet to be adopted and implemented; 
•	 proposals to transform the trade unions and 		
improve relationships between political parties 		
and trade unions, allowing better representation 	
and ensuring employers are held accountable; 		
and
•	 the emergence of a ‘new’ form of trade unionism 	
within and beyond the garment sector that is 		
more responsive to the needs of its members 		
and to women members in particular.
Authors:
—
Simeen Mahmud 
Lead Researcher 
BRAC Development 
Institute 
c/o BRAC University
Aarong House –
19th Floor
66, Mohakhali
Dhaka-1212
Bangladesh
citizenship@
bracuniversity.ac.bd
— 
References:
—
‘Rags, Riches and Women 
Workers: Export-oriented 
Garment Manufacturing in 
Bangladesh’ by Naila 
Kabeer and Simeen 
Mahmud, in Marilyn Carr 
(ed.), Chains of Fortune: 
Linking Women Producers 
and Workers with Global 
Markets, London: 
Commonwealth 
Secretariat, 2004.
—
‘Compliance Versus 
Accountability: Struggles 
for Dignity and Daily Bread 
in the Bangladesh Garment 
Industry’ by Simeen 
Mahmud and Naila Kabeer, 
in Rights, Resources and 
the Politics of 
Accountability, edited by 
Peter Newell and Joanna 
Wheeler, London: Zed 
Books, 2006.
— 
Editor:
—
Nicholas Benequista


The Fabric of Accountability in Bangladesh?s Garment Industry

https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/20.500.12413/12577/1/benequista_2009_fabric.pdf

The Fabric of Accountability in Bangladesh?s Garment Industry

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