"Made in Bangladesh" on the collar label

On May 10th, a factory building collapsed in Dakar, the capital of Bangladesh. As of the 14th, the military completed the search for the remains of the victims. The number of victims in the worst building collapse in the country's history has increased to 1127.

After the accident, many garment workers demonstrated for days, demanding better working conditions. The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association announced the closure of more than 300 factories on the outskirts of Dakar, citing safety concerns. At the same time, the government has set up a new wage committee, which is discussing raising the minimum wage for workers in the garment industry.

The minimum monthly wage in Bangladesh is only US$37, or about RMB 228; even the average monthly wage of skilled workers in garment factories is only US$100. Attracted by cheap labor, multinational companies and international brands have flocked, including Chinese manufacturers who have said that if they import clothes from Bangladesh, the price of different categories of clothes will be 10%-15% lower than China's.

Bangladeshi workers say that in With inflation as high as 8%, income is no longer enough to live on, and basic wages are long overdue. But there are also many workers who say they won't quit their jobs with or without a pay hike because they have no other way out.

The huge demand for cheap clothing among the world's consumers is the root cause of the prosperity of Bangladesh's clothing industry. As a result, factory owners who oppose higher wages say wages are unlikely to rise too much "because Western consumers have become accustomed to cheap clothes".

Bangladesh last raised the minimum wage for garment workers in late 2010, nearly doubling the rate. The first minimum wage for garment workers was established in 1994, and it was raised once in 2006.

Today, Bangladesh is the world's second largest clothing exporter after China, with exports accounting for 78% of Bangladesh's total export trade, with an annual foreign exchange earnings of about 18 billion US dollars and an annual export of 20 billion US dollars Ready-to-wear to the US and Europe. Figures from Bangladesh's commerce ministry and industry sources show that 60 percent of garments exported are destined for Europe, 23 percent to the U.S. and 5 percent to Canada.

In 2005, the "Multi Fiber Arrangement" (Multi Fiber Arrangement) officially expired the international trade quota system, Western companies began to go to Bangladesh to produce clothing, developing countries export textiles and clothing to developed countries Since then, it no longer faces strict quantitative restrictions, further driving the development of Bangladesh's garment manufacturing industry.

McKinsey, a world-renowned consulting firm, predicts that Bangladesh's garment exports have broad prospects and will double in 2015 and triple in 2020. Its total exports in 2012 have reached 18 billion US dollars.

Manufacturing is converging here so fast that there is little time to adjust locally. In the case of Bangladesh, large corporations are receiving orders that exceed their production capacity, and the infrastructure and investment climate are simply not keeping pace with the influx of capital. Despite this, the Bangladeshi government has no intention of slowing down the development of the garment industry, and investors are still welcome. Local factory owners are eager to expand production capacity, ignoring production conditions and safety measures. Coupled with weak government supervision, disasters occur frequently.

In 2012, Bangladesh's garment industry provided 4.4 million direct jobs, of which 80% were women. If the surrounding industries driven by the garment industry were counted, the number of jobs it provided was as high as 4,000. 10,000, which is almost 27% of Bangladesh's population, and basically every Bangladeshi's life is closely related to the clothing industry. This is of great significance to the Bangladeshi government.

A relevant person from the Bangladesh branch of the international anti-corruption organization "Transparency International" said that the development of Bangladesh's garment industry has not brought much benefits to workers, but it has created a large number of wealthy factory owners. The main source of political funds has sufficient influence on the government's governance, coupled with the huge employment pressure in the country, the government has always been reluctant to take any possible measures to alienate foreign businessmen on the current situation of the garment manufacturing industry. It is expected that after the collapse of the building, Meng will put forward higher requirements on safety production standards in the garment and other manufacturing industries, and protection of the legitimate rights and interests of industrial workers.

After the accident, two major European fashion chains have signed an agreement, promising to conduct safety inspections and pay for repairs at factories in Bangladesh to improve the working environment for workers. However, many major retailers in the United States hope to revise the arbitration method of labor disputes before signing the agreement. In addition, the Bangladeshi government has agreed that workers can later form unions without the consent of factory owners.

The EU, the main export market for Bangladesh's garment manufacturing industry, said it was ready to reconsider its GSP to ensure compliance with international labor standards; some Western companies have begun to consider shifting production bases . After years of enjoying cheap labor, these irresponsible decisions will undoubtedly be disastrous for thousands of poor Bangladeshis.