US Lawmakers Demand Living Wages for Bangladeshi Garment Workers
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A coalition of U.S. representatives has written to one of the fashion industry’s foremost trade groups in support of Bangladeshi garment workers’ demands for fairer wages.
Led by Democrats Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Jim McGovern of Massachusetts and Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, the lawmakers urged members of the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) to wield their influence and “stand together with workers by immediately demanding better wages and rights for Bangladeshi working families.”
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“Due to their significant presence and operational leverage in Bangladesh, we believe that AAFA member companies are strongly positioned to support workers’ petitions for livable wages and to vocally champion their labor rights in a key country for the global apparel industry,” Omar et. al. wrote in the letter, dated Dec. 15, to AAFA president and CEO Steve Lamar. “The escalating repression that Bangladeshi workers are enduring underscores the urgent need for transformative, systemic reform—a call to action that U.S. corporations must heed.”
While the lawmakers were “encouraged” by the support of several U.S. brands for both a wage increase and a fair and transparent wage-setting process, as detailed in a letter that American Eagle Outfitters, Gap Inc., Levi Strauss & Co. and others wrote to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in October, they found the “reluctance” of those same companies to back the unions’ call for 23,000 Bangladeshi taka ($210) “not only disheartening but shameful.”
“As you know, the recent wage increases announced by Bangladesh’s wage board, which would not even meet the rising cost of living, have led to extended mass protests,” the letter said. “Police have responded with violence against protesters and trade union leaders, resulting in at least four deaths, numerous injuries and a wave of unjust arrests, detentions, and indefinite factory shutdowns. We echo the Biden administration’s call for the government of Bangladesh to respect and protect workers’ rights to organize, protest peacefully, and collectively bargain without fear of retaliation, violence or intimidation.”
Nate Herman, senior vice president of policy at AAFA, said the organization is pleased to see members of Congress “join our efforts” to “seek improvements in working conditions in Bangladesh” and that AAFA and its members have been at the forefront of efforts to secure “real increases” to wages and reforms to the wage review process, which it recommends gets updated annually rather than every five years so that workers aren’t “disadvantaged by changing macroeconomic conditions.”
“As we and our members have continuously reiterated, we are committed to responsible purchasing practices to support the wage increases,” Herman said. “Moreover, we continue to urge that the government of Bangladesh continue to partner with all parties to ensure an environment that fosters workers’ rights, worker welfare and inclusive and peaceful multistakeholder dialogue.”
Herman said that the group is “particularly distressed” by the violence that ensued during the wage negotiations and protests, condemning the deaths, injuries and arrests of “many innocent workers” in the “strongest terms.”
“We have continued to appeal to the government of Bangladesh, through its words and actions, including releasing anybody unlawfully detained, to set a tone that facilitates only peaceful discourse as wage and related issues are addressed and resolved,” he added. “A responsible and competitive Bangladeshi apparel industry—one that involves peaceful and good faith participation from all stakeholders and that supports economic opportunity—continues to remain an important part of the global fashion industry.”
But lawmakers want the AAFA to go further, including pressuring the government of Bangladesh to accept workers’ minimum demand of 23,000 taka per month. They also asked the organization to call on Bangladeshi authorities to stop their wage protest-related arrests and release innocent detained individuals without delay; warn suppliers to stop filing criminal cases against workers and make evident that dismissing, blacklisting or otherwise harassing workers and union leaders is unacceptable and will influence its sourcing decisions; and use its “considerable leverage” with individual factory owners and industry associations to ensure that workers are paid despite production stoppages.
“We believe that our actions abroad should always reflect our values at home,” the representatives wrote. “The historic challenges faced by garment workers in Bangladesh are part of a shared global struggle for good-paying jobs, safe working conditions and the right to organize. When we support workers’ rights in one part of the world, we bolster the fight for those rights everywhere. We urge you to help stop the exploitation against the Bangladeshi workers who have fueled the growth and profit of your businesses, and in support of the democratic, inclusive values that we cherish as a nation.”
