Ashulia, Bangladesh – Lima Akter, 28, first sold his television. Then his phone, then his refrigerator. Now she plans to sell her sewing machine. After working in the clothing industry for 12 years, she has been unemployed – and has been since August.
Last year, the clothing workers – and many other Bangladais – protested for months against the autocratic regime of Minister Sheikh Hasina of the time, demanding fair wages and protection against human rights violations. The demonstrations, now called the monsoon revolution, culminated in August with the theft of Hasina to India and the collapse of her party, the Awami League, which was prohibited from politics.
The $ 47 billion clothing sector in Bangladesh, which provides major world brands thanks to low -cost manufacturing, has long been linked to politics. Many factory owners were leaders of the Awami League and have helped establish compulsory government wages for their workers. Many workers have been paid – and sometimes forced – to vote according to party parties. In return, the factory owners have received favorable treatment, in particular access to bank loans and export contracts.
“As soon as Hasina fled,” said Akter, “our factory closed its doors.”
Akter’s mother-in-law lost her job in the same clothing factory, and her husband did it too. They were part of around 6,000 workers who were left unemployed at Generation Next Fashions, a textile company – and among the 130,000 clothing factory workers, mainly women, whose jobs disappeared when Hasina fled.
The success of the demonstrators has reached a high cost. About 140 factories were closed after Hasina left, according to local estimates. Some have been vandalized or burnt down, and others have been abandoned because their owners have fled or failed to obtain funding. Many critical purchasing orders have lost.
For many workers, upheavals cost their livelihoods.
Hung by a thread
Clothing workers established Bangladesh as a seamstress in the world. The industry contributes to around 12% to the gross domestic product in the country, and around 4 million bangladeshs are directly employed in the production of export clothing.
But for workers, prosperity is tenuous. The jobs were closely linked to the political status quo – and when this status quo collapsed, the ecosystem which also surrounds it.
There is no indication that the new government, led by Muhammad Yunus, will bring changes to clothing workers, explains Dolly Akter Rehana, founder and president of the Federation of Garning industrial workers.
Before the monsoon revolution, union leaders were able to negotiate with factory owners and managers of powerful clothing manufacturers and Bangladesh exporters to resolve disputes. But the collapse of the Awami League has left a power of power.
In October, the interim government dissolved the BGMEA board of directors and appointed an administrator of the export promotion office to supervise the sector. In May, new office deputies were finally elected – a sign of stabilization. The leaders of Sammilito Parishad, who won the biennial elections to lead BGMEA, published a statement that the association “would never again become a platform for a political party”.
But many workers are skeptical.
“In each diet, it’s the same thing,” said Rehana. “It is easy to bribe or manipulate workers with job offers or money because these women and their families live on one meal per day.”
To make matters worse, the US government on July 7 announced that a 35% rate would apply to all Bangladais products imported into the United States.
“The new prices increase concerns about job losses in Bangladesh because the United States is its main export market,” said former director of BGMEA, MD. Mohiuddin Rubel. “Bangladesh must act quickly by hiring American importers to put pressure on policy changes, taking up high -level commercial negotiations and stressing the importance of its products.”
‘A system of domination’
Clothing workers say they have not been able to vote freely for years – even in the face of Hasina’s electoral fixing.
Lucky Akter, 38, worker of gas clothes, recalls how the factory management gave him 2,000 Bangladesh Taka (around US $ 16) to support the Awami League in the January 2024 elections.
“We line up in the factory office,” she said. “They had our list of voters, and management said it was good for the development of the country and (the factory).”
Lucky Akter supports a family of five.
“For me, democracy has a job,” she says. “So I voted as they asked.”
For workers living in the body, the vote as indicated is a survival strategy, explains Rashed Al Mahmud, professor in the Department of Development Studies at the University of Dacca. “It must be considered as a forced choice inflicted on them.”
Rubel recognizes that the coercion of voters was common. “This kind of practice was there before, but not everyone was like that,” he said. “It was only done by dishonest political businessmen.”
Julekha Akter, 21, started working in Gazipur clothing factories five years ago, especially for three years in Inent Group, which was one of the factories that closed in August. She says she was never allowed to leave the factory to vote. But in many factories, she says, it is a secret of Polichinelle that workers had to vote for the Awami League.
Julekha Akter recently found a job in another factory. “There are very few work opportunities in the rural area from where we come from,” she says, and it is optimistic that a good government can change the fate of workers.
But will it be?
“The government must decide-will it continue with business as usual or continue a approach centered on people and women?” Said tenumir. “Currently, there is no negotiation power for women. It is always a system of domination.”
Lucky Akter is determined to vote freely in the next elections, but she wonders if it will make a difference. “We need someone who will be held with business, with us and for the country,” she says. “But do we even have such a candidate?”
Many factories damaged in the monsoon revolution are still closed. As workers wait for them to reopen, the reform remains elusive. Rather than stimulating workers’ wages and protections, factories are encouraged to do the opposite. The hiring process has become more competitive – and invasive.
There is an “incredible checklist to get a job in the clothes now,” says Julekha Akter. Employers check education, check that candidates are not involved in workers’ unions and even assess hygiene. And although her factory turns out to be thousands of clothes a day, Julekha Akter cannot afford new clothes.
“The money I earn is not enough for three meals,” she says. “How can I spend money on good hygiene or outfits?”