Is it ethical to buy clothes made in Bangladesh?

Bangladesh is today the second largest exporter of readymade apparel in the world, trailing only China. It is also the focus of much critical reporting about poor labor conditions in its garment factories. However, in Bangladesh itself there is widespread agreement – among entrepreneurs, government officials, NGOs, labor activists, development experts – that working conditions and wages have improved significantly in recent years. 

by Marianne Scholte

We have been conditioned to shop with a bad conscience. I purchase a shirt at a boutique on the Ku’damm in Berlin and comment to the saleswoman that it was made in Bangladesh. Before I can complete my sentence, she sighs and apologizes: “Yes, the working conditions are so very bad there, but what to do? Everything is made abroad these days.”

“No, no,” I correct her, “I lived in Bangladesh. I have been in some of these factories. And I am pleased to buy something made there.” The saleswoman is astonished. Then I explain to her that garment factory jobs are the only formal-sector jobs available to rural young women in Bangladesh, who otherwise are married off at a very young age.

I explain that garments are the biggest and most important industrial sector in Bangladesh today, employing 3.5 million people directly and millions more indirectly. I explain that the wages are indeed low there, but that this is the reason that so many firms, including all the major German retailers, source there and thus create jobs. And that improvements have been made in wages and working conditions and will continue to be made. The saleswoman thanks me for the information, apparently pleased to have something positive to say to the next customer who complains about the labor conditions in Bangladesh.

Earlier this year, Markencheck continued the barrage of negative reporting about garment factories in Bangladesh with programs on Lidl and H&M.
On two Monday evenings in January, we again saw the familiar pictures of young women who are forced to work 16 hours a day, yet do not earn enough to keep body and soul together, a grandmother who sobs because her grandchild will never go to school.

The “Fairness” part of both programs relies heavily on the research of Clean Clothes Germany, which has been deeply involved in investigating labor conditions in Bangladesh since 2007. The faces in the program are familiar to anyone who has followed this discussion over the last five years: Khorshed Alam, Director of the Alternative Movement for Resources and Freedom Society (AMRF), again reports on the dire situation of the garment workers. Alam has been doing the legwork for Clean Clothes in Bangladesh over the years and has also been in Germany a couple times with the same mission. Amirul Haque Amin, President of the National Garment Workers Federation, explains that wages in the garment factories are lower than the poverty level and do not cover basic needs. Gisela Burckhart, the Clean Clothes Germany activist, claims that the medical service provided by Lidl is simply a cover up for low wages.

The television program Hart aber Fair picks up the topic on the Monday night after the H&M program with guests including Dirk Niebel, the German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development; Holger Brackemann from Stiftung Warentest; Wolf-Rüdiger Baumann, Hauptgeschäftsführer of the Gesamtverband textil+mode; and Kirsten Brodde, the Greenpeace expert and author of Saubere Sachen.

The discussion gets underway with a number of promising statements from various participants. Wolf-Rüdiger Baumann talks about medium-term processes that lead to growth and higher standards of living. Kirsten Brodde states that her goal is not for firms to stop producing in Bangladesh, as the people there need the jobs. Her goal is fair wages in Bangladesh and elsewhere. Dirk Niebel points out that to stop buying goods made in Bangladesh is the wrong reaction – instead better standards must be promoted. He points out that many Germans are willing to pay more for fair trade goods and pleads for certification of the entire supply chain of clothing retailers.

However, in his presentation about Stiftung Warentest’s investigation of the conditions under which simple black T-shirts were made, Holger Brackemann demonstrates how difficult it is to find clothing that is presently certified in this manner. The latter part of the program is then dedicated to a mini fashion show to determine whether eco clothing is also fashionable.

In the end we are left with the implicit message that the only really ethical alternative at the moment is to buy clothes made by eco-labels. And Kirsten Brodde has in fact compiled a list of firms that we can apparently trust. Her book Saubere Sachen recommends her 50 favorite producers of “ethical and ecological clothes.”

Two days later a friend comments that he saw the recent television programs and can no longer in good conscience buy clothes made in Bangladesh. I am stunned. How in the world, I ask, is his clean conscience going to help those underpaid garment workers in Bangladesh?

Shortly thereafter I am back in Bangladesh and I would like to understand how Bangladeshis view the concerns of Westerners about working conditions in their garment factories. I ask around: who should I talk to?

Several people recommend Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmmed, the Assistant Executive Director of Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS). BILS is the only labor institute in Bangladesh and was established in 1995 with the support of the trade union movement. The name sounds familiar. Sure enough – Uddin Ahmmed appeared briefly on the H&M Markencheck program explaining that garment workers need a minimum wage of 7000 taka to survive.

Uddin Ahmmed agrees to see me and is surprised to hear that he appeared on German television. And he is most alarmed to hear that such programs might be motivating people to stop buying clothes made in Bangladesh. I ask him what Germans who wish to help the garment workers they saw on Markencheck can do to help them. He proceeds to outline a very concrete course of action that does not involve complicated eco labels, but does involve buying apparel made in Bangladesh and supporting Bangladesh labor unions – despite the fact that the Bangladesh labor union sector is fragmented and politicized.

Uddin Ahmmed makes no bones about the difficult situation for garment workers in Bangladesh, but, unlike Clean Clothes, he believes that “many factories have improved their working conditions…Nobody closes their eyes anymore.”

Although Uddin Ahmmed mentions no names, he is critical of “international people” who bring in money and support for “small groups who claim to speak for workers.” These people do not understand the entire situation, he claims. 

And most vehemently of all he urges, “Stop this negative propaganda! Negative propaganda cannot change anything. We are a country of 160 million people. It is not so simple. We cannot just ignore the situation of these girls. We cannot do anything that will force these girls simply to return to their villages. But at the same time, we cannot accept that these 3.5 million workers live an undignified life. We need to balance both.” To read the entire interview with Uddin Ahmmed, click here: http://www.threadsandborders.blogspot.de/2012/08/interview-with-mr-syed-sultan-uddin.html

Fazlul Hoque, President of the Bangladesh Employers' Federation, also agrees to talk to me. He owns two garment factories and is currently producing for a German buyer, so I am quite interested in what he has to say. Hoque agrees with Uddin Ahmmed that conditions in the garment factories have improved in the last few years and that people are much more aware of the need for compliance with social conditions.

Hoque insists that firms like his can prove they are compliant with international standards. His firms are certified by TÜV SÜD and they are currently undergoing certification for the Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI), because his current German buyer is promoting this.

Hoque urges me to consider the overall economic, social, political situation of Bangladesh. “If you take the Bangladesh standard of living earnestly,” he says, “you will find that the garment workers enjoy a better standard of living than the average Bangladeshi. The working environment is one of the best available to workers in Bangladesh.” Hoque points out that the readymade garment sector is the only industry in Bangladesh that has a minimum wage: 3000 taka – the highest official entry level in the country.

Hoque would like to come to Germany to talk to people who have a bad image of readymade garment producers in Bangladesh.  As he says, “You cannot take a yardstick from Germany and use it in Bangladesh. You have to think about the overall socio-economic situation in Bangladesh.” However, in one point, Hoque is in complete agreement with Clean Clothes and Markencheck: the discounters are “killing us,” he says. “You ask them: how do they justify paying $1.00 for a T-shirt? Do the costing!” To read the interview with Fazlul Hoque, click here: http://www.threadsandborders.blogspot.de/2012/08/interview-with-mr-md-fazlul-hoque.html

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