‘She was born fighting’

Labor activist Nazma Akter began working in a garment factory in 1986, when she was 11 years old – in a factory where her mother, Razia Begum, had worked. By 1989, mother and daughter were working at Comtrade, a readymade garment (RMG) factory of the Beximco Group and one of the factories where the Bangladesh RMG labor movement got its start. Nazma Akter and Razia Begum discuss their experiences working together in the garment industry.                  Interview by Marianne Scholte, Dhaka,19 September 2014

Razia Begum

Scholte:  Where are you from, Mrs. Begum?

Razia Begum: I was born in 1959 in Shariatpur district in the Greater Faridpur region, but I came to Dhaka with my parents when I was three or four.

Scholte: Did you go to school?

Razia Begum: Yes, I had five years of schooling. But then I was married at 13 to my husband, Oli Mia, who was 14 years older than I was.

Scholte:  That must have been frightening when you were so young.

Razia Begum: Yes, I was very scared. It took me five years until I felt better.

Scholte:  And you had children right away?

Razia Begum: Nazma was born when I was 15. Her sister, Shely, was born four years later. Then came three boys. The youngest boy was born when I was 28.  

Scholte:  And then at one point you went to work in a garment factory, right? What was that like?

Razia Begum:  Yes, in 1983, when I was 24 or 25, I went to work at Sam’s Garments in Shantinogo. It was after the second boy was born. My husband was a vegetable seller and we needed the money. I worked there for nearly a year as a helper and earned 250 taka a month. We worked from 8 am to 8 pm or 10 pm. A year later, I became a sewing machine operator at Rational Garments Ltd. in Malibagh, where I earned 600 taka a month. I stayed there for two-three years. Then I left to have another baby. In 1988, I went back to work at Comtrade Apparels Beximco, where I earned 800 taka a month at the beginning.

Scholte:  Nazma, when did you start working in a garment factory?

Akter: In 1986, when I was 11 years old, I began working at Sam’s Garments. I started at Comtrade in 1989, when I was 14. I was earning 1300 taka a month.

Razia Begum:  1300 taka a month! That was more than I was earning then – I didn’t know that.

Akter: (laughs)

Nazma Akter, Astraia Female Leader of the Year 2013

Scholte: So, how were the working conditions?

Razia Begum: The environment was not bad, there was no verbal abuse or anything like that. The problem was that the salary was not paid on time, overtime was not paid correctly, maternity leave was not paid, there was no canteen, we ate lunch on the roof, and we worked from 8 am to 8 to 10 pm, six or seven days a week. We made shirts for Walmart, Norton (an Italian brand) and K-Mart, mostly men’s shirts.

Scholte:  So Nazma started getting involved in protests?

Razia Begum: Yes, Nazma was an activist and this scared me very, very much. She participated in demonstrations and tried to organize the workers. The neighbors started saying bad things about her. The factory sent goons around shouting that Nazma was a bad woman because she was outside on the road early in the morning and late at night. But Nazma was stubborn – God made her that way. She was born fighting.

Scholte: So your parents supported you, Nazma?

Akter: My father did not support me when neighbors were talking badly, my mother did.  But today my father is proud of me. Today, the neighbors praise me, too.

Scholte: And then there was the big strike in 1991. Tell me about that.

Akter: In March, the management illegally fired labor leaders who were trying to organize the workers. There was a protest and they locked us out. We had 13-day sit-down strike in front of the factory. There were 500 to 600 people. They sent out goons to beat us up. But they had to re-open the factory and reinstate the labor organizers who had been fired.

Then in October, they locked us out again. There was another sit-down strike, for 21 days. I was beaten up and tear-gassed.

Razia Begum:  Nazma was rolling around on the ground. I ran over to her, grabbed her and pulled her to the water tank of a near-by mosque, where I pushed her head under the water.

Akter: She saved me.

Scholte: Then what happened?

Akter: 50,000 workers gathered in front of Beximco Headquarters to demand reinstatement of the labor leaders. Beximco had a huge order, so they had to take back the fired workers. They were reinstated. But 80 people were gradually terminated in three groups. I was in second group and then I was blacklisted. My picture was in the paper and no one would hire me. A couple years later, I started working full time for workers’ rights.

Scholte: And you, Mrs. Begum?

Razia Begum: I stayed at Beximco a couple months, but the environment was bad. And they knew I was Nazma’s mother. So I went to Apparel Fair in Malibagh in 1992, where I earned  1500 taka a month. Then I stopped working in 1997/98. 

Akter: I told her to stop. Told her I would take care of her.

Scholte: And how have things changed since then, Mrs. Begum?

Razia Begum: Now it is so much better. When I was there, no one was focused on workers’ rights. There were no labor organizations and no worker awareness.  I am very proud of my daughter for working to change this. She is taking care of workers’ rights.

Scholte:  Thank you both very much!