“The Low Price” of the textile discounter KiK – consequences for labour conditions in textile factories in Bangladesh: Difference between revisions

Bangladesh is a country that is very affected by agriculture, because the land is very fructuous. “Eighty percent of the agricultural land is used for rice growing, but there is also wheat, barley, maize, potatoes, pulses, bananas and mangoes.”<ref name="#eins">Ich bin eine quelle eins</ref> Nevertheless around 25&nbsp;% of the population is suffering from hunger. The garment industry contributes enormously to the economic development. 2 million people are working at the 3.500 factories. 85&nbsp;% are women from the rural regions who need to work in the cities because of job shortage in their home regions. The work at the garment factories is their only chance to receive income that helps to save the survival of the family. <ref name="#eins">Ich bin eine quelle zwei</ref>  

“Since 1990, Bangladesh has experienced a spectacular growth in the area of clothing and textiles. Whereas the value of exports amounted to 600 million US dollars in 1990, this rose to nearly eight billion US dollars in 2006. The reason: Bangladesh is one of the poorest countries in the world and, in the past, with favourable customs regulations, was able to export clothing to Europe and the USA without quantitative restrictions. However, in other countries, the bulk buyers, in accordance with the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), restricted imports through quotas. Bangladesh was able to take advantage of this trading advantage, in order to establish itself alongside the textile giants China, India and Hong Kong on the world market.” The export products of Bangladesh shifted from raw material, like jute, and jute products (90%) to clothes based on cotton. The problem is that cotton has to be imported first before it can be part of the garment production. “Bangladesh’s clothing industry did not collapse after the phase out of the Agreement and its preferential treatment.” “In most factories, labour laws are being massively violated. Thus, the extremely low wage level is the main reason for contracts with buyers from the EU and the USA not being lost. Low wage costs make it attractive, i.e. cheaper, for buyers to allow production to continue in Bangladesh – at the cost of the workers, who, with these wages are barely able to survive.”