2 phillips
ᅡᅲᅲ ᅲᅲᅲᅲᅲ ᅲᅲᅲᅲᅲᅲ ᅲᅲᅲᅲ
My name is Gauthan Akhtar and I am from Bangladesh.
I have been working in the government factory about eight years
and I started when I was just twelve and a half years old
and I had to start because my father was only the person who was earning for our family
but certainly he got ill so he couldn't support our family
so me and my mom we decided to work in government factory
after six months she had some problem with her kidney
so she stopped to work
then my ten and a half years old brother
he started to work with me in my factory as a sewage machine helper
Do you have any idea how much was my starting salary?
Any guess?
What could be?
Five
Four days?
Four weeks
We have seven members in family
four sisters, one brother and my parents
so we were seven but the amount used to earn is like
me three euros, my brother like three euros
and then including the all the time it was like
ten euros maximum or nine euros per month
so it was just nothing for our family
so in many days we had food at home
though we had job in the government factory
there were many factories used to pay like
every two months or three months
or you never know when they gonna pay
When I used to work I used to
most of the time I used to do this part
which is called sleeve join
and the bottom hem
and there is a different operator
to do these side seams
in plain machine they make these levels
they use these levels
and there is a small embroidery though
so they also involve the embroidery machine to make this
We had to work like long working hours
fourteen hours or fifteen hours a day
twenty-one hours shift
sometimes it is fifteen days in a row
and it was forced to work overtime
it wasn't voluntarily
twenty hours in a day
that means we have three hours only to sleep
and that is in production floor
which is quite impossible to sleep
like myself and sometimes in my brother
we worked like twenty-three days in a row
twenty-one hours shift
When I was a swag machine helper
I had to stand
a whole day of my working
even it is twenty-one hours shift
just stand up
stand up in front of the machine
There is operators
they sew the clothes
which is called sewing machine operators
and helpers
they help the operators
to do things very smoothly
and in other hand
there is inspectors
called quality inspectors
they keep the quality control of the goods
In Bangladesh
there is
two point five million workers
working in garment factories
and ninety percent of them are women workers
but Mathai in Italy
which is very important for women workers
who are working there
it used to not paid
the water in Bangladesh is not safe
the first of all and the second
we had to drink water from toilet
I mean there is a tap in toilet
so we used to
use those water for our washing
as well as drinking
we had to use toilet cards for
using toilets
so there was one card for like fifty persons
fifty workers
so you can imagine
it is possible to have this card
every
do one person can use toilet twice a day
most of the time no
we had an emergency exits
in my factory
and I can remember that during my working time
in that factory fire took place
there was narrow stair
and they have put in many cartons
or shipment things in this stair
so it was quite impossible to get through
by that way people has been injured
okay by co-workers
they have been fell down
and many workers were walking on them
yes
this is one person friend
making Bangladesh
but it is a simple one
for this
we need
more machines than the t-shirt
it says it is made in Holland
it is not made in Bangladesh
but we really
swing this clothes in Bangladesh too
up to 1994
I had an idea about level log
I just know that
there is my home
where I can sleep for a while
I can see my parents and brothers and sisters
and there is another place
where I spent most of my time
that is my factory
so this was the two thing in my life
so
in 1994
the factory manager says
oh we cannot pay you as we used to pay
we gonna pay you less
and we said no wait
our factory was like
end of the city
but
in the middle of the city
or main city there was some uprising
by other troops
some workers started to raise their voice
and then we strike in our factory
though we don't know it is legal or illegal
and I learnt level log
I started to learn
and first day it was my feeling that
it is my second life
oh my gosh there is a law
and how they are being cheating us
we are being cheated by them
and during that time I was being married
with somebody it was arranged
by my family
so the person
unfortunately he was the relative
of my factory owner
so after the level log class
when I came back he informed that
I went to a level log class
and I learnt something
I had been beaten by him
why I have been there
but I didn't stop
in my country
in 2006 there was a massive
uprising
across the country
about 800-900,000 workers
came to the street and they just
almost blocked every main streets
and said that it is enough is enough
you have to make change
otherwise we will not go back to work
and in other hand the consumers
in western world
they put pressure into the brands and make them accountable
to tell their suppliers
to respect the worker rights
in the ground
or in the suppliers countries
so this is the way how chance
is made in our industry
but it is a long run to go
we need more changes
we need changes in terms of our salaries
we need changes in terms of our
freedom of association
which is right to organise and right to urban rights
so we need them
and without consumers help
it is quite impossible
but the supply chain
how it is look like
in the top of the supply chain
there is consumers then the brands
and then agents
and after that there is the
suppliers
or the factory owners
in the producing countries
and then after that
sometime it is subcontractors
and then in the bottom there is the workers
that is a supply chain look like
compared to past and present
now like you can see
a good percent of factories
they are providing
appointment card
about 90% factories
they are paying on time
whatever the salary is
and about
80% factories are paying
new minimum wage
which is 20 euros per month
but
it is not enough for our workers
like our daily
meal is like rice
dal
vegetable
and if you want
to have some
nourish food
so you should have some meats
and fruits
and fish, some milk
eggs which is
those nourish food is quite impossible
to buy with those money
and living with this
20 euros
one mother with two kids
it is quite impossible
even they cannot afford their books
medicals, anything
once a week they got off
which is weekend
or in a month
two days off or two weekends
that they can enjoy with their families
but they need to stay at home
they cannot go anywhere
or it cannot have any special meal
because the salary is poor
if it is sells like
how much it is
I don't know though
if it is sells like 5 euros
so one worker is not earning
like 1 cent from this teacher
anyway
about 30% factories
now providing
and many of them are following
the international delivery standards
but still they do not have union
in their factories
they have so called welfare community
in many cases workers
they do not have their voice on that
I know that working conditions
is still bad in Bangladesh
and some are in producing countries
Asia or Latin America
but the consumers still they should buy
and in the same time
they should make accountable to the brands
that use the brands
should
put pressure on the suppliers
to respect the level of the government
thank you
the government used to give
advertisement in Bangladesh airlines
say it like this
you can invest in our economy zone
because we do not allow union
in that zone
but they have stopped to show them now
