Pandemic cut earnings of 82pc apparel workers in April-May
Eighty-two per cent of garment personnel in Bangladesh earned less in April and May compared to that in February because of the coronavirus pandemic - a discovering that highlights the result the crisis had on the incomes of the working class, according to a fresh study by Brac University.
The university's Centre for Entrepreneurship Development and James P Grant School of Public Health, in colaboration with the Subir and Malini Chowdhury Center for Bangladesh Studies at the University of California, Berkeley recently carried out the rapid survey titled "The Impacts of Covid-19 on the Lives of Workers in the Garment Industry".
Co-author Sanchita Banerjee Saxena, also the executive director of the Institute for South Asia Studies and director of the Subir and Malini Chowdhury Center for Bangladesh Studies at the University of California at Berkeley, presented the findings at a webinar.
The survey was conducted between June 30 and July 13, and 1,057 garment personnel participated through calls. The study targets staff from the garment sector who are particularly vulnerable to a good transitory shock to the sector, according to a press release.
According to the survey, 52 per cent of the respondents said they saved less in April and May compared to what they did in February.
Some 77 per cent of respondents said it had been difficult to feed everyone within their household.
Some 69 % of the workers ate less meat, fish and eggs in-may compared to that in February and 40 % consumed more pulses. Some 74 % took a comparable amount of rice and wheat in the same period.
When asked how they coped through the period, 60 per cent of the staff said they did not keep any savings. Rather, they used their savings to get food. Some 92 % said they reduced other expenses.
Of the 906 workers who were still used in February 2020, 140 reported that their current employers have been laying off employees since March following the pandemic broke out in Bangladesh.
The common number of laid-off personnel was 232. Seventy % of the employees said they were worried sick or somewhat concerned about the workers in their factory who lost jobs or might lose their jobs due to the pandemic.
Eighty-seven % of the respondents said their factories introduced new protective measures against the coronavirus, including giving employees new protective equipment (91 %), encouraging more hygiene measures (77 %), sending personnel with symptoms home (66 per cent), and encouraging social distancing between workers (75 %).
Three in five personnel still believe that they tend or very likely to get infected by the virus at their workplaces and 29 % think that they'll contract it from their homes.
Fifty-four % of the ladies and 45 per cent of the men would not manage to isolate at home if they catch the virus.
Ninety % said they did not receive any support from the federal government during the pandemic.
Expectations from the federal government include cash support (70 per cent), healthcare facilities (58 %), job security (53 %) and food rations (45 per cent).
The analysis recommended addressing the needs of fabricating more opportunity for mobility between various positions in the factory, particularly for women.
Based on the export earnings data, $4.6 billion was lost through the March to May period. However the gap had almost vanished by June, reviving hopes for a recovery of the sector, the news release said.
Noted economist Prof Wahiduddin Mahmud, a former caretaker government adviser, said garment factories in Bangladesh were born to export, making the problem in the united states very unique.
Thus, what sort of shocks have already been absorbed by the garment sector is different compared to other areas of the world, he said in the news release.
Rubana Huq, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said brands must be made accountable for the adversities that Bangladesh faced because of the Covid-19 outbreak.
She said the sector took necessary initiatives to reopen factories slowly but surely according to the demand of the economy.
Begum Monnujan Sufian, state minister for labour and employment, said the federal government has taken steps to resume operations at garment factories keeping the welfare of the workers in mind.
The steps include implementing the stimulus package for the garment sector, forming crisis committees, providing telemedicine services to personnel and formulating health safety guidelines for personnel in cooperation with International Labour Organization, she said.
Atonu Rabbani, a co-author of the analysis and an associate professor of economics at the University of Dhaka, said it had been trickier to accumulate layoff data from workers. Rather, factories will be a more appropriate source.
Taslima Akhter, an activist, said staff were the most vulnerable during the pandemic.
"They are in regular fear of being laid off," she said, requesting the federal government and factory owners to take up the duty of ensuring welfare of the workers.
Prof Rahim B Talukdar, adviser of the CED-BRACU, and Syed Hasibuddin Hussain, project manager of the Mapped in Bangladesh project at the CED, also spoke.
