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She was forced to work a maximum of 19 hours a day, from 8 a.m. to 3 a.m. the next morning, she says. The salary corresponded to 4.30 SEK per hour. If she doubted, they threatened her with dismissal or withdrew her wages.
Taslima Begum, 28, wears a mouth guard when describing via video link to DN how middle managers supervising work at Saybolt Tex Ltd’s factory on the outskirts of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, always established production goals that exceeded capacity and depressed her and her colleagues.
– They could yell ugly words. “You are the daughter of a dog!” I was sad, but I never dared to speak. I support my mother and son who live in a country town.
In earned base salary she the legal minimum wage in the country, corresponding to 800 crowns per month. With all the overtime, Taslima Belgum claims it was on average around 1,500 crowns a month, which is lower than the 1,700 crowns equivalent salary a worker needs to be able to live in Dhaka, according to the Global Living Salary Coalition.
He still lives in the small room near the factory that he shares with a colleague: the kitchen and bathroom they share with 50 other textile workers. Desperately looking for a job and borrowing money from friends.
Taslima Begum is one of thousands of trade unionists who have lost their jobs.
Photo: Private
The factory produced clothing for brands such as H&M and Zara, and was the only one of eight factories within the Windy Group that closed in June, when demand for fashion declined in relation to the pandemic. The factory was also the only one in the group where almost all the workers were organized in a union.
Those who lost their jobs are not considered a coincidence by various organizations.
Read more: H&M Global Production Manager: “There is room for improvement”
The pandemic virus is used as a cover for getting rid of unionized employees among H&M subcontractors, says the Clean Clothes Campaign, an umbrella for 230 organizations worldwide that work for the rights of textile workers.
– It is an exceptional situation that is used to hunt unions and H&M does not do enough to prevent it, says Ilana Winterstein of the organization.
DN has received information on several cases of “union repression” – countering union organizing and activities, in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, during the pandemic. In factories that have long produced clothing for H&M, thousands of unionized workers have been laid off, while unaffiliated people have been allowed to keep their jobs to a greater extent.
Laura Gutierrez vid organizationen Worker rights consortium, WRC, i Washington:
– These are selective retaliatory actions against workers who have dared to organize in a union.
Textile worker Fazlur Rahman, 35, is disappointed that H&M does not pressure subcontractors to respect human rights as a union.
Photo: Private
DN has interviewed more five textile workers from another subcontractor, Tanaz Fashion Ltd, a factory in Dhaka. They had submitted an official application to the required state to start a local union. When the factory management found out in May, they were all fired.
– It feels very unfair and wrong, says one of them, Fazlur Rahman, 35, who is now forced to borrow money from colleagues who still have the remaining jobs, in order to support his family with two children.
They are disappointed that H&M does not more clearly demand that human rights be respected.
– They should put pressure on the factory owners to get our jobs back.
When management learned that textile workers Fazlur Rahman, Abdul Imran Mollah, Alomgir Hossain, Mohin Uddin, Hasibul Hasan tried to found a union organization in the factory that sews H&M clothing, they lost their jobs.
Photo: Private.
Amirul Haque Amin, President of the National Garment Workers Federation of Bangladesh, addresses several cases. After laying off 1,200 unions at Tanaz Fashion Ltd, management hired another 700 workers just two weeks later, for example.
– We try to continue supporting the unions, but now many workers are too scared. It’s very difficult, he says.
H & M’s communications department states in an email that it is unacceptable for a supplier to fire workers due to union involvement, that it violates company policies and that the supplier is at risk of losing his assignment.
“But since that decision also affects workers, it is important that all other possibilities are exhausted first.”
Initially, H&M states with respect to the cases that DN addresses:
* In India the supplier and the unions interpret the law in different ways, and H&M maintains a close dialogue with both parties.
“We are now considering ending our business relationship with the supplier unless steps are taken to show that the right to organize is fully respected.”
* In Pakistan the supplier has laid off a total of 450 workers – “after they left work without applying for leave and did not return within the timeframe established by law.”
“These workers have received full payment and bonuses in accordance with the agreements”, and “At the end of May, the bonus was paid to all workers in the textile industry in the country.”
* I Bangladesh “An agreement has been reached between employers and unions.”
H & M’s answer contradicts itself by various union representatives with whom DN has been in contact.
– That’s not true at all. When the union tried to communicate, the factory owners did not want to negotiate. Instead, the owners have formed “yellow unions”, bogus unions supported by management, which can represent workers in contact with H&M representatives. H&M has done nothing to pressure its subcontractors in Bangladesh on this issue, says Amirul Haque Amin.
Amirul Haque Amin, President of the umbrella organization of the National Garment Workers Federation in Bangladesh
Photo: National Federation of Garment Workers.
Kalpona Akter, president of the Bangladeshi Center for Workers’ Solidarity, describes how the factory management of several of H & M’s suppliers until August created “yellow unions” to appease shoppers of clothing who are led to believe that the unions have reached an agreement with the employer.
– H&M has been informed about this repeatedly, but has not reacted, he tells DN.
Nasir Mansoor, The general secretary of the Pakistan National Trade Union Federation, NTUF, confirms that some workers felt obliged to receive compensation as the legal process against employers dragged on, but thinks it is wrong for H&M to point this out as if workers they would have agreed on a solution: “They want their jobs back.”
Mats Svensson, IF Metall’s international secretary who has signed an agreement with H&M to collaborate for trade union rights, is aware of the phenomenon. According to him, pressure from buyers of goods is required.
– The pandemic has shown that unscrupulous suppliers seize the opportunity to get rid of unions and here we have reason to seek measures that can prevent this unacceptable behavior.
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