DHAKA (AFP) — Two years ago, Mohammad Kamaluddin packed his meagre belongings and left behind a paltry farmhand's salary in search of a better wage in the booming textile factories of the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka.

His timing could hardly have been worse.

Photo: AFP

Bangladesh's main export earner has been rocked by the global economic downturn which has brought runaway growth to a juddering halt and this week prompted violent protests over wage cuts by tens of thousands of garment workers.

Two people were killed in the clashes in Ashulia, 30 kilometres (19 miles) outside Dhaka, with one factory torched and hundreds of others forced to close temporarily.
Kamaluddin, 18, has seen his factory salary slashed from 7,000 taka (100 dollars) a month, to around 3,000 taka, although he is still expected to put in the same gruelling hours.

His shift involves standing all day at his sweater knitting machine -- exhausting work that he blames for his deteriorating health, including two recent bouts of hepatitis.

"Before, it was bearable because I was sending 3,000 taka home to my mother each month, now there's barely enough to live on for me, let alone for her," he said.

In leaving his home in northern Bangladesh, Kamaluddin had been following in the footsteps of hundreds of thousands of rural labourers, lured to Dhaka's clothing factories by the promise of doubling or tripling their wages.

Bangladesh has a legal minimum wage of around 25 dollars per month. With overtime, a skilled garment worker can earn up to 150 dollars -- or rather he could.

Since early 2008, salaries have been cut by an average of up to 30 percent, according to union leader Tauhidul Islam who said this week's violence had been fuelled by desperation.

"The workers hit the streets because their backs are up against the wall," Islam said.

The government's Factory Inspection Department said this week that 122 of 825 factories surveyed -- or 14.7 percent -- between January and May did not pay staff on time with eight not even paying the minimum wage.

The wage cuts have been prompted by a price war between garment-producing nations like Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and China, as the downturn puts a squeeze on orders from the United States and Europe.

The Bangladesh government, fearful that labour unrest will scare off foreign investors, has vowed to crack down on violent protests.

Bangladesh earned 11 billion dollars from garment exports in the year to June 30, 2008, making it the second biggest clothing exporting nation after China, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Official figures since November last year show growth in the garment trade has shrunk to just two or three percent, compared to 40 percent before the global slowdown.

"Prices are down as we compete with other countries for shrinking orders," said Fazlul Haque, the head of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, which represents 1,300 factory owners.

"This violence sends the wrong message to buyers at a time when we need their orders most," Haque said.

Apparel makes up 80 percent of Bangladesh's exports and employs 40 percent of the country's industrial workforce.

Ananya Raihan, head of the Development Research Network, a local economic think tank, warned that without a sizeable cash injection from the government the sector risked further labour unrest.

"There could be more violent protests if the price cuts continue. These people are struggling to make ends meet. They're among the worst hit by the global crisis," Raihan said.

By Shafiq Alam