ETI Bangladesh, in a dedicated effort to improve the rights and well-being of workers, particularly women, in the Ready-Made Garment (RMG) industry, organized two factory consultations on 22 and 24 August 2023.
This collaborative initiative aimed at ensuring the protection and growth of female workers in the sector. It included participants from multiple tiers of employment within the RMG factories, such as representatives from workers, management, and the Sexual Harassment Complaint Committees (SHCC).
Bringing together a diverse group of 116 participants from 55 factories, the consultation revolved around addressing pressing concerns identified through “A study on the declining number of women workers in the Bangladesh RMG industry.”
This study, conducted jointly by ETI Bangladesh, GIZ, and BRAC University, in 2022, laid the foundation for the discussions.
The heart of the conversation was to devise practical strategies to tackle six pivotal factors. These included the determination of potential measures for factories and recommendations for brands to ensure the retention of women RMG workers. The dialogue also delved into effective measures to ensure continued employment of women in the industry, fostering a gender-sensitive workplace.
The key focus areas of the discussions included:
Recruitment Policies and Gender Bias: Efforts to improve factory recruitment policies and address male preference were discussed, with an emphasis on boosting female recruitment rates.
Skills Development and Professional Growth: Women workers get limited opportunities for skill development and career advancement faced by women in the garment industry. Which often leads to attrition and prolonged stagnation in job roles.
Balancing Work and Household Responsibility: The challenge of difficulty balancing paid work with unpaid care responsibilities, most notably caring for their children.
Welfare Measures: The availability of welfare measures and facilities emerged as a crucial factor influencing attrition rates among women workers. Factories offering better facilities showed lower attrition.
Safe Work Environment and Grievance Redressal: Ensuring a safe work environment for women workers, supported by an easy-to-access robust grievance redressal system i.e., the Sexual Harassment Complain Committee (SHCC) within factories, was marked as essential for their continued employment.
Representation and Participation: The low representation of women in different representative committees is hindering their effective engagement. Creating a representative work environment and fostering regular social dialogue were recognized as instrumental in reducing attrition rates.
The valuable insights gathered from participant discussions encompassed several key actions and recommendations. Strengthening social dialogue in factories with meaningful participation of women workers, fostering awareness of legal and human rights. To promote a gender-friendly workplace. Suggestions were put forth for brands to establish measurable goals with KPIs for the factories aimed at increasing female representation in factories, including in management roles. Strengthening the authority of the Sexual Harassment Complaint Committee was also emphasized. Initiatives such as vocational education for workers' children and improved daycare services garnered support. The collaborative development of unified guidelines by the government, business associations, and other stakeholders was proposed, aiming to provide a comprehensive framework for all factories.
The consultation marked a significant step forward in addressing the challenges faced by women workers in Bangladesh's RMG industry. By collaboratively exploring actionable solutions and viewpoints, the participants set the stage for a more inclusive and progressive work environment that uplifts and retains the valuable contributions of women in the sector.
