Garment Industry in Bangladesh: An Era Of Globalization And Neo-Liberalization





Anam Ullah


Correspondence:
ASM Anam Ullah
BBA, MCOM (HRM&IR) University of Western Sydney (UWS)
PhD Candidate- The University of Newcastle (UoN) Australia
Email: russell_adib@yahoo.com.au

Abstract

The forces of globalization and neo-liberalization have sparked an ongoing debate between developed and developing countries regarding adherence to international labour standards in international trading agreements. Globalization has been playing an important role to many developing nations in changing of its socio-economic structure. In Bangladesh, economy moves from aid to trade. Bangladesh became the 2nd largest apparel exporting country in the meantime. During the fiscal year 2010-2011 garment exports totalled US$ 20 billion, a 43% increase over the previous year. In the global trade system, a garment could be designed in New York, made of fabric woven in China, spread and cut, and sewn in Bangladesh, and marketed in Australia. This is the chain of global trade and Bangladesh is enjoying its positive outcomes at every stage of transactions with the modern and developed countries. However, here, the gruesome face of neo-liberal free trade is all too apparent as the corporate hunt for ever cheaper labour drives low wages. Therefore Bangladesh has received its advantage in many ways. During the 1980s and 1990s, economic globalization enhanced by advancements in technology led to the creation of multinational companies. Besides, North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements contributed in an extensive form to the creation of the garment industry in Bangladesh through the proposed elimination of trade quota by 2005, which had a significant influence on the Bangladeshi garment owners to create more businesses in the country. Being a provider of cheap labour, Bangladesh has become an advantageous destination of multinational companies, especially in a labour intensive garment industry. But this raises questions of whether garment workers in Bangladesh are adequately protected under globalization.

Design/ methodology/ approach: The research technique has used secondary data, collected through: Literature review, Case studies in various countries, Journals, Research articles, Newspapers, Online news and survey reports, BGMEA Yearly report and other publications. The data was collected through a number of different methods.

Findings: Bangladesh (national) GDP greatly relies on the apparel industry at this moment. The increase in garment trade within the NAFTA could be shown a correlation between the incensement of garment industries and free access to the duty-free market. Due to huge market access through the Multi-Fibre Agreement (MFA) of the General Agreement Tariff and Trade (GATT) after the quota restriction was abolished in 2005 - globalized and liberalized trade policy strenuously helped in growing garment industries in Bangladesh. However neo-liberalization and globalization increased production and employment through exploitation and insulated an antagonistic milieu within developing nations especially in Bangladesh. Under the ILO conventions, where Bangladesh is signatory it is mandatory to follow international labour standards, but in a mind of losing market share, the state is not implementing such law and ignominiously not producing a dynamic labour law and is continuously offering corporate abundant cheap labour.

Originality/ value/ objective of this study: The value and objective of research paper is assessing the correlation between NAFTA and MFA on the development of the garment industry in Bangladesh. This study shows the specific impact of neo-liberalization and globalization on the garment industry in Bangladesh and its positive and negative impact on national labour law and its implementation.

Key words: Garment industry in Bangladesh, NAFTA and MFA, globalization, neo-liberalization, labour standard, labour law in Bangladesh, social justice and human rights, the WTO and the ILO.

1. Introduction
What begun to occur in the last quarter of the twentieth century was the breakup of the dominant nation state-based economic model as what we now call globalization kicked into gear (Munck, 2010). Friedman (2007) assertively pointed in his study that "globalization is an important factor that influences organizations that compete for customers with high expectations for performance, and low cost". Since globalized trade era begun, the international economy found its new dimension towards capital transformation within states and of course it took to the international frontier with a mind of "super exploitation". Unequivocally, its glaring compartmentalization in the free-trade agreement, provided a complete emancipation towards hunting corporate cheap labour in the South-Pool, and the real nexus of this ambience, Bangladesh as a country, and the garment industry in Bangladesh, not exception in this case (see Islam & McPhail, 2011; Majumder & Begum, 2000; Friedman, 2007; Rock, 2010). With a population of 160 million people, a small GDP, but steadily increasing, and fledgling export market, Bangladesh is perhaps an unlikely candidate for cutting-edge experiments in linking trade with labour rights.

Nevertheless, from the mid-1970s to the mid-2000s, the global trading of textile and garment products was conducted under the terms of the Multi Fibre Agreement (MFA), which was eventually replaced, in 1995, by the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC), which was set to terminate from the trade agreement at the end of year 2004. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between the USA, Canada and Mexico was implemented in 1994, which Tsang and Au (2008) found in their study, and tariff was completely abolished from 2005 (see Beresford, 2009; Chorev, 2005; Islam & McPhail, 2011; Majumder & Begum, 2000; Asuyama, et al. 2013). On April 15, 1994, after eight years of bitter and blatant negotiations and constant crises, representative of 108 countries met in Marrakesh, Morocco, and signed the Uruguay Round Agreements (Chorev, 2005).

However, though the international garment industry has had its own long history, eventually a new era began after assuage of trade barriers, which is also known as the free-trade liberalization era. While the international garment trade was liberalized after 2004, a new dimension of international economy emerged too. Corporate cheap labour was hunted strenuously during this period (see, Truscott, Brust & Fesmire, 2007. In this process, most advanced developing nations like China and Vietnam benefited indeed. However, due to some practical reasons, Bangladesh started enjoying quota free access to the US and EU market, which was the golden period for Bangladeshi garment producers. In other research it was found that low exports benefited from the quotas imposed on the large exports. As a result of this, many developing nations like: Bangladesh, Cambodia, Pakistan, Sri-Lanka benefited from such facilities (see Asuyama, et al. 2013 & Beresford, 2009).

Research shows that China became the world leader in the apparel industry in the meantime, by 2009, when US quantities restrictions on Chinese imports were due to end, many researchers in this filed grandiosely assumed that, the least developed and small nations would have been affected in the world and regional competition. But, however, in Bangladesh, the situation was absolutely favorable and such polemic assumption was completely demystified after receiving huge orders from the world's best retail groups like: Wal-Mart, Nike, Gap, though these organizations had to face tremendous criticisms for workers' exploitation in Bangladesh (Islam & McPhail, 2011). In the event, the establishment of export-oriented garment manufacture in Bangladesh led to the entry of a whole generation of young, unmarried females, mainly from rural areas, into the industrial labour force (Rock, 2010). First World countries are attracted to production sites through the WTO's liberalized free-trade globalization system in the Third World that offered low cost and low trade union participation. Third World proles are also perceived as the victims of capitalist expansion who have little power to respond to exploitation, rather than treating the working class as a social force in history (Rock, 2010).

April 24, 2013, the building collapse of Rana Plaza warned us again to be aware of global economic agendas that drastically subverted worker's human rights and social harmony and unduly led to increased social cacophony in Bangladesh. Workers are howling for working conditions and minimum wages that have never been implemented-though Bangladesh government enacted labour law in 2006, and modified in 2010 and 2013 respectively under pressure, both from the national and international perspective. Bangladeshi garment industry, a hundred percent export-oriented sector, experienced phenomenal growth during the last 20 years or so, accumulating more than 80 percent of its total merchandise export (Garwood, 2011, p.18; Mahmud 2008, p.260; Ahmed, 2004; Majumder & Begum, 2000; BGMEA, 2013).

Currently Bangladesh has become the 2nd largest apparel exporting country in the world. During the fiscal year 2010-2011, Bangladesh exported RMG totaling from US$ 6.8 billion to US$19.9 billion in 2012, a 43 or more percent increase over the last couple of years and recording a compound annual growth of 16.6 percent. By the year 2012-2013, the country exported RMG totaling US$ 20 billion and was deemed to be gained 45 to 50 billion by the year 2020 (BGMEA, 2013). If globalization provides the backdrop for drama, the achievements of the garment industry in Bangladesh are indeed dramatic (Ahmed, 2004). The country has more than 6000 RMG factories with about 4 million workers (including 80 percent women workers and almost another 20 million people directly or indirectly engaged in this industry). This workforce is primarily coming from rural communities and extensively contributing to the Bangladesh economy (BGMEA, 2013; Ahmed, 2004; Mahmud, 2008; Majumder & Begum, 2000).

As I mentioned early that global factors worked closely towards the development of the Bangladeshi garment industry, and one of the major factors that took very significant place in this regard as China shifted from archetypal business to high-tech businesses in the beginning of the current century, worked as a key factor to success of the Bangladeshi garment industries' indeed (BGMEA, 2014). Thus, most retailers shifted from China to the further South, and Bangladeshi local, dynamic and energetic new entrepreneurs started developing relationships with international buyers by offering high commitment which is very important in trade relationships, and also by offering cheap abundant labourers-who had no social status in the past in Bangladesh (see Majumder & Begum, 2000; Rahman, 2004; Ullah, 2014). The key analysis of this study would be conducted in two ways. First, we will look at development in the garment industry in Bangladesh; hence we need to consider a few factors in analysis, especially, key to analysis how global capital made changes in the garment industry and its socio-economic development in Bangladesh. Second, we will try to find how Bangladesh got advantage in the era of globalization and neo-liberalization, and how global capital geo-politically obstructs in the creation of potential labour law in Bangladesh and its proper implementation, and what is the role of the ILO since 1972, notwithstanding Bangladesh ratified all fundamental conventions in the meantime, but there is a huge gap in implementation of such laws.

2 Literature Review

2.1 Brief background of Bangladesh
Modern Bangladesh forms the Bengal delta region in the Indian subcontinent, where civilization dates back more than 4,300 years. The early history of the area featured a succession of city states, Indian empires, internal squabbling and a tussle between Hinduism and Buddhism for dominance. Islam arrived in late-classical antiquity and dominated the society (Banglapedia, 2013). The borders of present-day Bangladesh were established during the British-partition of Bengal and India in 1947, when the region became East Pakistan, part of the newly formed State of Pakistan. It was separated from West Pakistan by 1,600 km of Indian Territory. Due to political, economic and linguistic discrimination, popular agitation and disobedience grew against the Pakistani State. The Bengali people increasingly demanded self-determination, culminating in the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.

The new State, the People's Republic of Bangladesh, was founded as a constitutional, secular, democratic, multiparty, and parliamentary state. After independence, Bangladesh endured widespread poverty and famine, as well as political turmoil and military coups. The revitalization of democracy in 1991 has been followed by economic progress and relative political calm, although the country's two main political parties, the Awami League and the BNP, remain highly polarized and often at confrontational loggerheads (Ullah, 2013; Rahman, 2011).

Many international scholars vividly found in their research that, since independence, the economy of Bangladesh was fully dependent on traditional agriculture as most of the people lived in rural areas (Rahman, 2004). The economy was mostly dependent on foreign aid. But the government had strong aspirations towards relegation of poverty and boosting the economy. By producing sufficient food it could attain self-sufficiency, thus the agriculture sector was preferred at that time. But jute and tea industry seemed as major exports from Bangladesh at that time too. While the jute industry has fully fallen into a moribund situation and sharply declined its production in early 1986, attention was given to another forming sector, and the garment industry was one of them in which huge meditation provided for its leverage (See Rahman, 2004).

2.2 Preceding history of textile industry in Bangladesh 17th-18th century
At the very outset we need to consider analyzing the roots of this industry the way it was developed and its proper delineation. Bengal cotton fabrics were exported to the ancient Roman and Chinese empires in the early centuries. Dhaka Muslin became famous and attracted foreign and transmarine buyers after the establishment of the Mughal capital at Dhaka [1556-1605]. A widely used term for high-quality, pre-colonial Bengal textiles, muslin was manufactured in the city of Dhaka and in some surrounding stations, by local skilled workers with locally produced cotton, attaining fame as Dhaka Muslin (Ross, 2003). In the 17th century, the European companies came and established their settlements in Bengal, leading to the demise of the Bengal Muslin Industry (Ross, 2003). During the 18th century, the British imposed high tariffs on Bengali textiles (for centuries previously, the leader in international trade) in order to protect its own rising industries in Lancashire and the West of Scotland (Ross, 2011, p.230).

2.3 Modern history of garment industry in Bangladesh 1970-2014
Bangladesh garment industry traversed its long river from 1970-2014. Unequivocally this prominent sector has gone-through by facing many challenges nationally and internationally. This prominent and blatant industrial sector grappled much polemic debate at the national and international levels. But, however, due to some facts, still this organization is undergoing sardonic debates over its working conditions and very low wages, which is very inimical indeed in regard to analysing such phenomenon under the current circumstances. Many from national and international advocacy groups and the ILO are strenuously concerned about its working conditions and labour rights along with other issues that we need to investigate in our literature review next.

As we know exporting garments has been a first step for industrialization and economic growth for many low-income countries with abundant and inexpensive labour (see Asuyama, et al. 2013). After the Second World War, East Asian Countries such as Honk Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and later, China and Vietnam, and other developing nations simultaneously developed the apparel sector by direct assistance from different countries like US and the European Union. In the mid-1990s, even least developed countries such as Bangladesh, Cambodia and Madagascar have rapidly increased their garment exports (Asuyama, et al. 2013). But by the last two decades or so, Bangladesh has changed its economic condition by producing the world's best garments which has more than 10% economic contribution to the national GDP along with changing the nation's status quo from aid to trade BGMEA (2014) and looking to becoming a middle earner country by the end of 2020.

It can be said that Bangladeshi garment industries were fully underpinned by foreign investment indeed. The hundred percent export-oriented RMG industry experienced phenomenal growth during the last 20 or so years. In 1978, there were only 9 export-oriented garment manufacturing units, which generated export earnings of hardly one million dollars (Mottaleb & Sonobe, 2011). Some of these units were very small and produced garments for both domestic and export markets. Four such small and old units were Reaz Garments, Paris Garments, Jewel Garments and Baishakhi Garments. Reaz Garments, the pioneer, was established in 1960 as a small tailoring outfit, named Reaz Store in Dhaka. It served only domestic markets for about 15 years. In 1973 it changed its name to M/s Reaz Garments Ltd. and expanded its operations into export market by selling 10,000 pieces of men's shirts worth French Franc 13 million to a Paris-based firm in 1978. It was the first direct exporter of garments from Bangladesh. Desh Garments Ltd, the first non-equity joint-venture in the garment industry was established in 1979 (Mottaleb & Sonobe, 2011). Bangladesh was not subject to export restrictions under the (MFA), which was the main reason to invest capital in Bangladesh in a joint collaboration program with Desh Garment. It was a significant moment for any local company for jubilation after receiving offers from one of the modern and reputed trade organizations from South Korea, and Bangladesh absolutely gyrated in this matter (Mottaleb & Sonobe, 2011; Ahamed, 2013).

The Daewoo Corporation had restriction in exports under the quota system; hence technical and marketing collaboration with Daewoo Corporation of South Korea and Desh Garment in Bangladesh was accorded in a common interest of trade (Mottaleb & Sonobe, 2011). It was also the first hundred percent export-oriented company. It had about 120 operators including 3 women trained in South Korea, and with these trained workers it started its production in early 1980. However, the emergence in the 1970s and subsequent success of the export-oriented garment industry ushered in a new social reality for Bangladesh (Rock, 2003). Not only did it mark the entry of new young Bangladeshi women into this formal manufacturing employment for the first time, it also incited determined attempts by these workers to form unions, something extensively unthinkable in the past because of the presence of rigid forms of control through the socially sanctioned norms of purdah or female seclusion ( Rock, 2003).

When Desh Garment was established in 1979, the government of Bangladesh hardly recognized the potential of the garment industry. In 1982, however, the government had begun to offer various incentives to the garment industry such as: duty-free import machinery and raw materials, bonded warehouse facilities and cash incentives (Mottaleb & Sonobe, 2011). Another South Korean Firm, Youngones Corporation formed the first equity joint-venture garment factory with a Bangladeshi firm, Trexim Ltd. in 1980. Bangladeshi partners contributed 51% of the equity of the new firm, named Youngones Bangladesh. It exported its first consignment of padded and non-padded jackets to Sweden in December 1980 (Bangla-pedia, 2013)

2.4 Scenario of NAFTA - WTO - MFA -ATC in Bangladeshi garments
An important policy which affected considerably the global Textile and Clothing (T&C) trade in the past decade is the (ATC). Asuyama, et al. 2013 assertively found in their study that by agreement it was decided to abolish quota status gradually within the next ten years from 1995 to 2005, which agreement was accomplished with a clear agenda - on April 15, 1994, after eight years of bitter and blatant negotiations and constant crises, representatives of 108 countries met in Marrakesh, Morocco, and signed the Uruguay Round Agreements (Chorev, 2005).

Table 1: shows integrations procedures of textile and clothing under ATC


The above table shows how gradually the quota system was weaned from 1995 to 2005. Nevertheless high tariff was imposed on East Asian countries in North American markets but relaxed for NAFTA members within the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) (Asuyama, et al. 2013). This model was designed to gear up the trade relationship between NAFTA members and increase economic power within the region. However, in the meantime, China, Bangladesh, Cambodia and some other nations became competitive clothing exporters, enhanced by offering their cheap and abundant labour force. In this category, nowadays, the majority of the large clothing exporters are located in Asia, and Bangladesh got the second position in the world ranking in this category (Mottaleb & Sonobe, 2011).

Based on World Trade Organization (WTO) trade statistics, ten of the South and South-east (S&SE) Asian countries including: India, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Malaysia, Singapore, Bangladesh and Vietnam have been the biggest US suppliers during the last decade or so, but China was not included in the list though China is the largest single US T&C importers (Asuyama, et al. 2013). But by year of 2009, China's quota restriction was removed once again and continued to supply T&C to the US market full of strength. Moreover, another interesting research finding on this issue has been revealed in the meantime which is: by the third stage of quota integration for quota liberalization from 2002 to 2004, a total of 51 percent of developed countries' imports were freed from quota restrictions. Soon fully quota restrictions were abolished and most developed countries' investors moved to the South. Global capital started moving with its blatant agenda to maximize profit by exploitation of cheap abundant labour, which is seemed as more shoddy, impersonal and inhuman business than a compliant business in the 21st century. Due to word limitations we cannot elaborately discuss global capitalism and its despicable agenda more precisely but, notwithstanding we would try to reveal a current example of forced labour tragedy being held on April 24, 2013 at Shaver near the capital city of Bangladesh where almost 1,135 poor workers were killed and other more than 3000 workers were permanently disabled, a clear sign of dehumanization indeed.

(NAFTA) and World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements contributed in an extensive form to creation of the garment industry in Bangladesh through proposed elimination of trade quotas by 2005, which took a significant place with the Bangladeshi garment owners to create more businesses in the country (Cheek & Moore, 2003). The ready-made garment industry in Bangladesh has survived amid phasing out of Multi-Fibre Agreement in 2005, the entry of China into the (WTO), and the increased competition from other countries. In addition to free trade zones, other forces that facilitate globalization include reduced labour and production costs in underdeveloped countries (Friedman, 2007). The research has found that in the process of internationalization of production, many companies and nations have moved their manufacturing operations to developing nations to enjoy the privileges of cheap labour and other facilities like - non-trade union activities, low regulation in employment relations and many more (Rahman, 2006).

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Bangladesh's garment industry was well positioned to take advantage of an abundant supply of domestic cheap labour. Absenteeism of cheap labor was a comparative advantage and a vital tool in the development of the Bangladesh garment industry throughout that entire period. The introduction of the Multi-fibre Arrangement (MFA) in 1973 also played a very important role which is pondered by many as the key factor in Bangladesh gaining RMG market (Rahman, 2006). The rapid growth of the readymade garments industry in Bangladesh has been facilitated by the following factors as well which are: cheap labour; lack of employment options for women; simple technology; small amount of capital required; and economic changes and policies that encouraged the growth of this particular industry (Khosla 2009; Haider, 2006). These factors are inter-related. The relatively cheap cost of labour in Bangladesh is the reason for its comparative advantage internationally since goods can be produced at a lower cost in Bangladesh than in many other countries. This cheap cost of labour is in turn a result of national policies, massive unemployment and the willingness of women to work for low wages (Khosla, 2009). Khosla (2009) identified through her investigation that women's relative lack of marketable skills and education makes garment work highly attractive to them. Combined with the high supply of labour relative to the jobs and the rising demand for dowries garment work is highly sought after.

Below Table 2 shows the trend of total workers being deployed since 1984 to 2013
Trade Information

Table 2:
MEMBERSHIP AND EMPLOYMENT

Source: BGMEA

Below Table 3 shows the trend of total export value from 1983 to 2013

Table 3:
COMPARATIVE STATEMENT ON EXPORT OF RMG AND TOTAL EXPORT OF BANGLADESH

Data Source Export Promotion Bureau Compiled by BGMEA

2.5 Garment industry in Bangladesh: era of globalization and neoliberalization
"To analyze world politics in the 1990s is to discuss international institutions: the rules that govern elements of world politics and the organizations that help implement those rules"
Keohane (cited in Chorev, 2005)

Chorev (2005) saw a significant role of the WTO in the process of trade liberalization. Indeed WTO made effusive changes among the world organizations that can play the indispensable role over national and international political economy in the current process of globalization. To analyze the notion of "globalization", most international scholars have most often referred to the process of international economic integration, while the organizational dimensions were ignored under the process of globalization (Chorev, 2005). Since the postwar period, international organizations (IOs) tremendously increased from 61 in 1940 to 231 by 2002. One IO is the WTO. The organization officially commenced on 1 January 1995 under the Marrakesh Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which commenced in 1948. Many scholars asserted that the WTO (vice versa of GATT) played a very eminent role over forming the NAFTA which ultimately led globalization and neo-liberalization in this globe (See Chorev, 2005; Munck, 2010; Harvey, 2005).

Following diplomatic negotiations dating back to 1986 among the three nations, the leaders met in San Antonio, Texas, on December 17, 1992, to sign NAFTA. With much consideration and emotional discussion, the House of Representatives approved NAFTA on November 17, 1993, 234-200. Clinton signed it into law on December 8, 1993; it went into effect on January 1, 1994. The vision and mission of NAFTA was to create more jobs, and unequivocally many international scholars subsumed that the establishment of the WTO marked a turning point in the governance of trade under neo-liberal globalism, from a "trade liberalization" project, in which governments were allowed to compensate those suffering injuries due to the process of free trade, to a "trade neo-liberalization" project, but a scenario is totally different in many developing nations where multinational corporations doing business and exploiting proletarians extensively, and Bangladesh is the current example of this process at the moment (Ahamed, 2004; Mottaleb & Sonobe, 2011; Majumder & Begum, 2000; Rahman, 2004). In fact from the very beginning the view of globalization was seemed a political project of establishing new institutional arrangements both at the national and international levels (Chorev, 2005).

Since the quota system was abolished, many developing nations have tremendously fallen into the pressure from neo-liberal globalized trade system, and this was more strong when China became free from quota restrictions from 2009 towards access to the US markets (Asuyama, et al. 2013). But fortunately, due to huge low paid abundant female workers, Bangladesh has received its favorable treatment during the last one decade or so (see Majumder & Begum, 2000; Rahman, 2004; Haider, 2006). The forces of globalization have sparked an ongoing debates between developed and developing countries regarding adherence to international labour standards in international trading agreements (Truscott, Brust & Fesmire, 2007, p.1; Hoq, et al. 2009).

Globalization has been playing an important role in many developing nations in changing its socio-economic structure. In Bangladesh, the economy moves from aid to trade. Bangladesh became the 2nd largest apparel exporting country in the world. During the fiscal year 2010-2011 garment exports totalled USD19.9 billion, a 43% increase over the previous year. It enjoys zero duty access in the European Union where 60 percent of garment products are exported along with Canada, Australia, Japan, Norway and Switzerland through the GSP scheme (BGMEA, 2013). In the global trade system, a garment could be designed in New York, made of fabric woven in China, spread and cut, and sewn in Bangladesh, and marketed in Australia. This is the chain of global trade and Bangladesh enjoying its positive outcomes at every stage of transactions with the modern and developed countries (Cheek & Moore, 2003).

The sweatshop: a movable system in the global order. The sweatshop requires little capital, basic technology and cheap labor for formation (Bender & Greenwald, 2003, p.7). In the 1980s and 1990s, economic globalization leveraged by advancements of technology led to the creation of more multinational companies (Cheek & Moore, 2003). Contemporary observers also understand the sweatshop as transnational. The contracting and subcontracting system that was once limited to a single nation or, more likely a single city, is now global (Bender & Greenwald, 2003, p.7). NAFTA and WTO agreements contributed to increased globalization (Cheek & Moore, 2003; WTO, 2012). To establish a global labour market the mobility of labour is not necessary since the price of labour is shaped via the global market prices of goods - the lower labour costs in developing countries play a significant role. They exert ever greater pressure on the wages in developed countries. The allocation of labour is achieved by the mobility of capital, which flows towards the basins of cheaper labour taking productivity levels into account. The situation has worsened in the last decade when capital in the developed countries has found investments in industry and new jobs uninteresting and reverted to financialisation. Globalization in the developed countries has thus turned into an outflow of investment capital and jobs, the stagnation of wages and living standards of masses of workers, restrictions on social security and welfare systems, the rising indebtedness of individuals, companies and states, and unemployment tremendously high.

Studying the Bangladeshi sweatshop means examining many paradoxes. The economic roots of the sweatshop are international, but its effort is national, Bender and Greenwald (2003, p.7), and Bangladesh, from a very early stage of its process, extensively exploited its cheap labour and capitalists took other advantages over the country's week labour laws and regulations. Critically, in the context of economic globalization, theorization around the state involves assessments of its weakness or continued strength, of state incapacity given the strength the global capital or its capacity to act with impunity (Connor & Haines, 2013). If we consider the theory of economic globalization and its effects on developing countries, undoubtedly it reflects the consequences nations are facing at this moment in the post economic global trade relationship between developed nations and developing nations. Bangladesh is not an exception in these dilemmas, which we can easily identify in the country's garment industry. The researchers presently predict and confirm through their vigorous investigation in this regard that sweetshop and its activity will never be vanished, but it can be regulated (Bender & Greenwald, 2003, p.10). So what at present in Bangladesh is very much needed to keep this sector under a smooth condition to save its positive progress at present and in the future?

3. Working conditions and minimum wages in the garment industry in Bangladesh in the era of free trade and neo-liberal globalization and the ILO's obligation

Many international scholars raised their concern over working conditions and minimum wages for workers in the garment industry in Bangladesh. In fact, this news was unearthed to the public, NGOs, advocacy groups, international trade union forums, international buyers, both locally and internationally. To break up this postulate, so far very limited work has been done in this sector that I found in the literature review (see Cheek & Moore, 2003; Rahman, 2006; Ahmed, 2004; Mahmud, 2008; Majumder & Begum, 2000; Mottaleb & Sonobe, 2011; Islam & McPhail, 2011). Working conditions in the Ready Made Garments (RMG) sector is vulnerable and do not often maintain international standards. Islam and McPhail (2011) found a similar notion as I found in my research.

A short list of ten countries, in 5 of the top 10 apparel-exporting countries to the United States-Bangladesh, Mexico, Honduras, Cambodia, and El Salvador-wages for garment workers declined in real terms between 2001 and 2011 by an average of 14.6 percent on a per country basis. This means that the gap between prevailing wages and living wages actually grew.

Table 4: A list of monthly wages in 15 of the top 21 apparel exporters to the United States, in 2001 currency


Source: Global Wage Trends for Apparel Workers, 2001-2011, Worker Rights Consortium July 2013 - Centre for American Progress

From Table 4 we can get a clear picture of real wages for the garment workers in Bangladesh, which are even below the living cost. It should not be forgotten that neo-liberalized free-trade globalization movement was created for more capital mobilization towards creating more jobs, but indeed, it has created more jobs in this globe, especially in the South, however it has drastically ruined workers harmony and suppressed workers' individual and state's productivity on a robust scale. Unfortunately world giant retailers remain unrepentant when they were required to take proper initiative in this turmoil. Recent analysis says, Wal-Mart refused to sign on the accord that is requiring factory compliance. Hensler (2013) an American Judge, prepared a report atop global wage trends for apparel workers, 2001-2011, which was held in July, 2013 and known as Worker Rights Consortium, where he addresses very interesting things with research findings and other data over a period of time between 2001-2013, in which it clearly reveals that the garment workers' real wages dramatically declined in that period, but living costs and other liabilities increased unexpectedly.

Mr. Hensler also showed in his report that Bangladesh and Cambodia, the fourth-and eighth-largest clothing exporters to the United States in 2011, respectively, dramatically expanded their apparel exports to the United States during this period but concurrently workers' real wages waned by -2.37%, which is unjustifiable to any degrees. According to Cheek and Moore (2003), The United States are made by the nation's 10 largest retailers. The world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, alone generated revenues of $166 billion in 1999 and almost $400 billion in 2013, an amount more substantial than the economics of 100 countries, including Portugal and Ireland (Cheek & Moore, 2003). This company has been identified as one of the retailers in the world, which company immensely exploits apparel workers in this globe, especially in Bangladesh, and an example has already been mentioned in the preceding discussion.

Astonishingly we observed that big international retail companies, never intended to take any major initiative to minimize this un-equilibrium trend in the real wages system in the garment industry in Bangladesh to demystify such notion being originated to the critics. Nevertheless the ILO declared in their fundamental constituents that workers should not be treated as a commodity, but it is truly known to everyone at present that workers are not only treated as a commodity, but also treated as an easy source of making huge profits by exploiting them to many degrees (see Hensler, 2013; Ahamed, 2013; Islam and McPhail, 2011; Rock; 2003). A tumultuous situation is being observed by the author in the garment sector in Bangladesh where he identified many shoddy problems occurring in the period of globalization during the last three decades or so. The paragraph below discusses and shows a few examples of current upheavals in the garment industry in Bangladesh.

Ullah (2014) identified Rana Plaza, April 24, 2013 (1135 garment workers lost their lives and approximately 3000 people were injured as the building owner did not follow the correct building code, also factory owners had forced the sweat-workers to move in the building, though the building was identified just days before of the incident as a shoddy building); Tazreen Fashions (117 workers were killed); Spectrum Garments (64 workers were killed and 80 others injured in 2005 - the illegally built extra floors within the building collapsed) and many more uncounted workers lost lives in the past decades since the country started producing the garment products, and the workers were brought up in a completely different atmospheres than a compliant milieu. Not maintaining international labour standards and working conditions are a clear violation of the ILO conventions that we all see from our closest observation, and international media and advocacy groups and local and international NGOs are urging for change in the labour conditions along with some other fundamental changes in this sector, but the question is why the ILO has failed to take its correct and innovative strategy to demote the number of accidents in the garment industry in Bangladesh till today (see, Cheek & Moore 2003; Rahman, 2006; Helfer, 2006; Ahmed 2004; Mahmud 2008; Majumder & Begum, 2000; ABC, 2013)?

The ILO was established in 1919 and became the first specialized agency of the UN in 1946 that we identified by analyzing some international scholar's written documents Rodgers, et al. (2009); Helfer, (2006); Hughes, (2005); Henry, (2009), however, in our analysis it unequivocally identified too that the ILO is a very specialized organization advocated by the UN for its blatant work tenet which underpins the tripartite program by adhering equal opportunity in the dialectical conversation towards better management in the work place (Hughes, 2005). Determining the treatment of workers' rights in the globalized economy is a conflictive process (Douglas, Ferguson & Klett, 2004). It has widespread conflicted arguments among multinational corporations, local business enterprises, labour movements, and human rights NGOs, in the global North and global South, for carrying different values and interest in regard to workers' rights. In these social conflicts the (ILO) has demonstrated a magnificent concept among all as a valuable means for conflict management (See, Douglas, Ferguson & Klett, 2004). The ILO is known as a specialist agency of the United Nations (UN) whose mandate is the protection of working people and the promotion of their human and labour rights (See Hughes, 2005; Henry, 2009; Rodgers, et al. 2009; Helfer, 2006). In recent years, the "ILO" has received great attention in the public debates about its triumph atop social injustice and infringement in the work place. In this debate, the ILO subsumed and gyrated to demystify the concept as unavailing in many facets.

The ILO sought to make a social balance since its foundation in 1919, and the preceding history of ILO is glorious in the wake-up call for changing the labour laws and other social inequalities within the member states. But, notwithstanding this is not the reality, in fact many international scholars are howling over the workers' rights and questioning the ILO to justify their position over many problems encountering workers' socio-economic life and adhering with more uncertainty (Helfer, 2006).

Bangladesh has been an active member state of the ILO since 22 June 1972 and has ratified 33 ILO Conventions including seven fundamental conventions. The ILO opened its office in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 25 June 1973, and initially started working on expanding income-earning opportunities through labour-based infrastructure development and maintenance. Bangladesh is the signatory of the ILO and ratified eight fundamental conventions by this time, but most of them are not yet being implemented, hence working conditions are not getting changed since the garment industry started their operation locally. But the question is: why has the ILO failed to obtain a remarkable result in this sector since many years back though they are trying onerously to save the garment industry's reputation from its moribund situation, but nevertheless how strong aspiration do they have - this is a good question indeed? When the ILO faces its limitations over enforcement power, other state government get influenced to avoid the ILO conventions that they ratified already which we saw in Bangladesh and in many other nations (see Helfer, 2006).

4. Findings

"Capital is dead labour, that, vampire-like, only lives by sucking living labour, and lives more, the more labour it sucks"
- Karl Marx, (Capital, Volume 1, Chapter 10).

The above quote by Marx perhaps aptly defines the condition of Bangladesh's key export division and major foreign exchange earner industry - The Garments Industry. Marx characterized Globalization as Universalization of Capitalism. Globalization has often assumed a direct, unmediated, causal link between global economic pressures and the formation of new policies. In this process, the state flagrantly faces a deleterious situation in most cases as developing nations have less integration power over state economic policy, and state ignores the possible effect on state institutions that we see occurring in the garment industry in Bangladesh. However, developing nations can unitedly face this problem if problems are encountering the states' prosperity. Developed countries that exploit labour should require provision of minimum wages and sufficient technical assistance to improve working conditions of the workers, in which process they can improve their living standard as well. If the countries do not do that of course consumers of these countries can boycott their products and raise their voice against capital manipulation.

It has been profoundly found that, the U.S. is the major player of the sweatshop industry in this globe. Relatively high wages, unionized northeast to the low-wage, nonunionized south in the 1920s and 1930s, the United States apparel manufacturers have for a long time relocated production in search of cheap labour (Bonacich & Appelbaum, 2003 p.142). However, the most careful observations are of the opinion that the first major step towards the implementation with the policy of the movement offshore did not begin, more or less, until well after World War II, (Bonacich & Appelbaum 2003, p.142). The development of expansion of offshore sourcing began in 1956 with a vision of producing low cost shirts "for the people who live between New York City to Los Angeles", sourcing in Japan (Bonacich & Appelbaum, 2003, p.142).

Notwithstanding many international researchers and scholars assume that sub-Saharan Africa now to be given special and favourable treatment, such as duty-free and quota-free access to the US. Market provided by the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), have been a real concern for Bangladesh and other developing nation who are producing garment products for the US Market (see Mottaleb & Sonobe, 2011). If the situation is like that, of course a dynamic and timely strategic model should be implemented to keep this sector under smooth management for the greater interest of millions of livelihoods who are directly involved with this industry, and the national economy also belongs to this sector on a robust scale.

As described by Waltman (2008), the characteristics of the "New Liberalism" of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was a conscious reaction against mid-Victorian libertarianism. The shift to new version of liberalism is descried by him in his book in which he argues that: "New Liberalism is the next step in this evolution: the notion that, in order for a society to be maintained and to evolve, it is necessary to take into account our responsibility to future generations. The key challenges of our time, from climate change to the growing debt and deficits, and the growing inequalities all threaten not only our freedom, but the freedom of future generations. Where classical liberalism was centered on negative freedom (freedom from harm), and social liberalism was centered on the broader concept of positive freedom (freedom to develop), new liberalism adds a further dimension with the concept of timeless freedom (ensuring the freedom of future generations through proactive action taken today). And if this is the case, indeed we have to act right now to protect workers' rights with more realistic observation against the current global political agenda that undoubtedly affecting poor workers and subverting their human rights at the very eminent scale.

The consequences have not examined the fatal disaster of the Spectrum Garments. Almost a decade after Spectrum, buildings in Bangladesh remained structurally unsafe: buildings are illegally converted into factories and factories run day and night in order to meet production targets. Keeping costs low is prioritized while widespread fatal health and safety faults remain. Faulty electrical circuits, unstable buildings, inadequate escape routes and unsafe equipment are a major cause of death and injury (a complete violation of the ILO conventions where Bangladesh is signatory) and (a complete violation of social justice). Working conditions are scant and it often does not maintain international standards, which is a prime concern for the retailers and anti-sweat shop campaigners. So the question is: How can the Bangladesh garment sector be better regulated?

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