Unforgettable Story

Sunday was a day filled with extremes. In the morning I met with management and saw the "good" (kind of) side of the industry. Right after the tour of the factory was over, we headed to Gazipur, where I would hear firsthand (OK, firsthand translated) about the really disturbing and terrible side of the industry.

We were scheduled to meet with the workers that we were originally supposed to meet with on Friday. This time we had our car, so the ride there was nowhere near as terrible.

We met with 2 women. Both had been employed by Honorway a factory that had made clothing for Fruit of the Loom before it closed its doors in 2006 without giving any notice to its workers and still owing them months of salary and all the money that had been paid into retirement accounts.

Shortly after the factory shut down the younger woman found out that she was pregnant. Her husband nearly forced her to have an abortion but she refused. She was unable to pay for the medical bills and still owes Tk. 10,000. Since she could not pay for the care the people at the hospital tried to get her to give up her baby n exchange for the amount of the bill (this is a fairly common practice). She also refused this. She was out of work for a long time and had to take her other child out of school because she could not afford to pay for it. Eventually she found another job at a different garment factory  but is making less than 1/3 of what she had been making before. She is owed nearly Tk. 70,000.

The other woman was older. I originally thought she was in her 50s, but it turned out she was actually only 37. This should give you some idea of the kind of life she has led. Just from looking at her you know she has had one hell of a go round in this lifetime.  The closest image I can conjur is of that famous photograph of that Afghan girl in the red cloak, all grown up. She had that same weariness and sadness just emanating from her. She had worked for Honorway for 9 years. Her husband had left her and she was raising 2 boys and supporting her parents. She was earning a decent salary of around Tk. 7,000 when the factory closed its doors. She was also unable to find much work. Eventually she took a job as a maid earning only 1,200 a month. Her teenage sons had to quit school. One fell in with a bad crowd (and I think has become a drug addict) the younger one (16) has become a rickshaw wallah and day laborer. Her father (who is now nearly blind) had to become a day laborer. She also has very bad vision. Her family lives in a bamboo and tin shack in the outskirts of Dhaka. She had to borrow Tk. 9,000 during her period of unemployment and has only been able to pay about Tk. 500 back.  She is owed over Tk. 120,000 by the factory. As she told her story she cried a lot. I have never in my life met someone in so much inner pain, but who also still had this inner strength. It was an unforgettable experience.

The reason why they haven't been given their money is long and complicted but mainly centers around the fact that the government is ineffectual and corrupt. This has been a pet issue of the WRC and they have even gotten Fruit of the Loom to agree to pay a sizeable portion of the amount owed to the workers, but the government has not faciliated this, and the brand has not pursued it . The next step is to get the WRC affiliated Univiersites (like UM) to help put more pressure on the brand which in turn can put pressure on the government. I am learning that the only way anything ever happens here is either through pressure from foreign governments or foreign brands who in turn put pressure on the government. The channels for addressing these issues internally within Bangladesh are almost entirely ineffectual.

We gave them each Tk. 500 and thanked them for sharing their story. The older woman was overcome with emotion and gratitude. She got on her knees and kissed our feet. We had no idea what to do. Mehedi told them that we were students from America and would do our best to publicize their story. I actually think in some ways the fact that we were there and that we listened to her story and that we cared and we agreed that what had happened to her was wrong was almost more important than the money.

Over 1,700 people were employed by Honorway. We heard from just 2 people. I can imagine the rest of the stories are similarly heartbreaking. When reading accounts of this in the newspaper it is easy to skim over the words "the facory shut down without paying wages to the workers" and not fully grasp what this means. Most articles about the garment industry aren't written from the perspective of the workers anyway, the focus is nearly always on the effect the shut down and ensuing unrest will have on the bottom line for companies like Walmart or H&M.