IMPACT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON BANGLADESH GARMENT INDUSTRY: SURVIVAL OF THE LOW SCALE FACTORY WORKERS

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the global supply chain to a great extent. Along with many countries, Bangladesh is also suffering with consequences of this disruption. The biggest industry of the country, the garment industry, is considered the most impacted as it is the second largest exporter industry in the world. The higher share of the impacts has been applied upon the garment workers and especially upon the low scale factory workers. However, the media portrayal of their survival in these crucial days has not been strong. In this paper, I plan to portray a clear image of the severe impacts on low scale garment workers during the pandemic and highlight how much help they received throughout the journey. Using the snowball sampling process I have interviewed 112 low factory garment workers (28 male & 84 female) and the primary and secondary data are designed with a mix of qualitative and quantitative methodology. The findings suggest that the low scale factory workers have been exploited financially, physically, and mentally in the COVID-19 pandemic. After the frequent lockdowns, on average per hour working wages have been extremely low. While a significant number of workers have suffered immensely, the female workers (especially pregnant and elderly women) were the most vulnerable targets. Unsafe work environment, forced labor, increased harassment in the workplace are the indicators of workers' growing vulnerability during the pandemic. The positions of the state and stakeholders do not portray a clear picture; there are attempts like stimulus packages offered by the Bangladesh government, but not as successful as planned. Even though the stakeholders were expected to handle the situation with utmost gratitude, their actions did not seem fair to the workers. This paper finds out the root causes and concludes that without proper policy dialogue and an advanced research & development sector, obtaining stability and rights is not certain for the vulnerable workers.