Apparel retailers in Europe, Australia and Canada are selling knitwear made in “prison-like conditions” by workers who are paid as little as $ 0.16 an hour in Bangladesh at a Chinese owned factory, claims a report by the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights. British Home Stores (BHS), Coles, Dressmann, Celio and De Bijenkorf are among the firms who source from the Chinese-owned Rosita Knitwears and Megha Textile (Megatex) factories based at the Ishwardi Export Processing Zone in North Bengal, Bangladesh. The report claims that the 5000-odd workers at these factories face routine sexual harassment, beatings, corporal punishment, mass firings and imprisonment under false charges.
The report also claims that most of the workers in the Ishwardi Export Processing Zone are classified as ‘Grade 2’ or ‘Junior Operators’ despite many having years of experience. Also they are paid just $ 50 per month, $ 5.17 less than the $ 55 monthly wage rate set by the Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority (BEPZA).
The retailers have assured the Institute, factory management and the Ministry of Labour total compliance with Bangladesh’s labour laws and ILO’s core worker rights standards. UK’s BHS Chain, which is part of Arcadia Group, says it is “investigating urgently with the supplier who has used one of these factories for BHS production.” Following the same, Dressmann and De Bijenkorf are also investigating the matter.
