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Trade unions, gender issues and the ready-made garment industry of Bangladesh hours often keep many female workers away from any union-related activities and act as a hindrance to the workers’ participation in unionrelated activities. Only in some factories where they are not required to work for more than one shift, do those female workers come to the federation offices regularly (normally in the afternoons). However, most of the female unit union leaders we met during our interviews were “temporarily” out of work — they had either been sacked or were forced by the management to give up their jobs for being involved in union-related activities. Table 2: Modes of contact with general workers and/or unit union leaders Modes of contact No. of respondent federations 1) Making door to door contacts; plus 2) Meeting workers and unit union leaders at different venues near their factories during their free time; plus 3) Workers and unit union leaders come to meet federation leaders at some stipulated places on Fridays. 1) Making door to door contacts; plus 2) Meeting workers and unit union leaders near factory premises during their free time; plus 3) Workers and unit union leaders come to federation offices during their free time 1) Making door to door contacts; plus 2) Meeting workers and unit union leaders near factory premises during their free time; plus 3) Workers and unit union leaders come to federation offices during their free time or whenever they require any help. 1) Meeting the workers and unit union leaders near factory premises during their free time; plus 2) Workers and unit union leaders make their own contacts whenever necessary. 2 2 1 2 The next thing we wanted to know from the federations was what type of help they have so far rendered to their unit unions. Their responses are summarized in Table 3. According to the federation leaders, all the respondent federations have provided legal help to the unit union members. All of them have also provided institutional support to the unit union members in organizing labour movements. These were, as we were told later by our respondent unit union members, the two most 195
Women’s employment in the textile manufacturing sectors of Bangladesh and Morocco important factors which have influenced the unit union members as well as other garment workers — particularly female workers — to look at the federations for support in times of crisis: be it unlawful dismissals, labour-management disputes, or even lay-offs. In all probability, it is this access to organized institutional support that has influenced general garment workers, as will be explained in Table 4, to seek the support of federations while forming unit level unions. According to the federation leaders, three of the seven respondent federations have provided financial assistance to the unit union leaders in times of crisis, while five of the seven have also negotiated or have tried to negotiate with the owners on behalf of their unit union leaders and members. Table 3: Kinds of help federations rendered to unit unions Types of help 1) Legal help; plus 2) Financial help; plus 3) Providing institutional support in organizing labour movements; plus 4) Educating the general workers and unit union leaders regarding relevant labour laws in Bangladesh; plus 5) Negotiating with owners on behalf of the workers and unit unions. 1) Legal help; plus 2) Providing institutional support in organizing labour movements; plus 3) Negotiating with the owners on behalf of the workers and unit unions. 1) Legal help; plus 2) Providing institutional support in organizing labour movements. No. of respondent federations 3 2 2 However, not all female unit union members are happy with the idea of delegating their right to negotiate to the federation leaders. In fact, this has remained the most controversial aspect of federationunit union relations. On the one hand, most female garment workers feel technically too weak to negotiate, both individually and through their unit unions, because owners are often quite autocratic and patrimonial in handling industrial disputes. Female garment workers thus welcome the intervention of federation leaders on their behalf in disputes with the management, both in bipartite negotiations and extended conciliation, as well as compulsory adjudication. On the other hand, many female garment workers and unit union leaders confessed to the author that they are apprehensive about some male middle-class federation leaders, who might be pursuing their own 196
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Women’s Employment in the Textile
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This United Nations Research Instit
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Acknowledgements Many people have b
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notwithstanding the inertia of the
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Carol Miller is a policy analyst on
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xii VII. Contribution of different
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Introduction 1 Introduction 1 Shahr
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Introduction Table 1: Basic indicat
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Introduction women have been tradit
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Introduction The chapters on Bangla
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Introduction occurs, on average, at
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Introduction women workers related
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Introduction in low-income countrie
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Introduction by repaying their “d
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Introduction participate in labour
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Introduction their bargaining power
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Introduction processing zones hypot
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Introduction IV. The case studies T
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Introduction experience in garment
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Introduction V. Conclusion Although
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Introduction improved technology. T
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Introduction References Afsar, R. (
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Introduction Household Power Relati
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Wage discrimination by gender in Mo
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Gender and employment in Moroccan t
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Gender dimensions of labour migrati
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Table 1: Total number of male and f
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