Sunday, May 05, 2024
The Bangladesh government, local government authorities, garment owners, and trade unions must work together to address the impacts of environmental and climate change on the garment industry, speakers said at a dialogue.
There is a need to work at the policy-making level to create social and environmental standards for workers, speakers said at an event on Wednesday.
Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS), the country’s only labour institute, organised a dialogue aimed at building the capacity of trade unions and promoting green social dialogue in the garment industry, held at Dhaka’s CIRDAP auditorium.
BILS Executive Director Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmed chaired the ceremony, while University Grants Commission (UGC) Member Prof Md Abu Taher spoke as special guest. BILS Deputy Director (Research) Manirul Islam presented the keynote.
The study was conducted on 402 workers of 160 garment factories in Tongi and Gazipur areas. Government officials, employers, trade unions and garment workers participated in this study.
According to the study results, 99 per cent of the garment workers have migrated from remote areas of the country. Of these, 36 per cent are reported to have migrated due to climate change.
Floods, droughts, cyclones, failure to produce crops, increase in pest attacks, and loss of productivity are mentioned as reasons. Apart from this, 7 per cent are said to have been displaced due to river erosion.
A review of the state of climate change shows that 50 per cent of garment workers are affected by climate change, resulting in increased leave/absenteeism by 23 per cent, reduced efficiency by 8 per cent, reduced productivity by 6 per cent, reduced income and increased job insecurity by 13 per cent.
The number of people suffering from diseases is 100 per cent, suffering from heat has increased by 65 per cent, rainfall and floods have increased by 42 per cent, and victims of cyclones and floods have increased by 20 per cent.
According to a review on environmental pollution, water pollution has increased by about 18 per cent, and air pollution by about 64 per cent. As a result, 21 per cent of garment workers have headaches, 14 per cent dizziness, 20 per cent fatigue and 25 per cent shortness of breath.
Apart from this, waterlogging has increased by 7 per cent, and the consumption of cooking gas has increased by about 33 per cent.
Regarding the environment inside the garment factories due to climate change, 60 per cent of the workers say temperature inside the factories has increased. According to 94 per cent, heat and hot weather continue for more than 5-6 months a year.
In addition, workers are citing health problems, new diseases, leave/absenteeism, lower productivity, employment insecurity, violence, and reduced income due to increased heat and summer.
Sixty per cent of workers mentioned water pollution in factories, 41 per cent of air pollution and about 43 per cent of noise pollution.
Sixty-five per cent of the workers mentioned that factory liquid waste is dumped into local drains, 8 per cent said that it is dumped into treatment plants and 8 per cent said that it is dumped into rivers, drains and ponds.
Fifty-five per cent of the workers mentioned that environmental problems in their residential areas remain unresolved, 22 per cent said the problem is solved at the local government level, 10 per cent said the problem is solved at the community level.
According to 54 per cent of workers, trade unions lack policy skills and training to deal with environmental issues.
