Kabir Humayun, Maple Myfanwy, Islam Md Shahidul, Usher Kim
University of Dhaka, Dhaka, 1000 Bangladesh.
School of Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351 Australia.
Indian J Labour Econ. 2022;65(2):545-569. doi: 10.1007/s41027-022-00375-9. Epub 2022 Aug 1.
There is no regular mandated increase in minimum wages for workers employed in the Bangladesh ready-made garment (RMG) industry. Workers in the past have relied on optional bonuses added to their monthly incomes to supplement their wages. However, a new minimum wage implemented in January 2019 in the Bangladesh RMG sector increased wages for many workers who are known to work under poor and exploitative working conditions. Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with fifteen currently employed RMG workers (female: 13, male: 2), which led to data saturation. The participants were purposively recruited from both export processing zone (EPZ) and non-EPZ factories located in Dhaka and Chattogram, the two largest cities of Bangladesh where the majority of RMG factories are situated. Transcribed interviews were analysed thematically. The findings revealed that working hours, production targets, work pressure, and workplace abuse have an impact on workers' health and well-being. In line with the Marxist notion of the "accumulation of capital", we argue that due to the profit maximization mindset of RMG owners and international brands, workers have not received the potential benefit of the newly implemented minimum wage as their conditions have been changed in other ways to offset the increase in salary. The article contributes to understanding how factory owners' profit maximization mindset dispossessed workers from receiving the real benefits of the newly implemented minimum wage and forced them to continue working within exploitative working environments. The study shows that the impact of minimum wages on poverty reduction is unlikely and outline the need for RMG labour market reform.
孟加拉国成衣行业的工人没有法定的最低工资定期增长机制。过去，工人们依靠每月收入中额外的非强制性奖金来补贴工资。然而，2019年1月在孟加拉国成衣行业实施的新最低工资标准提高了许多在恶劣和剥削性工作条件下工作的工人的工资。对15名在职成衣工人（女性：13名，男性：2名）进行了定性深入访谈，直至数据饱和。参与者是从位于达卡和吉大港的出口加工区（EPZ）工厂和非出口加工区工厂中有意招募的，这两个孟加拉国最大的城市是大多数成衣工厂的所在地。对访谈记录进行了主题分析。研究结果表明，工作时间、生产指标、工作压力和职场虐待对工人的健康和福祉有影响。根据马克思主义的“资本积累”概念，我们认为，由于成衣厂老板和国际品牌追求利润最大化的思维方式，工人并未从新实施的最低工资中获得潜在利益，因为他们的工作条件在其他方面发生了变化，以抵消工资的增加。本文有助于理解工厂老板追求利润最大化的思维方式是如何剥夺工人从新实施的最低工资中获得实际利益的，并迫使他们继续在剥削性的工作环境中工作。该研究表明，最低工资对减贫的影响不太可能实现，并概述了成衣劳动力市场改革的必要性。
