On April 18, local time, hundreds of workers from Bangladesh poured into the streets of the port city of Chittagong. They have ignored the country’s social distancing requirements during the new crown epidemic and have taken to the streets to demand that their jobs be restored and their wages paid.
This country, which is highly dependent on garment exports, is being severely affected by the epidemic. Garment factory workers who have lost their jobs feel that they have also lost their future.
Workers also protested during the anti-epidemic period
Hundreds of workers flooded the streets of Chittagong on Saturday to protest, saying they were still waiting for last month’s wages from garment factories, Reuters reported.
At a time when the military is taking to the streets to help enforce the shutdown of tourism and gatherings of many people, these workers do not care whether their health is “threatened” by the new coronavirus. For Bangladesh, the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic may have just begun, but the impact of the global epidemic on its export markets has been ongoing for weeks.
Caption: Garment factory workers took to the streets to protest Source/AP
This time in Chittagong This is not the first protest. On April 16, garment factory workers in Dhaka took to the streets and blocked an entire road, demanding that manufacturers pay their owed wages.
Hundreds of workers in different areas of Himayatpur, Olayil, Fulbaria, Rajasan and Ashuria Parade in front of the factory.
Khairul Mamun Mintu, organizing secretary of garment workers union Kendra, said many of them stopped marching after their bosses at many factories pledged to pay wages within a short time.
He added that workers were forced to take to the streets during the shutdown because some of them had not received last month’s wages, which were supposed to be paid by the 10th of each month.
Worker leaders say many workers are in dire straits because they are not receiving food aid or wages. Ashuria police inspector Javed Masood said workers demonstrated in front of some garment factories demanding wages. “Some owners of small factories have gone into hiding. However, we are investigating the matter,” he said.
Neither the Superintendent of Police (SP) nor the ASP of Industrial Police No. 1 has been contacted by our Savar correspondent phone number.
Garment workers blockade Mirpur in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh Roads in District 1, asking for wages and arrears.
According to the Associated Press, in some areas of Dhaka, including Campapur and Mirpur, these garment factory workers protested in the streets and blocked highways outside the capital. Prevent vehicles transporting agricultural products from passing through.
Caption: Street protests in Dhaka area, garment factory workers are stuck in traffic. Source/Reuters
“The government should take care of us. I haven’t been paid in the past two months.” A 21-year-old woman told the media, but she refused to reveal her name because she was worried that the factory boss would not pay her in the future.
Most of these workers who have the courage to take to the streets to protest have such concerns. They refuse to provide their information for fear that they will not be paid later.
Local official Mohammad Zamiruddin told the media that the police are currently under control and the police have talked with a factory owner, who promised to pay before April 28.
Orders are frequently canceled and subsidies are not enough
Bangladesh is The country’s Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, the world’s second-largest clothing producer after China, said global brands have canceled orders worth $3.2 billion, affecting 2.26 million workers. The number of canceled orders is still increasing every day.
Lubana Hook, president of the association, urged brands and merchants including H&M and Walmart to stop canceling orders and instead accept orders that have been completed or are in production.
It is understood that 80% of Bangladesh’s export products are highly dependent on the garment industry. There are about 4,000 factories across the country employing more than 4 million workers, and most of these workers are women.
Caption: Most of the garment factory workers are women Source/The Guardian
Hu Kehui “If we don’t go all out to improve the welfare of workers, we will have 4.1 million workers truly hungry.”
At present, the new crown epidemic is violently impacting the garment industry, and it is in a state of In Europe, the center of the storm, many brands had to suspend retail sales and production due to the seriousness of the local epidemic. Therefore, these brands stopped dispatching or directly canceled orders to suppliers in Southeast Asia, especially Bangladesh. As a result, manufacturers as manufacturers suffered heavy losses.
Those brands that do not cancel orders may also ask Meng� Due to the shutdown, the shoemaking and textile industries are also facing stagnant demand in the European and American markets. Orders have begun to be canceled and postponed. The situation is not optimistic.
In mid-April, as the epidemic in Europe and the United States intensified, Taiwanese companies that focused on export sales had their customer orders postponed or canceled due to the shutdown of major consumer markets.
Among them, Taiwanese businessmen analyzed that the major textile industry index manufacturers, such as Juyang and Guangyue, and the major shoe manufacturers Baocheng, Fengtai, and Yuqi, etc., are all due to the fact that the major manufacturers have better physical fitness and are more fashionable. It can be supported, but medium-sized Taiwanese factories in the same industry are in danger, and their survival crisis has emerged.
Take another example from Fengming, a major bicycle seat manufacturer that mainly exports to the European market. Chairman Cai Wenrui said frankly that most European customers are currently suspending their activities. Fengming originally expected orders to grow again this year, but due to the impact of the epidemic, About 30% of orders were postponed, and operating conditions were the same as last year.
The Vietnamese furniture industry has been the first to bear the brunt of this wave of orders. Kaisheng, which mainly sells high-end furniture to exports, is one of the few Taiwanese factories that has not suspended operations. However, other Taiwanese companies can only start to cut wages and lay off employees. , or simply shut down the factory, and there is no other way.
Taiwanese businessmen in Vietnam’s furniture industry admitted that the impact of this wave of orders is relatively severe due to the shortage of materials. They can only try to maintain certain operations of the factory. Seeing that some peers have begun to suspend operations, they conservatively estimate that if the epidemic in Europe and the United States can be solved as soon as possible, Under control, it will not recover until the third quarter at the earliest, and production capacity will not return to previous levels until next year at the earliest.
Vietnam’s export situation to the US and European markets is bleak
According to a report from the Vietnam News Agency on April 20, Vietnam’s export activities are facing many difficulties due to the COVID-19 epidemic.
According to statistics, in the first quarter of 2020, Vietnam’s total exports reached US$59.08 billion, a year-on-year increase of 0.55%, and imports reached US$56.26 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 1.9%, achieving a trade surplus of US$2.8 billion.
In the context of the epidemic, this result is quite good. However, economists believe that entering the second quarter, Vietnam’s export situation will be bleaker, especially exports to the US and European markets.
According to Pei Zhongxiu, deputy director of the Trade and Service Statistics Department of the General Administration of Statistics, most export orders in the United States and European markets have been suspended or canceled. If the epidemic situation does not improve in the second quarter, Vietnam’s export activities will be severely affected. blow. Because, in addition to China, the United States and Europe are one of Vietnam’s largest export markets, especially for industries such as textiles and clothing, leather shoes, and aquatic products.
It is expected that orders from customers in the United States and Europe will drop significantly in April and May this year, while orders from June have not yet been decided, and new orders will pick up slowly.
Vietnam’s export activities to the United States and Europe depend on the progress of epidemic prevention and control in these two regions. Vietnamese companies will make full use of the Vietnam-European Union Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), which is expected to be passed by Congress within this year, to promote trade between the two sides.
For Southeast Asian countries such as Bangladesh, India, and Vietnam, which are supported by export trade, clothing manufacturing, textile and other related industries are important domestic economic supports. Once they collapse, they may It will set off an economic storm that will shake the earth.
Perhaps after surviving the COVID-19 epidemic, the spring belonging to manufacturers will eventually bring warmth to factories, but it is unknown which one will come first, the road of despair or hope.
There is hope if you survive! </p
