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Because many people in the West love fast fashion, in textile factories in Bangladesh, the mostly female workers in the chord T-shirt sew pants for summer dresses.
The world learned on 24 April 2013 that working conditions are lousy and even life-threatening when the eight-storey Rana Plaza factory building on the outskirts of Dhaka collapsed and buried more than 1,100 people.
ABIR ABDULLAH / DPA
Collapsed Rana Plaza building in April 2013
What has changed since the factory collapse of Rana Plaza? Kalpona Akter receives in her office in the capital Dhaka to talk about it. The trade unionist and NGO founder travels around the world on a regular basis to educate politicians, companies and buyers about the situation in textile mills.
SPIEGEL: Ms. Akter, you have been fighting for the rights of textile workers in Bangladesh for more than 20 years. What has changed during this time?
Kalpona Akter: Not really much. We are still fighting for fair wages and union rights. What has improved: The overtime has decreased. And we no longer have to educate the workers that they have any rights at all.
SPIEGEL: When you were twelve years old, you started working in a factory in Dhaka. How did you become a trade unionist?
Akter: When I was about 14, the factory managers told us that they would not pay our overtime. A group of workers began to strike and I joined. At that time I was not aware of my rights. Above all, I found it unfair. It was close to the Eid feast, and I had counted on this money - I wanted to buy gifts for my siblings.
SPIEGEL: And then?
Akter: Everything went fast: we got right. But after the Eid holidays, the managers fired the strikers from the front row. A workers' organization helped the strikers sue the factory and invited me to a workshop on labor rights. These four hours have changed my life. Everything I learned there was new to me: one shift has eight hours. You can not work 400 hours a month. There is a minimum wage. The chief can not beat me. There are safety precautions. That's how it all started.
SPIEGEL: Bangladesh has changed a lot since then: Gross domestic product per capita, for example, has increased eightfold over the past four decades. The number of people living below the poverty line has been greatly reduced. To what extent has the textile industry helped to lift people out of poverty?
Akter: Well, the cost of living has also gone up, and the workers are still getting poverty salaries. 30 percent of the wages are often for rent - not because the workers want to live in such a dreamlike way. Most live in a nine-square-foot small concrete room, with no windows. Many can not send their children to school, they can not put aside anything. If someone wants to stop working after ten years, he will return to his home village empty-handed.
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SPIEGEL: What do you demand?
Akter: We need a wage to live on. Although the minimum wage was doubled last December; to 8000 taka, about 85 euros a month. But an adequate minimum wage would have to be twice as high as the current one. But we need the brands and the buyers - they have to work for it.
SPIEGEL: How?
Akter: Buyers can ask the brands concerned which wages they pay. And: In any case, they should not stop buying "Made in Bangladesh". We need these jobs. But we want to do our work with dignity - without fear.
SPIEGEL: What do you mean by that?
Akter: More than a thousand workers lost their jobs earlier this year because they protested against the new minimum wage. Many were reported, the charge was vandalism and assault. So they are now convicted.
DPA
Textile Factory in Bangladesh (Stock Image)
SPIEGEL: The textile industry is closely interwoven with Bangladeshi politics. You yourself are also repeatedly exposed to reprisals. In 2010, for example, you were in prison.
Akter: The government accused us of anti-state activities back then. My two colleagues and I were released on bail. In 2014, all allegations were dropped. But in time, my colleague was abducted and brutally murdered. A man was convicted for it, but obviously he has nothing to do with it. It is a political case that nobody can talk about openly. So far we have not experienced justice.
SPIEGEL : About 80 percent of women work in textile mills. How has their status changed in society?
Akter: For a long time rural girls had no other option than to marry their lives. Meanwhile, many parents accept it when their daughters work or even study. This freedom of choice should not be underestimated. But are the women therefore equal? Do you have economic freedom? No. If I have to give my self-made money to my father, husband, or brother-which happens in many families-it's not economic independence for me.
SPIEGEL: Six years ago, the Rana Plaza factory collapsed in Dhaka, killing more than 1,100 people and injuring thousands. At that time, the horror was great. Has anything improved since then?
Akter: Of course, safety at work. Hardly any textile workers die in the companies. Rana Plaza was just one example: hundreds of textile workers have died every year in the factories of Bangladesh. But this positive development is not attributable to the companies or the government. But really only the work of the "Accord on Fire and Building Safety" agreement.
Andrew Biraj / REUTERS
Rescue workers at the collapsed Rana Plaza building
SPIEGEL: More than 220 textile companies, such as H & M and Primark, signed this agreement with the unions. However, the Accord initiative only reviewed 1,600 factories, or about one third of Bangladeshi factories.
Akter: But at least 2.2 million people work in factories inspected by Accord. The deadliest vulnerabilities, such as old wiring or blocked escape routes, have been fixed. And factories that were about to collapse were closed or demolished. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court of the country decided in the summer that Accord can only continue working for another year. Then the government takes over the inspection of the factories.
SPIEGEL: Many textile companies find it wrong that an international association requires guidelines. Some say it's colonial.
Akter: Such arguments bring me to white heat. In a theoretical contribution to the debate, one can discuss whether it is colonialist. But where was our government when workers died in the factories? Rana Plaza employees refused to enter the building after discovering cracks in the foundation. A state engineer gave his okay. Less than a hundred minutes later, the factory collapsed.
This article is part of the project Global Society, for which our reporters report from four continents. The project is long-term and supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
What is the project Global Society?
Under the title Global Society, reporters from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe will be reporting on injustices in a globalized world, socio-political challenges and sustainable development. The reportages, analyzes, photo galleries, videos and podcasts appear in the Politics Department of SPIEGEL. The project is long-term and will be supported over three years by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF).
Are the journalistic contents independent of the foundation?
Yes. The editorial content is created without the influence of the Gates Foundation.
Do other media have similar projects?
Yes. Major European media such as "The Guardian" and "El País" have created similar sections on their news pages with "Global Development" or "Planeta Futuro" with the support of the Gates Foundation.
Was there already similar projects at SPIEGEL ONLINE?
SPIEGEL ONLINE has already implemented two projects in recent years with the European Journalism Center (EJC) and the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: The "Expedition The Day After tomorrow" on Global Sustainability Goals and the journalistic refugee project "The New Arrivals" Several award-winning multimedia reports on the topics of migration and escape have emerged.
Where can I find all the publications on the Global Society?
The pieces can be found at SPIEGEL ONLINE on the topic page Global Society.