Politics

Could you imagine having to live on £45 a month? What if it was only £27 a month? That is around $70 and $40 in US money. Now imagine if it was even less.

Yet this is the situation for textile workers in Bangladesh. Following an advert by an alliance of British and North American trade unions, some employees have been offered an increase to the princely sum of £27. Others are continuing their protests in order to reach £45.

The advert was placed by Workers Uniting which is an alliance of Unite from the UK and the United Steelworkers from North America. The advert said:

Follow up:

Workers Uniting supports the very modest demand of Bangladesh’s garment workers for a minimum wage of at least 5,000 taka a month.

Local union leaders responded by saying that the ad had:

helped to build confidence both of the workers and the union leaders. They realised they are not alone

It appears from reports that some wages have been increased as a result of the initiative but not all.

So who benefits from this low-wage economy?

Well US and European consumers may see some of the benefit through lower prices when shopping but the ones who gain most are the store owners.

Tesco from the UK source garments from this country as does Wal-Mart.

Sometimes it is better to look at the source of a product to see how it was produced. The Fairtrade mark can be an indicator that the people involved are being paid a fair wage for their labour.

Note: Some of the information in this article was sourced from Tribune Magazine