Have you ever looked at the tag of the clothing you wore, and it said “Made In Bangladesh?” Well, have you ever wondered how your clothing came about, assembled together, in the design and size that fits you so snug? The labor comes from the workers in Bangladesh, shipped worldwide to Western retail shops, but inadvertently, these workers put their blood, sweat and tears- to make a living for themselves. Bangladeshi garment workers receive a wage of 5,300 taka (2014) or 68 U.S. Dollars (54 Euros) a month. This is nearly five times below the Bangladeshi standard monthly living wage of 25,687 taka (332 USD; 262 EUR) (Stotz, n.d.). This reveals the massive amount of poverty-stricken individuals that are struggling to survive in Bangladesh. This becomes problematic as millions of Bangladeshi people are unable to sustain a living for themselves and their families. Western retail companies and the Bangladeshi government cannot ignore Bangladeshi garment workers’ lives being trampled. These workers are not receiving pay and are working in factories with dangerous conditions.In my paper, I hope to raise awareness of this matter through expressing the urgency pushing Western retail companies that possess factories in Bangladesh work alongside the Bangladeshi government to adopt safe working laws and a reasonable pay to Bangladeshi garment workers in order for them to survive and work in safe conditions.
