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- While there are many fairly good factories there are many that are little better than sweatshops. The recent boom in the knitwear sector has spawned many new factories, which breach nearly every labour standard.

Neil Kearney, general secretary of the International Textile Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation ITGLWF, does not spare his words when he speaks about the situation in the textile factories of Bangladesh.

Large retailers bear much of the blame

The Asian country is a major producer for the international markets, and large retailers are the most important customers. Much of the blame for poor and often dangerous working conditions must in fact be laid on leading retail multinationals. Although many of them are applying various social responsibility codes in their supplier relations, the very system of producing as cheaply as possible in developing countries, for markets in the industrialised world, breeds social misery and oppression.

UNI Commerce is working together with ITGLWF to help monitor that leading retailers respect workers' rights and decent conditions in their supply chains. The reality is, however, often much worse than the companies want to admit. Recently, the Netherlands-based Clean Clothes Campaign released a report which clearly showed that many of these social responsibility schemes are indeed not very effective.

Drop quota obsession and improve social performance instead

On 23 December, Neil Kearney spoke to the Congress of the Bangladesh Independent Garment Workers’ Union Federation. He said that the country's garment industry should drop its obsessions with import quotas and market access to the United States, but instead focus on improving its own productivity and competitiveness. An important part of this is to improve its social reputation, he said.

- A thirty- second news clip in the US or Europe highlighting exploitative conditions in a retailer’s supply chain can undo years of costly advertising, Neil Kearney told the Congress.

- One European retailer sourcing from the Spectrum Sweater factory in Saver, which collapsed killing some sixty workers in April last year, received more than a million e-mails of protest from customers. No brand or retailer wants that fall-out from its supply chain conditions.

- The Bangladesh industry needs to wake up to the real world, recognise what is and what is not attainable and concentrate on building its competitivity not on concessions but on improved productivity, quality, delivery and social reputation – the four pillars for success in today’s global market.

Cramped and overcrowded factories are death traps

- Workers’ rights abuses are often the norm. Just travel from Saver to Dhaka any night of the week. Garment factories are lit like Christmas trees till late at night. Twelve-hour days, seven days a week are not unusual. Many of these factories are death traps, cramped and overcrowded. What would happen in the event of a fire?

- Throughout the industry workers are being cheated on wages. The knitwear industry appears to be particularly bad. Piece rates rob workers as they are rarely applied in a professional manner, are usually arbitrary, often not advised to workers and frequently a breakdown of wages is not given rendering it impossible to establish how wages are calculated. Any protest is met by dismissal. No wonder labour turnover is growing so rapidly in the industry.

Employers cheat workers out of wages

- Such cheating has grown rapidly in the past year, Neil Kearney said. Many factories are not paying wages on time. This week I saw one situation where the employer is a month behind on the payment of wages. And then the authorities and industry bosses express surprise when workers object.

- The surprising thing is that workers don’t object much more often. Unfortunately, in too many factories management by terror is the order of the day. Threats, intimidation, suspensions and firings substitute for effective management by dialogue and discussion.

- In spite of the law freedom of workers to form unions and bargain collectively with their employer virtually doesn’t exist in the garment sector. The government seems powerless to act. The Labour Ministry is totally under-resourced and largely ignored when it tries to intervene. The legal system is totally bogged down and takes years to resolve matters. Justice delayed like this is justice denied, Neil Kearney stated.

Nothing for retailers to be proud of

UNI Commerce will continue and step up the cooperation with ITGLWF. It is unacceptable that retailers in the industrialised world either directly or indirectly are contributing to sweat-shop conditions and to grave violations of the human rights of disadvantaged workers and their families.

- The situation of production workers in many developing countries, working under unacceptable conditions, is nothing for the retail industry to be proud of, says Jan Furstenborg of UNI Commerce.

- Applying codes of conduct is of course very important, but not enough. Real social responsibility and protecting the reputation of our industry requires much more. The entire approach to low-cost and low-wage production in developing countries needs to be re-assessed.

- To squeeze out the last dollar from the price of a pair of jeans will not help a consumer in Europe or the United States, but can mean the difference between a decent life and misery for the men and women - and regrettably often still children - who make them, he said.