Where does Nike make its trainers? Or Wrangler its jeans? In the same place Raleigh make its bikes, Philip Morris makes its cigarettes, Korean companies make LED lights, and giant corporations like Walmart, Mothercare, Tesco and Reebok make practically everything from pharmaceuticals to fishing rods and baseball caps. The Chittagong export development zone (EDZ) in Bangladesh.
At Youngone factory, one of 17 that the giant Korean conglomerate has making clothes and shoes for the world in the Chittagong zone 3,500 workers make a staggering 14,000 pairs of shoes a day, or more than 5m a year.
Companies in the zone get cheap, reliable power, as well as generous 10-year tax holidays, freedom from red tape, duty-free imports, immunity from national laws, cheap labour and low rents. In Chittagong, companies pay just $2.20 monthly to rent a square metre of space, and the annual rent paid to the Bangladesh government by all the factories on the giant site was reportedly just $4m a year. Bangladesh is proud of its Chittagong zone, not just because its 137 factories export $1.6bn worth of goods a year, and last year invested $930m, but because it claims to have the cheapest labour in the world. China's minimum wage in its EPZs is $250 a month, Indonesia's $135 and Pakistan's $80. But corporates manufacturing goods in Chittagong need pay workers an average of only $48 a month, said the zone manager. That's about $1.50 a day.
People are paid more to work in the zone than in factories beyond the gates but the pay rates, which are set by government and not by the companies, are terrible. An apprentice in a Chittagong EDZ factory need only be paid a meagre $20-22 a month (less than $1 a day), unskilled workers $38 a month, semi-skilled $45 and skilled workers up to $60 – all for a six-day 48-hour week. No unions or strikes are allowed, not many workers stay more than a few years, and it is understood that on average only a quarter of the workforce gets the minimum wage.
"We do not allow unions, only workers associations," said the manager. "They can discuss matters with their companies. They are happy."
Globally, there are now several thousand EDZs. So what are these EDZs good for? Does Bangladesh benefit apart from the jobs? The World bank says they "provide a country with foreign exchange earnings by promoting non-traditional exports, create jobs and generate income as well as helping technology transfer". Their critics say they favour the export market rather than the domestic market, exploit poor countries, and allow relaxed environmental and safety standards.
War on Want and local development groups argue that the wealth created has made little improvement to the lives of ordinary workers, despite the creation of millions of jobs.
Source
At Youngone factory, one of 17 that the giant Korean conglomerate has making clothes and shoes for the world in the Chittagong zone 3,500 workers make a staggering 14,000 pairs of shoes a day, or more than 5m a year.
Companies in the zone get cheap, reliable power, as well as generous 10-year tax holidays, freedom from red tape, duty-free imports, immunity from national laws, cheap labour and low rents. In Chittagong, companies pay just $2.20 monthly to rent a square metre of space, and the annual rent paid to the Bangladesh government by all the factories on the giant site was reportedly just $4m a year. Bangladesh is proud of its Chittagong zone, not just because its 137 factories export $1.6bn worth of goods a year, and last year invested $930m, but because it claims to have the cheapest labour in the world. China's minimum wage in its EPZs is $250 a month, Indonesia's $135 and Pakistan's $80. But corporates manufacturing goods in Chittagong need pay workers an average of only $48 a month, said the zone manager. That's about $1.50 a day.
People are paid more to work in the zone than in factories beyond the gates but the pay rates, which are set by government and not by the companies, are terrible. An apprentice in a Chittagong EDZ factory need only be paid a meagre $20-22 a month (less than $1 a day), unskilled workers $38 a month, semi-skilled $45 and skilled workers up to $60 – all for a six-day 48-hour week. No unions or strikes are allowed, not many workers stay more than a few years, and it is understood that on average only a quarter of the workforce gets the minimum wage.
"We do not allow unions, only workers associations," said the manager. "They can discuss matters with their companies. They are happy."
Globally, there are now several thousand EDZs. So what are these EDZs good for? Does Bangladesh benefit apart from the jobs? The World bank says they "provide a country with foreign exchange earnings by promoting non-traditional exports, create jobs and generate income as well as helping technology transfer". Their critics say they favour the export market rather than the domestic market, exploit poor countries, and allow relaxed environmental and safety standards.
War on Want and local development groups argue that the wealth created has made little improvement to the lives of ordinary workers, despite the creation of millions of jobs.
Source
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