At a time when international bodies and rights groups are harping on improving the workers’ rights in the Bangladesh RMG sector, a comprehensive survey on RMG sector conducted by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) found that almost 97.5 per cent factories do not have trade unions.
Khondaker Golam Moazzem, Project Director of the study and Research Director of CPD, and Abeer Khandker, a Visiting Research Associate at the CPD, presented the findings of the survey report at a seminar titled, ‘Conference on Transformation in the RMG Sector in Post-Rana Plaza Period’ in Dhaka recently.
Participating in the event, President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce & Industries (FBCCI) Shafiul Islam Mohidddin reportedly admitted that there is lack of trade union activities in the RMG sector but maintained that workers welfare committees in the factories are working to protect the interest of the workers.
Presiding over the inaugural session of the seminar, CPD Chairman Prof. Rehman Sobhan said that a global consultation is required for social improvement of the RMG workers who should be given the credits for success of the garment sector.
Sobhan also called upon the President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Saber Hossain Chowdhury who is also a member of the current Parliament and Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Textile and Jute, to draw the global attention upon social improvement of the garment workers.
Bharat Tex Special Report 2026 
