Challenges and Opportunities to Improve Working Conditions of Women Ready Made Garment Workers in Bangladesh

The study focuses on the Bangladesh Readymade Garments (RMG) sector’s workers’ challenges and opportunities to improve their working conditions. The degree of support given to workers by stakeholders like government, producers, and other relevant institutions, highlighting the barriers and opportunities for implementation of an adequate regulatory framework. This research background forms literature on 'class', 'collecting bargaining' and a feminist approach to discuss and analyse issues from participants’ perspectives. The first empirical section of this research identifies the opportunities and barriers that women garment workers face. It draws on interviews from owners and workers. Interviews from workers show a range of thoughts about the challenges and barriers to improving workers' working conditions in the RMG industry of Bangladesh. It also sets out the data regarding how the managers think they can contribute to improving women’s working conditions. It also highlights the variation between the views of the managers and workers. Their answers were divided into different themes of working conditions, including: salary and leave, safety, skills, medical facilities for workers, and capacity building. This chapter also discusses managers’ thoughts on investment, cost, production and different challenges faced by male and female workers, the future of the factories, addressing disagreements within the factory, and feelings about the factory. The research uses a qualitative case study approach focused on Bangladesh. The key method of this research is interviewing with a focus on women workers’ working conditions. Research participants involved ready-made garment factory workers, their supervisors, managers of four factories and different stakeholders of the Bangladesh RMG sector. Finally, the research tries to understand women workers’ challenges and opportunities from their perspectives.