Working Condition and Welfare Programs of Desh Garments Limited

Abstract

Readymade Garments (RMG) is the leading sector of Bangladesh in terms of employment, production and foreign exchange earnings. The country is the second largest exporter of garments products in the world for last three decades. The main comparative advantage of this country in manufacturing garments products is low cost labour. To make the most out of this comparative advantage, the garments owners often do not comply with labour safety and health regulations. This results in miserable working condition for the workers. This study was undertaken to explore the working condition and the welfare programs of Desh Garments Limited from the viewpoints of the workers. This study assessed the working condition of Desh Garments Limited based on the availability of pure drinking water, adequate toilet facility, working space, medical facility, fire safety and air ventilation system of the factory. The workers’ viewpoint towards working hours, timeliness of salary and satisfaction about salary were also assessed. The demographics of the workers was also covered in small scale. For assessment purpose, a questionnaire was used to personally interview the randomly chosen workers. The questionnaire was developed using a five point Likert scale to obtain the degree of agreement of the workers to a set of statements. For data analysis, frequency distribution tables and line charts were used. Analyzing the responses, it has been found that Desh Garments Limited offers a favorable working condition for the workers. But, the workers are not satisfied with the timeliness of the salary and the current wage structure. Finally, some recommendations were given to improve the overall scenario.