Initiative of KN for The Workers
Formal Sector
RMG workers
Karmojibi Nari first started to work with formal sector workers in Tongi industrial area in 1991 and then in Narayanganj with the Adamjee Jute Mill workers, the pharmaceuticals workers and with the textile mills workers. In that time, it was found that women’s presence in and access to the trade unions was very insignificant. KN realized the importance of building women’s leadership and representation in the trade unions.
In Nineties when the garments industry took off, issues of women workers gained greater visibility. In that time KN worked hard to organize the women workers of RMG and sensitize the concerned sections for the rights and dignity of the women workers. In 2006, KN played a tremendous role in signing MOU of Tripartite Agreement among the Government, Owner and Workers. Since then KN has been monitoring the progress of the MOU. KN is the Member of Steering Committee of Multi Stakeholder Forum Bangladesh (MFB) for garments and also the Member of Social Compliance Forum, headed by the Ministry of Commerce, GOB. During its long journey, KN do not work only with the women workers of RMG about their rights and responsibilities, but also sensitizes the mid and top level managements of the RMG sector to ensure decent workplace for better livelihood and increase productivity.
Besides, KN organizes national level seminar every year with the Ministry of Labour and Employment to observe the International Labour day – the May Day and also with other concerned stakeholders. At the same time KN works in the factory level with the Managers and workers of RMG to activate the Participation Committee (PC), Occupational Health and Safety Committee (OHS) Committees, Anti Sexual Harassment Committee (ASHC) in RMGs and leathers factories. These activities are conducted with the supports from development partners named EU, GIZ, AAB, ILO, CARE BD, Royal Norwegian Embassy (RNE), OXFAM GB, OXFAM NOVIB, DFID, and so on.
Policy Advocacy and Campaign for RMG workers
In conjunction with educating and building awareness among the workers and sensitize the owners KN also involve in policy advocacy with the policy makers of Bangladesh government and conducting campaign to establish the legal rights of workers particularly the women workers at workplace as well as in community. From the year 2003 KN actively involve with the advocacy and campaigns to amend the prevailing labour laws and enact a complete Labour Law. After a continuous pressure the government passed the complete labour law in 2006. The organization reviewed the law and worked hard to popularize the law among the workers. Besides, KN put recommendations to the government to amend the loopholes of the law of 2006 and it was amended in 2013 (now named as Labour Law 2013). Besides, KN led other campaigns like the minimum wages and maternity benefit for the women workers of RMG.
Operating Daycare Centre and Women Cafés for Working Mother
KN also operates Women Cafes for the RMG and leather industries’ workers where the workers come after their work, share their experiences of workplace and home. They also get training about the Labour Law through participatory learning process and games in these cafes. Besides, KN runs a Day Care Center for the children of RMG workers, provides health care facilities for the children and also for the mothers, and doctor visits regularly to check the children and mothers once in a month. Besides, KN also provides legal aid supports for the workers regarding workplace and family related violence/problems.
Sea Food Processing Industry Worker
As the sea fish and shrimp processing boomed over recent decades under global supply chain, substandard labor practices and labor rights violations also expanded. It leads informalization of work, contractual outsourcing and precarious working conditions in the supply chain in the country like Bangladesh. Women play a crucial role throughout the fish value chain, providing labour in both commercial and artisanal fisheries and women are often assigned the most unstable roles, or poorly paid or unpaid positions. At the industry’s front-end, an estimated 86% of workers’ in fishing and fish farming are men. But in post-harvest, processing and marketing, the majority of fish workers are women.
In order to ensure social justice and decent work for the SPI worker especially women worker as well as rising the voice of women workers for a dignified working environment Karmojibi Nari started to work with the workers since 2020 at Bagerhat district. KN promotes and strengthens women and young workers’ capacity and leadership in sea food processing industries, sensitize mal workers about gender and worker’s rights, establishes network with the stakeholders with the SPI workers to ensure their rights. The initiative is supported by DGB Bildungswerk and Christian Aid.