Nargis's story
My name is Nargis* and I am 40 years old. I have been a garment worker for about five years. I have two sons and a husband. My five-year-old son is disabled and the other is two. I am anxious about how I can get good treatment for him. My husband works as a helper on the bus.
We live in a small two-room slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh. We share two toilets and one kitchen with 30 families, and there is one open place for a bath.
I started in the button section and was there for one year until I fell pregnant. An officer from the factory told me go home, take a break and your job will be here for you when you come back. But that leave was without pay, I didn’t get any help from the factory. There was also no job for me when I returned.
When I worked there my salary was 1500 taka (NZ $25) a month. I got another job at a different factory working in the sewing section where my salary was almost the same 1600 taka ($27) a month.
My working hours there were 8am to 8pm and sometimes 10pm. I worked long hours and then overtime and sometimes overnight. There was a lot of pressure to get things finished. It was possible to go to the toilet and have a drink of water, but we had to be very quick, otherwise, the supervisors would shout at us. There was verbal abuse and there was child labour.
Whenever a buyer or compliance officer visited the factory, they would keep all of the children out of sight. These children were getting paid 700 taka (NZ $11) a month. The supervisors would shout at the children if they made any mistakes.
A couple of years later, I left that factory and got another job. It had a better salary, but the hours were the same. I lost my most recent job 18 months ago due to Covid. My salary was 3000 taka (NZ $50) a month.
About two years ago the working conditions of factories in Dhaka improved, because of compliance. Now there’s less shouting, less verbal abuse and not as much child labour. There’s also less overtime now and the factories pay workers their salaries on time. We used to wait a month before getting our salary.
Because of the new regulations, the rules are a lot stricter. Factories cannot get away with as much. Garment workers can place a complaint now and many companies will take action.
I cannot go to work nowadays because who will look after my children? My husband is the sole income earner.
My dream is to give my children a better education and a better future.