Suggestions to Improve Industrial Relation: –

Suggestions to Improve Industrial Relation:- a.

Both management and unions should develop constructive attitudes towards each other – Constructive Attitude b. All basic policies and procedures relating to Industrial Relation should be clear to everybody in the organization and to the union leader. The personnel manager must make certain that line people will understand and agree with these policies. c. The personnel manager should remove any distrust by convincing the union of the company’s integrity and his own sincerity and honesty. Suspicious, rumors and doubts should all be put to rest.

d.The personnel manager should not vie with the union to gain workers‘loyal to both the organization. Several research studies also confirm the idea of dual allegiance. There is strong evidence to discard the belief that one can owe allegiance to one group only. e. Management should encourage right kind of union leadership.

While it is not for the management to interfere with union activities, or choose the union leadership, its action and attitude will go a long way towards developing the right kind of union leadership. “Management gets the union it deserves” is not just an empty phrase. Managements ttribution http://www. citehr. com/77589-causes-poor-industiral-relations.

html#ixzz2UJL65HtE Suggestions Regarding Fire Safety We need to remember that when there is a fire, the first thing one should do is to runaway from it. And this is what everyone does in such a situation. But the situation become dangerous and tragic when the escape doorways and gates are found locked. Precautionary should need to be adopted are given below: ? Building should be constructed with fire resisting materials ? Adequate exits and proper escape routes should be designed ? Protection against fire and smoke should be ensured Electrical wiring must be properly designed, installed and maintained ? Escape routes should be lighted at all times, kept clear, be indicated by signs ? Regular fire drills should be held ? Doors should be protected and should open along the direction of escape ? Doors should not open on the steps and sufficient space should be provided.

? Smoke/Fire alarm systems must be installed ? adequate number of extinguishers should be provided ? Prior relationship with local Fire services should be established Women in the garment industry Garment sector is the largest employer of women in Bangladesh. 6] The garment sector has provided employment opportunities to women from the rural areas that previously did not have any opportunity to be part of the formal workforce. This has given women the chance to be financially independent and have a voice in the family because now they contribute financially. [7] However, the women workers are facing many problems.

Most women come from low income families. Low wage of women workers and their compliance have enabled the industry to compete with the world market. Women are paid far less than men mainly due to their lack education. 4] Women are reluctant to unionize because factory owners threaten to fire them. [6] Even though trade unionization is banned inside the Export processing Zones (EPZ), the working environment is better than that of the majority of garment factories that operate outside the EPZs. But, pressure from buyers to abide by labor codes has enabled factories to maintain satisfactory working conditions.

[7] In recent times, garment workers have protested against their low wages. The firsts protests broke out in 2006, and since then, there have been periodic protests by the workers. 8] This has forced the government to increase minimum wages of workers. [9] Conclusion The Ready-Made Garments (RMG) industry occupies a unique position in theBangladesh economy.

It is the largest exporting industry in Bangladesh, whichexperienced phenomenal growth during the last 25 years. By taking advantage of aninsulated market under the provision of Multi Fibre Agreement (MFA) of GATT, itattained a high profile in terms of foreign exchange earnings, exports, industrializationand contribution to GDP within a short span of time.The industry plays a key role inemployment generation and in the provision of income to the poor. To remaincompetitive in the post-MFA phase, Bangladesh needs to remove all the structuralimpediments in the transportation facilities, telecommunication network, and power supply, management of seaport, utility services and in the law and order situation. Thegovernment and the RMG sector would have to jointly work together to maintaincompetitiveness in the global RMG market.

Given the remarkable entrepreneurialinitiatives and the dedication of its workforce, Bangladesh can look forward toadvancing its share of the global RMG marketOvercoming the challenges of growth: There are a number of areas in which the three main stakeholders –government, suppliers, and buyers -- can work to overcome various hurdles to success. Bangladesh was in fact among the top performing countries in the 1990s, when measured by its improvement in the Human Development Index (HDI) as estimated by the United Nations Development Project(UNDP). In terms of the increase in the value of HDI between 1990 and 2001,Bangladesh is surpassed only by China and Cape Verde 1. Government : plan aheadThe government’s top 3 priorities for improvement are infrastructure, education and trade support. *For infrastructure development government must overcome unnecessary bureaucracy and corruption as well as give additional incentives to the industry for its healthy growth. *Huge initiatives must be taken by the govt.

or via public- private partnerships. *continued trade support especially with regard to bilateral agreements, long term strategy to secure required raw materials must be given priority. 2. Suppliers: think beyondMcKinsey’s work has identified five action fields—1) productivity 2) compliance 3) partnerships 4) supply chain management 5) funding ---- that suppliers should play upon to overcome the barriers to growth in Bangladesh RMG export business. * Improve the management skills of top and middle management.

* Provide structured in-house training for both workers and middle management * Ensure fair wages and incentives schemes. * Pursue lean workshops, certification and automation of production. * Incorporate enterprise resource planning systems, production planning systems and continuous productivity monitoring. . Buyers: Take care Buyers are urged to continue pursuing their ongoing significant efforts and address compliance along the following dimensions * Their own capacitates and standards to ensure labor and social compliances of suppliers.

* Their own capacities and standards to ensure suppliers environmental compliance. * Governance schemes’ and monitoring to ensure compliance within their own sourcing offices. * Cooperation with different NGOs and initiatives to ensure industry wide improvement. Honoring supplier effort rather than comparing different standards in quotations * Acknowledging development needs to ensure customer trust rather than focusing on past improvements. 4. Research and Training The country has no dedicated research institute related to the apparel sector.

RMG is highly fashion oriented and constant market research is necessary to become successful in the business. BGMEA has already established an institute which offers bachelor’s degree in fashion designing and BKMEA is planning on setting up a research and training institute.These and related initiatives need encouragement possibly intermediated by donor-assisted technology and knowledge transfer. A facilitating public sector role can be very relevant here.

5. Flow of Investment It is plausible that domestic entrepreneurs alone may not be able to develop the textile industry by establishing modern mills with adequate capacity to meet the growing RMG demand. It is important to have significant flow of investment both in terms of finance and technology.Figure 3 indicates that the investment outlook in this sector is encouraging, although the uncertainties before the MFA phase-out period caused a sluggish investment scenario. In part the momentum in the post-MFA phase-out period is indicative of the efforts underway towards capacity building through backward integration.

This is evident in the pace of lending to the RMG sector and in the rising import share of RMG related machinery. However further progress would be necessary to improve and sustain competitiveness on a global scale. 6. Policy Regime of GovernmentGovernment of Bangladesh has played an active role in designing policy support to the RMG sector that includes back-to-back L/C, bonded warehouse, cash incentives, export credit guarantee scheme, tax holiday and related facilities.

At present government operates a cash compensation scheme through which domestic suppliers to export-oriented RMG units receive a cash payment equivalent to 5 percent of the net FOB value of exported garments. At the same time, income tax rate for textile manufacturers were reduced to 15 percent from its earlier level for the period up to June 30, 2008.The reduced tax rates and other facilities are likely to have a positive impact on the RMG sector. 7. Market Diversification Bangladeshi RMG products are mainly destined to the US and EU. Back in 1996-97,Bangladesh was the 7th and 5th largest apparel exporter to the USA and European Union respectively.

The industry was successful in exploring the opportunities in markets away from EU and US. In FY07, a successful turnaround was observed in exports to third countries, which having a negative growth in FY06 rose three-fold in FY07, which helped to record 23. 1 percent overall export growth in the RMG sector.It is anticipated that the trend of market diversification will continue and this will help to maintain the growth momentum of export earnings. At the same time a recent WTO review points out that Bangladesh has not been able to exploit fully the duty free access to EU that it enjoys. While this is pointed out to be due to stringent rules of origin (ROO) criteria, the relative stagnation in exports to EU requires further analysis.

8. Product Diversification The growth pattern of RMG exports can be categorized into two distinct phases. During the initial phase it was the woven category, which contributed the most.Second phase is the emergence of knitwear products that powered the recent double digit (year-on-year)growth starting in FY04. In the globalized economy and ever-changing fashion world, product diversification is the key to continuous business success. Starting with a few items, the entrepreneurs of the RMG sector have also been able to diversify the product base ranging from ordinary shirts, T-shirts, trousers, shorts, pajamas, ladies and children’s wear to sophisticated high value items like quality suits, branded jeans, jackets, sweaters, embroidered wear etc.

It is clear that value addition accrues mostly in the designer items, and the sooner local entrepreneurs can catch on to this trend the brighter be the RMG future. 9. Backward Integration RMG industry in Bangladesh has already proved itself to be a resilient industry and can be a catalyst for further industrialization in the country. However, this vital industry still depends heavily on imported fabrics. After the liberalization of the quota regime some of the major textile suppliers Thailand, India, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Taiwan increased their own RMG exports. 10.

Infrastructural Impediments The existence of sound infrastructural facilities is a prerequisite for economic development. In Bangladesh, continuing growth of the RMG sector is dependent on the development of a strong backward linkage in order to reduce the lead time. However, other factors constraining competitiveness of Bangladesh’s RMG exports included the absence of adequate physical infrastructure and utilities. 11. Labor Productivity The productive efficiency of labor is more important determinant for gaining comparative advantage than the physical abundance of labor.In Bangladesh, the garment workers are mostly women with little education and training.

The employment of an uneven number of unskilled labors by the garment factories results in low productivity and comparatively more expensive apparels. Bangladesh labor productivity is known to be lower when it compared with of Sri Lanka, South Korea and Hong Kong. Bangladesh must look for ways to improve the productivity of its labor force if it wants to compete regionally if not globally. Because of cheap labor if our country makes the labor  productivity in the apex position, then we think the future of this sector is highly optimistic.