| The Machinists | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster | |
| Directed by | Hannan Majid Richard York |
| Cinematography | Hannan Majid |
| Edited by | Richard York Hannan Majid Nidham Farreh |
Production company | |
Release date |
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Running time | 52 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | Bengali |
The Machinists is a 2012 British documentary film directed by Hannan Majid and Richard York. The film documents the exploitation of garment workers in Bangladesh with the personal stories of three young women working in factories in Dhaka.
The filmmakers first introduce a young woman whose husband abandoned her when she was pregnant with her first child. She lives in one room with seven other family members. She and her two sisters, who are also single mothers, work as machinists in the factories. They complain that they are never paid enough or on time; that paychecks are docked; and that overtime is mandatory, but often goes uncompensated. While these women sew clothes for retail giants, their mother cares for their numerous young children.
Next, the film focuses on a garment worker in her early 20s whose family sent her from a village to work in the factories when she was nine years old. She lives alone and her monthly wage is US$45, much less than the monthly cost of living in Bangladesh. After a day at the factory, the woman begins another shift as a volunteer at the union office run by the National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF).
Later in the film, there are protests organised by NGWF in Dhaka. Garment workers march through the streets demanding a fair living wage and safe working conditions despite the threat of losing their jobs for participating in the protest.
The Machinists tells the personal stories of three female Dhaka garment workers and the boss of a fledgling trade union in Dhaka, Bangladesh, intersect to portray the human cost of western high street fashion. It has unprecedented access into the garment factories and the lives of ordinary garment workers. [1] The film was commissioned by Al Jazeera International and after a series of international broadcasts, was taken on by a number of international NGOs to promote issues of workers rights in the developing world. [2]
On 30 May 2013, Hannan Majid and Richard York held an event in Herringham Hall at Regent's College in London's Inner Circle, to raise money for the National Garment Workers Federation in Bangladesh, which helps victims of the disaster and battles to win better conditions for garment workers. There was a screening of The Machinists plus a discussion on the issues. [3]
The film was screened in cinemas by War on Want and Amnesty International [4] as well as festival screenings which included East End Film Festival in London 2012 [5] London International Labour Festival 2013, [6] and The Workers Unite Festival 2013 [7] and 2014 [8] in New York. [4]
Julie Flynn Badal of The Huffington Post described The Machinists as "a visual document of the exploitation of garment workers in Bangladesh. The film gives voice to three young people working in the factories in Dhaka." [9]
Indybay said, "This film tells this story through illuminating the lives of these workers and why the recent industrial disasters are a logical result of the corruption and corporate control of the government of Bangladesh." [10]
After the 2013 Rana Plaza tragedy, in 2014, Majid and York returned to Bangladesh to make Tears in the Fabric . [11] Since the release of The Machinists, Rainbow Collective has built strong ties with the NGWF, who were instrumental in securing the access and characters for the new film. [12]
A sweatshop or sweat factory is a crowded workplace with very poor or illegal working conditions. The manual workers are poorly paid, work long hours, and experience poor working conditions. Some illegal working conditions include poor ventilation, little to no breaks, inadequate work space, insufficient lighting, or uncomfortably or dangerously high or low temperatures. The work may be difficult, tiresome, dangerous, climatically challenging, or underpaid. Workers in sweatshops may work long hours with unfair wages, regardless of laws mandating overtime pay or a minimum wage; child labor laws may also be violated. Women make up 85 to 90% of sweatshop workers and may be forced by employers to take birth control and routine pregnancy tests to avoid supporting maternity leave or providing health benefits.
Hannan Majid is a British documentary filmmaker.
The textile and clothing industries provide a single source of growth in Bangladesh's rapidly developing economy. Exports of textiles and garments are the principal source of foreign exchange earnings. By 2002 exports of textiles, clothing, and ready-made garments (RMG) accounted for 77% of Bangladesh's total merchandise exports. Emerging as the world's second-largest exporter of ready-made garment (RMG) products, Bangladesh significantly bolstered employment within the manufacturing sector.
Sara Ziff is an American fashion model, filmmaker, and labor activist. She is the founder and executive director of the Model Alliance, a nonprofit organization in New York City.
The 2012 Dhaka garment factory fire broke out on 24 November 2012, in the Tazreen Fashion factory in the Ashulia district on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh. At least 117 people were confirmed dead in the fire, and over 200 were injured, making it the deadliest factory fire in the nation's history. The fire was initially presumed to be caused by an electrical short circuit, but the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, has since suspected that arson and an act of "sabotage" was involved due to the occurrence of previous comparable events. This fire and others similar to it have led to numerous proposed reforms in workers' rights and safety laws in Bangladesh.
Ha-Meem Group is one of the largest Bangladeshi conglomerates in textile and garments sector. It owns 26 garments factories, sweater factory, poly bag industry, label factory, jute mill, chemical formulation plant, tea estates, transport company, Channel 24 and Samakal, a widely circulated national daily newspaper. The newspaper are under Times Media Limited of Ha-Meem Group. It employs 50 thousand people.
The Rana Plaza collapse was a structural failure that occurred on 24 April 2013 in the Savar Upazila of Dhaka District, Bangladesh, where an eight-storey commercial building called Rana Plaza collapsed. The search for the dead ended on 13 May 2013 with a death toll of 1,134. Approximately 2,500 injured people were rescued from the building. It is considered the deadliest accidental structural failure in modern human history, as well as the deadliest garment-factory disaster in history and the deadliest industrial accident in the history of Bangladesh.
The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, also known as "the Alliance" or AFBWS, is a group of 28 major global retailers formed to develop and launch the Bangladesh Worker Safety Initiative, a binding, five-year undertaking with the intent of improving safety in Bangladeshi ready-made garment (RMG) factories after the 2013 Rana Plaza building collapse. Collectively, Alliance members represent the majority of North American imports of ready-made garments from Bangladesh, produced in more than 700 factories.
Tears in the Fabric is a 2014 British documentary film directed by Hannan Majid and Richard York. The film documents the toll that the 2013 Rana Plaza disaster has taken on a Bangladeshi garment factory worker named Razia Begum.
Kaberi Gayen is a Bangladeshi academic, author, and social activist known for her outspoken views on the oppression of minorities and gender inequality in Bangladesh.
Rubaiyat Hossain is a Bangladeshi film director, writer, and producer. She made the films Meherjaan (2011), Under Construction (2015) and Made in Bangladesh (2019). In 2023, she becomes the second female director to win Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Director for Made in Bangladesh. Made in Bangladesh was listed in criterion collections hidden-gems of the 2010s. Hossain is currently working on her fourth feature film Difficult Bride. Hossain is also the founder Sultana’s Dream, a funding and mentorship grant to empower, promote and support the next generation of women filmmakers and storytellers in Bangladesh.
Taslima Akhter is a Bangladeshi activist and photographer. She is a graduate of Dhaka University, as well as the photography school Pathshala. She is a member of several activist organizations. While documenting the Rana Plaza collapse in 2013, she took a photograph of a woman and a man who had died in each other's arms, which became emblematic of the incident.
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The Garment Workers Unity Forum (GWUF) is a national trade union federation of garment workers in Bangladesh.
The National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF) is a registered national trade union federation of garment workers in Bangladesh. With 87 registered factory unions, it ifs considered one of the four main federations of garment workers' unions. NGWF is the initiator and a member of the Bangladesh Garments Workers Unity Council and a member of the Bangladesh Center for Workers' Solidarity. It is affiliated with the IndustriALL Global Union and one of the signatories of the Bangladesh Accord.
The Bangladesh Independent Garment Workers Union Federation (BIGUF) is a trade union federation of garment workers in Bangladesh. It is considered one of the four main federations of garment workers' unions. BIGUF is affiliated with the IndustriALL Global Union and a member organisation of the Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity. It is also one of the signatories of the Bangladesh Accord. Unlike many other trade unions in Bangladesh, it is explicitly not affiliated with any political party.
The Bangladesh Garments Workers Unity Council (BGWUC) is a national trade union centre in Bangladesh. The centre unites 21 garment worker trade union federations.
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Mushrefa Mishu is a Bangladeshi trade unionist and politician. She is the current president of the Garment Workers Unity Forum and general secretary of Bangladesh's Democratic Revolutionary Party.