Bangladesh’s garment sector may not be able to withstand another tragedy on the scale of Tazreen and Rana Plaza, a US Senate report said.
Only way to guarantee the success of the apparel industry is to avoid another disaster by promoting and protecting labor rights now, according to a United States
Senate report, titled ‘Worker Safety and Labor Rights in Bangladesh’s Garment Sector’, released on Friday.
The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee prepared the report to mark the one year Anniversary of Tazreen Fashion Factory Fire in Bangladesh killing 112 workers.
“Some progress has been made recently by Bangladesh’s fledgling unions, but much more remains to be done,” the report said.
The report put forward a set of recommendations for the US government, apparel brands and retailers and the government of Bangladesh and BGMEA.
As far as the US government is concerned, it should hold the government of Bangladesh to the highest standards in implementing the GSP action plan, especially
provisions pertaining to labour law reform and protecting the freedom of association and the rights to organize and bargain collectively.
The US Department of State should place a full-time labour attache´ from the U.S. Department of Labor at its mission in Dhaka.
For apparel brands and retailers, the recommendations are that they should aggressively continue implementing inspection and remediation programs focused on fire and
building safety in their suppliers factories in Bangladesh.
Apparel brands and retailers, especially those with very large operations in Bangladesh like Wal-Mart, Gap, and others in the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety,
should, in coordination with the ILO, launch long-term, well-resourced programmes to educate their suppliers of their expectation for compliance with laws allowing the
right to organize unions and bargain collectively.
Apparel brands and retailers should also collectively develop and implement a policy of zero-tolerance for suppliers who consistently engage in anti-union activity.
With regards to the government of Bangladesh and BGMEA, they should immediately develop and implement tough and effective sanctions against factory owners who engage
in anti-union activity, and advance progress in sanctioning owners who do not comply with required safety standards.
One of the recommendations also say that the next government of Bangladesh should act quickly to reform existing labour laws, including EPZ labour laws, to bring them
into conformity with international labor standards.
-With The Independent input
