George Miller, a senior member of the US Congress, arrived in the city on Saturday to personally inspect RMG factories in Bangladesh, which is under
microscope due to frequent disasters.
The US Congressman will meet workers, victims, and factories and government officials during his visit.
Miller, the top Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, is the first member of Congress to visit Bangladesh since the Rana Plaza collapse on April 24 that had killed 1,127 workers and left over 2,500 injured, making it one of the worst industrial tragedies in world history.
Miller has been pressing major American companies whose products are made in Bangladesh to sign onto a new binding and enforceable building and fire safety accord that has been signed by more than 31 companies worldwide.
‘This trip to Bangladesh is an important opportunity to examine the circumstances surrounding the tragic events that have taken so many lives and threaten the lives of so many others,’ Miller said in a web release issued from Washington.
‘I hope to learn more about three particular aspects of these tragedies and American involvement in this burgeoning industry – worker safety and health conditions and the impact of the recently inked fire and building safety agreement, garment workers’ rights to form unions without fear of retaliation or persecution, and whether Bangladesh is guaranteeing labour rights and acceptable working conditions that are expected if the United States is to maintain tariff relief provided under the Generalised System of Preferences, a decision on which is expected imminently,’ said Miller, who has a long history of working against the use of sweatshops and has been urging major brands, including Walmart, GAP, JC Penney, Sears, and The Children’s Place, to sign on to the Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Accord.
-With New Age input
