Brussels, 21/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - A meeting to review the progress of Bangladesh on labour rights and factory safety since the adoption of the sustainability compact in July 2013 was organised in Brussels by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the European Commission on 20 October. It concluded that important progress has been made but that further improvements need to be made.
Following the collapse of the Rana Plaza complex in April 2013, which cost the lives of more than 1,100 people and was the last tragic episode in a long series of industrial accidents that resulted in people dying, Bangladesh, the EU and the US launched a multipartite initiative in July 2013 aiming to improve the work and safety conditions for workers in the garments industry in Bangladesh, and to promote the social responsibility of companies involved in the supply chain. The sustainability compact provides for: - action to reform labour rights and improve health and safety at work in Bangladesh; - action to improve the safety of buildings used for garments factories (particularly against the risk of fire); - and action for enhanced inspections to assess working conditions in factories (including safety, health and compliance with labour law).
On Monday, the ILO deputy director-general, Sandra Polaski, recognised that the Bangladeshi government has made important progress over the last 15 months - amendments have been made to Bangladeshi labour law; the freedom of association, the right to collective bargaining, and occupational safety and health have been strengthened; and new trade unions have been registered. Safety inspections have been carried out in export-oriented garments factories, and factory inspection services have received more resources. A national occupational safety and health policy has been adopted, standards for safety inspections have been created, and a review panel for closures of hazardous factories has been established.
Nevertheless, important improvements still need to be made - and some very urgently, Polaski stated. The ILO requires the effective implementation of labour law through the publication of rules and regulations in order to realise in practice the advances in the law. The establishment and registration of trade unions must be made easier both in law and in practice. The right to strike must be protected and efforts are required to ensure that international labour standards (such as freedom of association and collective bargaining) are upheld. The Bangladeshi government should bring its labour law and legislation covering the export processing zones into compliance with international labour standards - particularly as concerns the freedom of association and collective bargaining. Education and training programmes on labour rights for law enforcement and other relevant personnel should be continued. The victims of the Rana Plaza collapse should receive skills training and rehabilitation. An employment accident insurance scheme should also be set up, and the database of factories should be upgraded to include sub-contractors.
“The [Bangladeshi] government, the compact partners, development partners and the garment industry must do whatever it takes to avoid loss of life and occupational injuries and to ensure the core labour rights of workers now and in the future. The industry, in its efforts to establish its reputation as a fair and sustainable place to do business today and tomorrow, must show that it has properly addressed the oversights of the past”, Polaski stated. (EH)