At the third monitoring meeting for the Sustainability Compact on Thursday 18 May, the partners in the Compact for the ready-made garments sector in Bangladesh (the EU, USA, Canada and International Labour Organisation – ILO – in collaboration with the authorities of Bangladesh) hailed progress on safety in the workplace and procedures for registering unions, but called for more to be done to improve workers' rights.
In response to the collapse of the Rana Plaza textile factory in Dhaka on 24 April 2013, which claimed over 1,130 victims, the EU, USA and ILO launched a Sustainability Compact in the summer of 2013 to improve working standards and conditions, and workplace safety in the country's textile industry. Canada then joined the initiative at the latest monitoring meeting for the compact in 2016.
In their conclusions, the partners in the Sustainability Compact hail the progress made in several areas including: - the recent rise in union memberships in Dhaka's administration division; - the development of standard operating procedures for better handling requests for union registration; - the strengthening of the factory inspection department; - the formation of a sanitation coordination unit; - investment in the safety of factories and the implementation of corrective plans of action. In addition, they also hail the introduction of the notion of cooperation in the workplace and the construction of a culture of safety and health at work.
However, the partners in the Sustainability Compact call on the Bangladeshi authorities to continue their efforts to ensure the adoption of standard operating procedures in order to to handle requests for union registration quickly, in line with objective and transparent criteria. They also underline the need to protect workers from acts of anti-union discrimination, so as to guarantee an environment appropriate for the freedom of association and collective bargaining. In addition, they call for investigations into, and proceedings against, unfair working practices. In line with these efforts, they call for Bangladesh's Ministry of Labour to be modernised in terms of staff and resources.
While they hail the formation of a tri-partite consultative council for the ready-made garments sector as a consultative body for industrial relations between factory-workers and owners, the parties call on Dhaka to quickly examine the pending criminal complaints against the social partners concerned. They also call for inclusive consultations to be started with a view to amending Bangladeshi labour law so as to respond to the recommendations of the ILO supervisory bodies.
Taking note of the withdrawal of a draft labour law in free trade zones for further examination, the partners call on Bangladesh to ensure that workers in free trade zones benefit from the freedom of association and collective bargaining rights.
While calling on Dhaka to promote a responsible business conduct, the partners encourage brands and retailers to adopt responsible trade practices and a uniform code of conduct for factory inspections in Bangladesh.
The partners hail the three initiatives taken for fire safety, buildings safety and work safety in the ready-made garments sector in Bangladesh, but call for these three actions to make progress in work on sanitation.
In addition, recognising the crucial role of the ready-made garments sector in the country's development, the partners reaffirm their commitment to the people of Bangladesh, especially through their support for a responsible business conduct. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)