ActionAid lists 5 points to secure Bangla RMG workers

18 Apr '16

4 min read

While the compensation issue has been resolved to a large extent, the long-drawn out process undermines the usefulness of the support. The factory inspection poses multiple challenges. On one hand, once the buyer driven initiatives phase out; would the government be in a position to continue; whose responsibility is it to upgrade the safety requirements, the timeframe for these upgrades and how would they be financed; and finally what happens to the workers who lose their jobs due to factory shut-downs resulting from safety deficiencies. Though the law now allows trade unions to operate, their effectiveness in terms of increasing workers' collective bargaining power is an area of concern, the report said.

Bangladesh is currently at the take-off stage towards graduating from a least developed country (LDC) and it has set an ambitious goal of socio-economic and technological development to reach by 2021. By 2021, a target has also been set by the leaders of RMG industry. By this period, the garment leaders intend to double the production and export of garment products, which is currently worth $25 billion. In order to achieve the target of production and export, a trained, aware and organized labour force will play a vital role. Hence, there should be incentive for the RMG workers, the main production agent. It would not be irrational that Bangladesh garment sector introduces living wage for the workers in the next few years. This may be a potential branding point of a world's leading garment exporter country, the report said. (SH)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India

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