The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety has struck off 23 garment factories from its approved list for their lack of interest in implementing corrective action plans. “Safety is our first priority. If a factory does not want to improve its safety measures, we cannot maintain a relationship with it,” said Mesbah Rabin, managing director of the Alliance, a platform of 27 North American retailers. There are 676 active factories on the Alliance list. Engineers inspected 846 units to improve their safety measures. Before the suspension, the platform tried to convince the factory owners by holding a series of discussions. It also served them notices informing them of the possible suspension if they do not go ahead with the remediation works. The owners of the suspended factories said they are not interested in implementing them as they do not have any work orders from the US retailers, according to Rabin. The Accord, which is a platform of mainly European retailers, or Alliance cannot suspend the factories unilaterally, said Siddiqur Rahman, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association. “We will talk with both the factory owners and Alliance on how to resolve the problem,” Rahman said. If any factory owner wants to sever relationship with a retailer, it is an issue between the two parties. “The Accord or Alliance has little to do with it,” he added. Usually, when any action is taken on safety issues or closure of any factory for poor safety, the concerned agencies inform the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) and the review panel. Syed Ahmed, inspector general of DIFE, said he was not informed about the suspension of the factories from the Alliance list. “Safety is a major concern for us. The Alliance could have given more time as financing is a big challenge in remediation of the factories.” “I do not know how the safety of the suspended factories would be improved as the Alliance is no longer with them,” Ahmed added. However, the DIFE will form a ‘remediation coordination cell’ soon to settle the disputes in safety improvements by the three agencies — Accord, Alliance and National Action Plan. The International Labour Organisation has been trying to collect funds for formation of the remediation coordination cell, he added.
