Three global rights groups have criticised Bangladesh for its failure to comply with the Compact, while urging the EU to use its preferential trade scheme to secure immediate improvements. The critical assessment by International Trade Union Confederation, IndustriALL Global Union and Uni Global Union comes a day before the second review meeting of the Sustainability Compact that opens today (Thursday) in the city. The Compact was signed between the European Union and Bangladesh with the support of the International Labour Organization (ILO) to improve labour rights and health and safety in the ready-made garment sector in the country. Later, the US joined the initiative. “Far too much remains to be done by the government of Bangladesh (GOB) and the garment industry, not only to ensure fire and building safety but to simply guarantee basic respect for the law – including both national and international labour standards,” said the report titled ‘an evaluation of the Bangladesh Sustainability Compact January 2016 update.’ The report published Wednesday and available on the IndustriAll’s official website said, “It is aware of more than 100 cases of anti-union discrimination in factories where new trade unions have been registered.” The report criticised the government for failing to guarantee freedom of association. The inability of many workers to organise and form unions without retaliation and to bargain collectively over the terms and conditions of work means that any gains in building and fire safety and other conditions of work will not be sustainable, leading to certain future tragedies, it added. The report also questioned the rigor of factory inspections made by the Bangladesh national tripartite committee, which immediately declared 80 per cent of the factories within its remit to be safe, whereas inspections by the Accord and the Alliance found critical issues in every single factory. The evaluation also condemned a severe climate of anti-union violence in Bangladesh, frequently directed by company management, with the perpetrators of the crimes having near total impunity. The global unions are calling on the European Union to use its preferential trade scheme (GSP) with Bangladesh to secure meaningful and immediate improvements. Bangladesh benefits from the EU’s “Everything but Arms” arrangement, which grants duty and quota-free access to all exports, except arms and ammunition. “There is no question that the government is directly or indirectly responsible for very serious violations which are in clear breach of the ILO standards incorporated into the EU GSP scheme,” the evaluation report said. The report, however, raised ‘additional’ concerns related to unions in the telecom sector, worst forms of child labour in Hazaribagh leather tanneries and promises in shrimp sector that are yet to be materialised. IndustriALL’s general secretary Jyrki Raina in a statement said, “The action by Bangladesh government to meet the terms of the Sustainability Compact has been inadequate. Anti-union discrimination continues, violence against union leaders goes unpunished and workers who have reported safety problems have been sacked.” “The government must do more to protect its workers in the garment industry or risk another tragedy,” he said.
