With one condition remaining unmet, the second review meeting on “Sustainability Compact” – an initiative for improving safety standards and ensuring labour rights in the country’s RMG sector – is going to be held on Thursday in Dhaka. The European Union, US, International Labour Organisation, BGMEA, BKMEA will participate in the meeting which will be represented by the Ministry of Commerce, Labour and Employment Ministry and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The first meeting was held in Brussels last year. Following the deadliest Rana Plaza building collapse in 2013, Sustainability Compact – an agreement between the EU and the Bangladeshi government with the support of ILO – was outlined for ensuring continuous improvements in labour rights and factory safety in the RMG sector of Bangladesh. The present compact puts emphasis on respect for labour rights, freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, structural integrity of the buildings and occupational safety and health, plus responsible business conduct by all stakeholders engaged in RMG and knitwear industries in Bangladesh. “The government along with its stakeholders has met all conditions of Sustainability Compact except amendment to EPZ rules to allow trade unions in factories at Export Processing Zone,” Senior Labour and Employment Secretary Mikail Shipar told the Dhaka Tribune. The rights to organise by RMG workers in EPZ factories would be ensured under the Workers Welfare Association (WWA), said Shipar. A comprehensive Bangladesh EPZ Labour Act 2014, however, has been drafted and in principle approved by the cabinet. It is expected to be vetted by the Law Ministry and sent to the Parliament. Commenting on the remediation progress, Shipar said the Accord and Alliance are providing funds for their sourcing factories while the government is making efforts to manage fund for those factories inspected under the national initiatives. “Our achievement in workplace safety and workers rights is very high, which would be discussed in the meeting,” Senior Commerce Secretary Hedayetullah Al Mamoon told the Dhaka Tribune. “From the manufacturers end, we have complied with all conditions as per the prescription of Sustainability Compact. The process of implementation of rules of the Labour Act has started to ensure workers’ rights as well as their rights to organise,” BGMEA senior Vice-President Faruqe Hassan told the Dhaka Tribune. In the first review, the stakeholders put the highest priority on addressing unfair labour practices, including anti-union discrimination and reprisals, alongside reporting, plus documenting violence against trade unions and workers’ representatives. The meeting also put pressure on legislation of trade unions in EPZ factories to ensure workers’ rights to associate as per the ILO convention.
