As the dawn breaks, shanties surrounding the garment factories on the outskirts of the capital wake up. Within an hour or so, footpaths and streets swarm with young female workers marching towards their factories.To many the sector is a symbol of pride and hope. Sadly to some others, it is a symbol of disgrace and source of despair.Pride because the sector brings home $25 billion in export earnings and employs 44 lakh poor people on top of giving a solid boost to women’s empowerment.Disgrace because its poor safety measures and working conditions, aimed at exploiting abundant cheap labour, have led to repeated deaths inside factories violating workers’ basic rights. The collapse of Rana Plaza, which claimed lives of 1,134 garment workers on April 24 two years ago, bears testimony to this.Trade unions have termed the Rana Plaza disaster “mass industrial killing” for forcing workers to work in the faulty building where a crack was noticed the day before.Rights bodies believe that inordinate delay in bringing the perpetrators of previous disasters (such as the ones at Tazreen Fashion and Spectrum) to justice, poor enforcement of labour laws and inadequate monitoring of factory safety rules by government agencies are responsible for such industrial crimes.”Trials of cases from the Spectrum disaster to Rana Plaza collapse are still on,” said Barrister Sarah Hossain at a programme on Rana Plaza collapse early last week.

Charge sheets of lawsuits filed in connection with the Rana Plaza collapse are yet to be placed and injured victims and families of the dead workers are yet to fully compensated.Some 53 percent of the survivors have asked for compensation from the international brands and other “duty bearers”, said ActionAid Bangladesh last week in a survey report.”Many of them also believe that bringing perpetrators to the court will ensure justice to the victims of Rana Plaza collapse,” it said.Some 55 percent of the Rana Plaza survivors are still unemployed, said ActionAid.The collapse raised calls to improve building and workplace safety, and ensure labour rights. It also called into question the international clothing brands’ role.As a result of a global outcry following the disaster, two groups — Accord, a platform of 190 clothing brands in Europe, and Alliance, a body of 26 American brands — launched large-scale safety inspections on factories. More than 2,500 factories have been inspected so far. IndustriALL Global Union, an international body fighting for better working conditions and trade union rights, said Bangladesh still cannot claim that even one of its 4,000 active garment factories is 100 percent safe for workers.ndustriALL also rued the lack of funds needed to compensate the injured workers and the dependants of the dead.The compensation fund is still missing $6 million out of the targeted $30 million.UNI Global Union General Secretary Philip Jennings said, “It’s outrageous that families who lost their mothers and breadwinners have still not been fully compensated because a group of multinationals can’t find it in their hearts or deep pockets to pay the $6 million missing from the compensation fund.”The movement for workers’ rights has nonetheless seen a few achievements since the disaster happened.Some 32 factories have been closed down for inadequate safety arrangements and the government has taken some steps to strengthen the factory inspection office. Workers’ minimum wage has been increased and the labour law amended.Furthermore, around 300 trade unions have received registration, which is less than 3 percent of the total garment factories in the country, said Alonzo Suson, Bangladesh country director of Solidarity Centre.Noting the activities, the CPD last week said there have been some positive changes in improving workplace safety and labour rights after two years of the disaster.However, rights body Human Rights Watch last week said garment workers in Bangladesh still face poor working conditions and anti-union tactics by employers, including assaults on union organisers.It said the government and Western retailers can and should do more to enforce international labour standards to protect workers’ rights, including their right to form unions and advocate for better conditions.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/backpage/struggle-not-over-yet-79152

Anjuara Begum made her way through a crowd with small steps towards the piles of the debris-strewn disaster site in Savar. She stopped before a pool of rainwater accumulated in a pit.Kneeling down, she dipped one of her fists in the greenish water and touched her face with the wet palm. Anjuara mumbled; her eyes brimmed with tears. Her cry soon turned into howl as a woman tried to take her away from the edge of water.”Here, here my son Hridoy has died… bury me here. My son, my jewel is around here,” she cried, holding tightly a piece of concrete rubble.Like Anjuara, family members and relatives of Rana Plaza victims shed tears as they gathered the disaster site yesterday with photographs and related documents of their loved ones.It was the second anniversary of country’s deadliest industrial disaster that took away at least 1,135 lives and left over 2,000 others injured. Over 80 remain untraced.

Some howled while many sobbed and a few just gave vacant look at the site where their loved ones toiled day and night stitching clothes for global brands in garment factories on the upper floors of the shoddily constructed nine-storey building before it collapsed on April 24, 2013.Some lit incense sticks, some expressed anger in wait for justice. A humming sound of rage and weeping filled the air of area.In the last two years, no significant change took place in the hulking Rana Plaza complex, now open for all. Weeds grew in some part of the disaster site still strewn with torn clothes, papers, yarns and tags. Some human bones were also seen kept at one corner in the concrete rubble.But the agonies of the relatives of the victims like Anjuara are still fervid.Hailing from Mymensingh, she lost her elder son Hridoy Hossain who used to work on the fifth floor. His body was never found.Hridoy was the main earner of her four-member family after her husband fell ill several years back. To run his family, he stopped studying. His younger brother now studies at class-VII in a local madrasa in Mymensingh.The woman in her fifties has her life full of sorrows. Her parents were brutally killed by robbers when she was a kid. Living in Savar, she fought against odds throughout her life.And when her son got the job, she started dreaming of good days.”Now everything is finished,” said Anjuara, wailing.Recalling the fateful day, she said Hridoy left home saying he would return soon as the factory would be closed.”But he left me forever,” she said.Anjuara shuttled from one hospital to another, gave blood samples for DNA tests, but the body of her son remains traceless.”Whenever I get time I come here this is the memory of my son,” she said.Only a few yards away, Meherunnisa was lying on the rubble, crying inconsolably and beating her chest. She was trembling as if she may faint anytime. Her younger sister was pouring water on her head and her husband was trying to take her away.She lost her son Abul Kalam in the Rana Plaza disaster.”I will not go anywhere. His body was recovered under the staircase. I want to stay here,” she said. She came from Shyamnagar of Satkhira on Thursday.Kalam was the cutting-in-charge of a Rana Plaza factory. The family got the body 15 days after the tragedy. Fourth among eight siblings, Kalam had worked for around four years in Rana Plaza and lived in Savar.He left behind his wife and two minor sons.Kalam’s younger sister Fatema Khatun said every day her brother used to make phone call and used to ask whether her mother took food. “He was very caring,” she said.Each family of the victims has a different story to tell.Take Abdur Rahman as an example. His two sons — Abu Bakar Siddiq and Kader Siddiq — used to work on the second floor and third floors respectively.Kader died and his elder brother Abu Bakar narrowly escaped. But Abu sustained psychological trauma which he could not get over with.”Sometimes he [Abu] acts like a normal person. But sometimes he acts in an uncontrolled way,” said Abdur Rahman.Abdur Rahman has got Tk 3.20 lakh after his younger son’s death and Tk 50,000 for his elder son.But he had to spend almost all for the treatment of his son, who needs medicine of Tk 350 every week. Abu was treated in Rangpur Medical College Hospital for an injury he sustained in his anal fissure.Moreover, Rahman has to take care of his family that includes his wife and Kader’s wife and three children.Abdus Salam took his four-and-a-half-year old son Amit to the site where his wife Mita Khatun worked until the day she died. He held a copy of The Daily Star newspaper which carried a photo of his elder daughter crying at the recovery of his wife’s body.They placed a wreath at the monument “Protibade Protirodhe”, built in memory of the victims.”My daughters realised the fact that their mother died, but Amit is yet to understand it,” said the 33-year-old father.Amit plays all day with his cousins, but often he inquires about his mother and cries, he said.”I could not give a proper answer,” said Salam who did not get married. His aged mother looks after the children now.Abdus Salam received around Tk 3.5 from government, different NGOs and donor agencies. “The money I keep for my children’s education.”While many have received financial assistance from the government, NGOs, charities and social organisations, many have lost their sole breadwinners and have been waiting for some kind of help.Sexagenarian Khodeza is one of themHer only son Khalil Hossain died, but she did not get the body. Now Khodeza is the one who looks after Ayesha, daughter of Khalil. His wife had left him several months before the Rana Plaza tragedy.Though she received around Tk 1 lakh, her future looks grim. She already spent a major portion of it.”I have nobody and I don’t know how I will grow her up,” she said. Khodeza used to live in Shahibagh in Savar with his son. Now she moved to her village home in Ataikula of Pabna.”How will give the house rent. How will I manage everything,” she asked.Yesterday, several thousand people, workers of different garment factories, and members of workers’ organisations placed wreaths at the monument to mark the second anniversary of the collapse

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/backpage/not-forgotten-not-forgiven-79151

Sajeda Begum was weeping in an abandoned corner of the Savar bus stand, holding inher hand a photo of her daughter Khaleda Akter.She sobbed inconsolably, unable to speak. Sajeda came from Gopalganj. She has been looking for her daughter for two years. The place where she stood had a nine-storey building two years ago. Her daughter used to work in that building.Along with hundreds of others, Khaleda was buried under the debris when the building collapsed on Apr 24, 2013. She was neither found among the survivors nor the dead. Sajeda comes to the place every Apr 24. Shedding tears in front of the debris is now her only solace. The building, Rana Plaza, almost had the entire garments industry of Bangladesh collapse with it. The death of over 1,000 workers and several thousand injured men and women suddenly brought Bangladesh to the centre of global attention.Rescuers workers risked their lives to extricate those beneath the debris but were unable to find all the victims. Khaleda from Gangarampur of Gopalganj’s Muksudpur is one of them.Her relatives were unable to come to terms with her possible death but now appear resigned to the reality. Around 3,500 workers were in the five factories located in the building. Khaleda worked in the finishing department of Phantom Apparels on the third floor. DNA tests were held to identify the victims.Sajeda said she gave samples several times for the test but her daughter remains untraced. As a result, she has not yet got any assistance as the member of a family of a Rana Plaza victim.Meheran Begum, mother of another victim, Babu Mia, rushes to Savar from Tangail’s Nagarpur every time the remains of a body are found. Meheran came to the place on Thursday, a day before the second anniversary of the accident.She broke down on seeing a piece of jeans. “My Babu came to the factory wearing trousers like this that day,” she said. She also failed to find the remains of her son despite DNA tests. “I am here to find solace.” Locals said skulls and bones are still being found in the debris. Street children found some on Monday. Such findings are kept in front of a memorial raised in the place.Madaripur’s Hajji Matabbar was seen looking for something there. He said his daughter Shahinur Begum was buried under the debris but her body was not found. Mariam Begum came from Dhamrai in search of her sister Nila Akter. Many supported the demand to use the place to rehabilitate the victims. But the issue has not been resolved yet. Meanwhile, the plot appears to be grabbed slowly.On Thursday, the district administration’s tin fence was not visible. The signboard set up by the court had fallen down as well. The police camp set up to oversee the site had been withdrawn. Locals said land grabbers were erecting shops on the site. A rent-a-car centre has also been set up. Zainal Abedin of a tea stall said one ‘Alim’ gave him the place for a monthly fee. He could not, however, give any details about Alim. “No one prevented this,” he said.Grocer Mohammad Sohel said he made a contract of Tk 1,500 monthly fees with one ‘Bakkar’ to run a business on the place. He, too, was unable to give details about Bakkar.

Source: https://www.observerbd.com/2015/04/25/85494.php

Different readymade garment (RMG) workers’ rights bodies on Friday urged for immediate compensation of Rana Plaza victims and an immediate punishment for the culprits behind the world’s most deadly garmet-factory catastrophe.The same demands were also made in a separate human chain held in front of the National Press Club in the capital on Friday marking the black day in the history of Bangladesh’s RMG sector. Demonstrators at the site in Savar held protest rallies and human chains demanding punishment of the culprits, including the main accused and owner of the building Sohel Rana.They came up with the urge at the second anniversary of Rana Plaza collapse claiming over 1,100 RMG workers’ life and more than 2,500 injuries.Earlier on April 24 in 2013, the building, consisting of clothing factories, a bank, apartments, and several other shops, collapsed during the morning rush-hour.The workers’ rights groups specially Garment Workers Trade Union Centre, Garment Workers Federation, Bangladesh Garments and Industrial Federation and Garment Sromik Oikyo Forum expressed their deep concern and showed demonstration to get the compensation for the victims of Rana Plaza.However, hundreds of common people gathered at the site in Savar, to show their agitation against the culprits responsible for the accident.The Programme was started by placing floral wreath at the Shaheed Bedi, the graveyard of the Rana Plaza victims, around 8:00am today. Hundreds of people swarmed the place protesting and remembering the deadly incident. The agitated people yielded placards demanding compensation for the victims of Rana Plaza.They also criticized the government and Bangladesh Garment Manufactures & Exporters Association (BGMEA) for not making any specific announcement of financial assistance to the Rana Plaza victims.Four political organisations Jatiyo Mukti Council, Naya Gonotantrik Gonomoncha, Jatiyo Gonotantrik Gonomancha and Jatiyo Gonofront placing forth a banner urged all to mark April 24 as the day of mourning as a large number of garment workers were killed in the day.European Union (EU) has cautioned of revisiting its duty-free quota for Bangladesh if poor and unsafe workplace is not abolished in the country for workers.EU’s trade commissioner, Cecilia Malmstr?m, made the disclosure at a conference titled “Remembering Rana Plaza: What Next” at the European Parliament in Brussels on Friday.

Source: https://www.observerbd.com/2015/04/25/85493.php

Several RMG trade union leaders yesterday urged the government, buyers and garment owners to ensure proper compensation to the survivors and family members of the deceased in the Rana Plaza collapse. They also demanded forming a fund with contribution from the government, buyers and the owners to bear the educational expenses of victims’ children. The union leaders made the call at separate rallies and human chains, formed by several Ready-Made Garments (RMG) federations to observe the second anniversary of the Rana Plaza collapse yesterday in front of the National Press Club. National Garment Workers’ Federation President Amirul Haque Amin demanded formation of a fund to bear the educational expenses of the victims’ children as they lost their parents. He also urged the government, garment owners and buyers to take necessary measures to rehabilitate and provide treatment facilities to the survivors. Bangladesh Textile-Garment Workers’ Federation urged the government to take effective measures to ensure compensation and demanded punishment of culprits responsible for the disaster. It also urged to set a compensation standard. “Sohel Rana, owner of the Rana Plaza building, did not get punishment even after two years of the building collapse, rather he is staying in jail in luxury,” said Hazera Sultana, Member of Parliament, who took part in the rally. She also blamed Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association for not implementing the compensation package. “If the government ensured workers’ rights in the RMG sector and punished the culprits behind Tazreen Fashion Fire, the Rana Plaza incident would not have happened,” she added. “Two years have passed since the factory disaster but a good number of workers did not yet get their proper compensation, which was pledged by several quarters,” said AKM Mustafa Kamal, coordinator of Global Union UNI Bangladesh Liaison Council. He also demanded implementation of steps to ensure worker safety and compensation. Ramesh Chandra Roy, Secretary General of IndustriAll Bangladesh Council and member of the coordination committee, urged the global buyers to contribute to Rana Plaza Donors Trust Fund to compensate victims. The fund so far collected $24mn and needs $6mn more to pay the full compensation. The victims of Rana Plaza have suffered enough, so no more excuses; please pay sufficient compensation as the workers have lost the ability to work in a factory, said the trade union leaders taking part in the rallies. Rana Plaza, an eight-storey building located in Savar that housed five RMG factories, collapsed on April 24, 2013 killing over 1,135 workers and injured over 2,500 people. Meanwhile, the Rana Plaza Coordination Committee has so far distributed Tk76 crore among the victims, which is 70% of the estimated compensation. Over Tk15.38 crore has been given out as compensation to 976 deceased victims’ families and Tk4.1 crore to 38 severely injured victims.

Source: https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2015/apr/25/union-leaders-demand-proper-compensation#sthash.KnDzF60s.dpuf

Speakers at a commemoration event to mark the second Rana Plaza anniversary recognised the progress made towards creating a safer readymade garment (RMG) sector while stressing the need for further improvements to working conditions and worker rights in the industry. Continuous efforts have been made by the government and its partners over the last two years to transform our apparel industry,” said state minister for labour and employment Mujibul Haq Chunnu.Recalling the tragic garment factory collapse in Savar at a commemoration programme, Haq said the government with support from different development partners implemented a number of programmes to enhance workplace conditions and ensure safety and security of garment workers to prevent recurrence of such accidents. Ministry of Labour and Employment with support from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) organised the programme at Sonargaon Hotel on Thursday evening, attended by high government officials, diplomats, industry people and representatives of garment employees and workers. The event was supported by Canada, the Netherlands and the UK. A minute’s silence was observed at the event in remembrance of those who lost their lives in the Rana Plaza collapse on April 24, 2013.

Source: https://www.daily-sun.com/print/metropolis/2015/04/25/499880#sthash.ALk5Sjba.dpuf

The readymade garment (RMG) workers are facing severe harassments including anti-union tactics by the management at garment factories on a regular basis. The garment owners and authorities have been rejecting the applications for forming the union at the factories after the Rana Plaza tragedy. The rejection rate was 19 percent in 2013 and 31 percent in 2014. Now the alarming rate has jumped to 65 percent at the first quarter of this year. This has become a matter of concern for the RMG workers of our country at the moment. One of the international rights groups, Human Right Watch (HRW), shared this information at a press conference at Dhaka Reporters’ Unity (DRU) on Wednesday about the garment workers living and anti-union tactics by employers including assaults on union organisers.Several efforts have been taken to make the factories of Bangladesh safer after the catastrophic Rana Plaza collapse. The fatal accident took place on April 24 in 2013 claiming over 1100 workers’ life, the New York-based rights organisation said.According to the HRW, The government and western retailers should come forward to enforce and maintain international labour standards to ensure workers’ rights including rights to form unions.Deputy Director of HRW Asia Phil Robertson said, “If Bangladesh wants to avoid further disasters like Rana Plaza it needs to enforce a standard labour law and ensure the rights of garment workers.””The RMG workers should enjoy the right to raise their voice against any injustice. Moreover, safety measures and friendly working conditions should be settled for the workers so that they can work without fear of retaliation or dismissal,” he added.”If Bangladesh government does not take any actions against the factory managers who attack workers and deny the right to form unions, then it will be an example of perpetuate practices which may cost the lives of many workers,” Robertson said.The spokespersons of HRW mentioned the cruelty of the garment authority to the workers. They criticized the managers’ role in recent major accidents in RMG sector. At Rana Plaza, factory managers compelled reluctant workers to enter the building despite major cracks in the complex’s walls. At the Tazreen Fashion’s factory, managers refused to let workers escape even after the fire alarms went off. Earlier on November 24 in 2012, a devastating fire broke out at Tazreen Fashion and killed at least 112 workers, they added.

Source: https://www.observerbd.com/2015/04/23/85115.php

Garment workers in Bangladesh work in poor conditions and face anti-union tactical tussle with the employers including assault on union organisers, Human Rights Watch in its report said yesterday. The HRW called on Bangladesh government, factory owners and western retailers to ensure respect for workers’ rights and end unlawful target of labour leaders by factory owners and supervisors. The report said efforts are underway to make Bangladesh factories safer, but the government and western retailers should do more to enforce international labour standard to protect workers’ rights, including the one to form unions, and advocate for better working condition. “If Bangladesh wants to avoid another Rana Plaza, it needs to effectively enforce labour law and ensure that garment workers enjoy their rights and voice their concerns about safety and working conditions without any fear of retaliation or dismissal,” said Phil Robertson, Asia deputy director of HRW. “If Bangladesh does not hold factory managers accountable who attack the workers and refuse their right to form unions, the government will perpetuate practices that have already cost the lives of thousands of workers.” The report titled “Whoever Raises their Head Suffers the Most”: Workers’ Rights in Bangladesh’s Garment Factories,” is based on interviews with more than 160 workers from 44 factories. According to the report, there are a series of violations including physical assault, verbal abuse – sometimes of a sexual nature – forced overtime, denial of paid maternity leave, failure to pay wages and bonuses on time or in full. Many workers who try to form unions to address such abuses face threats, intimidation, dismissal, and sometimes physical assault at the hands of factory management or hired third parties, added the report. Union leaders told Human Rights Watch that they continue to be targeted by factory management, risking abuse by both managers and supervisors, or thugs acting at their behest. A union leader at a factory in Gazipur said when she and others tried to set up a union in January 2014, they were brutally assaulted and scores of workers were fired. A Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) official told Human Rights Watch: “We have a bitter experience about unions. They believe they don’t need to work and they will get paid.” But a Chittagong garment worker, Mitu Dtta, ran counter to what the BGMEA official said. He said: “Four people were holding me and beating me in the legs with bars and two were beating my wife with iron bars.” She had to get 14 stitches on her head, Mitu said, adding that when they were beating up Mira, they were saying, “You want to do union activities, right? and then we will shower you with blood.” In our factory, 80% of workers are female and they will get pregnant but the managers are not doing anything about maternity leave and bonuses, described Mitu. “When we protested against the injustice, our supervisors used to hurl slang at us, saying, if you are all concentrating on getting pregnant, why are you working here? Go and work in a brothel,” a female worker at a Dhaka-based factory said, seeking anonymity. The Bangladesh government and retailers need to ensure that factory owners and management start respecting workers’ rights, and the government must hold accountable those who abuse labor rights, Robertson suggested. The Bangladesh government should carry out effective and impartial investigations into all workers’ allegations of mistreatment, including beatings, threats and abuses, and prosecute those responsible, he said.

Source: https://www.dhakatribune.com/business/2015/apr/23/rmg-workers-still-denied-rights#sthash.DlzoF7YJ.dpuf

Government does not have clear data about the Rana Plaza victims even in two years since the accident, said speakers at a roundtable yesterday. “It was government’s responsibility to prepare statistics over the victims that how many workers were injured, how many were dead and how many remained unidentified,” said Kazi Saifuddin Ahmed, labour adviser of Bangladesh Employers Federation. He blamed the government for “chaos over compensation issue” that there were confusions that who have been compensated and who have not been. The roundtable discussion on “Present Situation of Rana Plaza Victims, Compensation and Rehabilitation” was organised by Bagladesh Occupational Safety, Health and Environment Foundation (OSHE) in the capital. In which criteria the amount of compensation is being set and who will be entitled to get how much that is not clear to the affected workers and their families, he said. He said, mass mismanagement has created which resulted in some workers getting compensation though they do not deserve it on the other hand who are entitled but not getting following their right. He urged the government to prepare a clear data over the workers who have been compensated and how much through a study. Some affected victims of Rana Plza and their families were present at the function and shared their views over the compensation. Of the victims Shafiqul Islam who remained stuck up in the collapsed building one day said he was compensated only Tk60,000 in two phases in last two years. He could not join in work as he physical condition does not permit to heavy weight work. He, however, still bearing lesion in his body but could not continue the treatment due to not have affordability. He raised question that in which criteria he has been entitled to get the poor compensation that was even to enough for his treatment. On the other hand, Mehera Begum who lost her son Babu Miah in the Rana Plaza disaster received compensation of only Tk50,000 in two years. She, however, got a letter from Rana Plaza claims administration where she has been entitled to get Tk4 lakh. But still she did not get the compensation amount. The trade union leaders urged to form a committee a tri-partial committee consisting minimum one members on behalf of workers, owners and government to prepare a clear data over the compensation. Kazi Reazaul Haque, a full-time member of National Human Rights Commission, was present as the chief guest.

Source: https://www.dhakatribune.com/business/2015/apr/23/government-has-no-clear-data-rana-plaza-victims#sthash.7Snvp6Hp.dpuf

When the ILO country director in Bangladesh tells us that Bangladesh has made significant progress towards ensuring workplace safety and protecting jobs, we have every reason to believe him. When Accord and Alliance don’t find many of our factories on the dock or failing their scrutiny, we should be happy about that. When the ILO’s regional director tells us Bangladesh has to do a lot in order to ensure sustainable worker safety, and more importantly, protect and increase jobs, we agree to focus on productivity improvement and moving the entire value chain upward. The BGMEA president feels that a small factory with 500-600 workers needs half a million dollars to relocate, create better working conditions in its factory premises, and build 3,200 factories large and small — it will require a much larger amount than that. On the other hand, we still hear that many Rana Plaza victims never received their compensations, and even the money received in the prime minister’s relief fund for supporting Rana Plaza victims still remains terribly underutilised. According to reports, the buyers’ consortium are also running short of their committed contribution. We have heard that the main challenge for Bangladesh’s garments sector is price. After the fire incident at Tazreen Fashions and the Rana Plaza building collapse, the cost of production has increased significantly, but retailers do not pay higher prices for apparel items. Although Accord and Alliance have already inspected most of the factories, they did not approach any retailers to increase the volume of work orders from factories housed in shared buildings. Buyers’ representatives identified five specific challenges to the sector: Finance to remedy the factory buildings, safety in the factories that are not under the purview of Accord and Alliance’s inspection, relocation of factories from Dhaka to other places, a policy for sub-contracts, and the departure of Accord and Alliance after 2018 — manufacturers were concerned whether the workplace safety programs would continue after the departure of these agencies after June 2018. I have heard the ILO country director saying a mechanism should be adopted by the government, BGMEA, and BKMEA to take the responsibility of monitoring factory buildings after the departure of agencies like Alliance and Accord. Many within development partners feel that since the Bangladesh labour law has been amended, it should be put to action soon. Why has nobody questioned whether the infrastructure bottlenecks or high bank interest rates could be the only things responsible for non-optimal growth of apparel industries? Courtesy of the Rana Plaza episode, Bangladesh apparel workers have seen a sharp rise in their wages. It has become almost on-par with India. Despite many industrie being suspended by the biggies to either work as their vendors or have sub-contracting stopped, prices have not seen any significant rise. Many industries are not able to finance shifts from a shared building or purchasing new firefighting or disaster management equipment. Though productivity has been identified as the single most important issue, most of the industries could not invest enough on worker training or the replacement of outdated machinery. Despite much hue and cry, development partners and buyer syndicates were unable to come up with any notable “bailout” packages. The suspension of the GSP, possible facility curtailment by the EU, offering better facilities to competing countries, delays in the establishment of industrial clusters or special economic zones, and emerging competition from India and Vietnam are also being discussed as possible barriers to the RMG sector’s growth. Some are talking of shifting orders to Kenya, Ethiopia, or even the possible rise of Myanmar. I would put price and productivity as the critical success factors for Bangladesh’s apparel industry. Solutions to both warrant coordinated efforts from industry owners, commerce and labour ministries, governments of buying countries, buyer syndicates, and development partners. Only productivity improvement and scale-up can help divert many orders from Vietnam and China. Optimum price from the buying companies can also help with investing enough on worker training and the development of supervisors. Proper water usage, reduced accidental losses, and competitive financing packages can ensure better spreads or savings, contributing much to the entrepreneur’s ability to recycle or reinvest profits. The industry has to be process-driven rather than owner-driven. Average or ad-hoc solutions seem to still haunt our apparel sector. Should we allow our RMG sector to grow further, where there are multiple challenges faced by this industry? Or we should instead give impetus to our textile sector or other exporting entities? I would say there is still enough head-room for our RMG industry to grow. A shift to better quality clothes, better design, and improved productivity and workplaces can fetch better prices, create more employment, accelerate poverty reduction, and create a large pool of people with higher purchasing power to buy more locally-produced goods and services — giving further impetus to local industries. It is high time we focused on worker responsibilities and obligations along with workers’ rights and, more importantly, protect each worker through accident coverage insurance.

Source: https://www.dhakatribune.com/op-ed/2015/apr/23/how-much-have-we-learned-rana-plaza#sthash.nFvPXHaX.dpuf