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elatives of missing dead were keeping vigil at the rubble of the Rana Plaza more than two months after the eight-story factory building collapsed in Bangladesh, killing more than 1,200 garment workers. “There are dozens of men and women holding up pictures of their children, saying help me find my daughter,” said Charles Kernaghan, executive director of the USW-backed Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights. “They
haven’t received the bodies and don’t know what happened to their loved ones. It is heartrending.” Kernaghan visited Rana Plaza near the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka this summer as pressure was mounting for action to improve the safety and working conditions for millions of poorlypaid garment workers whose factories supply big-name retailers around the world with cheap fashions. Safety and working conditions in Bangladesh have been under increased
scrutiny since a fire last November at the Tazreen Fashion factory in Dhaka killed 117 and injured 200. It was followed by the April 24 collapse of Rana Plaza, the worst catastrophe ever in the apparel industry. In July, not long after Kernaghan’s visit to Rana Plaza, a coalition of trade unions led by the IndustriALL Global Union announced an agreement with 80 mostly European brands and retailers to inspect and repair garment factories in Bangladesh and train their workers. The
Rescuers in Bangladesh look for victims and survivors on April 25, one day after the Rana Plaza factory building collapsed, killing more than 1,200 garment workers. AP Photo by A.M. Ahad
Photo courtesy of the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights
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USW is a member of IndustriALL. The retailers began negotiations with IndustriALL and the UNI Global Union in mid-March on a factory inspection plan for Bangladesh. The resulting accord, which is legally enforceable in national courts, requires signatory companies that source goods from Bangladesh to establish an enforceable fire and building safety program.
Taking responsibility
The companies agreed they would take responsibility and action wherever inspections uncover safety problems, according to IndustriALL. They also pledged to pay for necessary renovations and improvements. A group of American retailers led by Wal-Mart and Gap were criticized for their decision to reject the legally binding agreement negotiated by IndustriALL and prepare their own plan instead. On June 29, the USW joined other labor unions, community groups and the United Students Against Sweatshops in protesting at Wal-Mart and Gap stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. On July 9, 17 North American retailers including Wal-Mart, Gap, Target and Macy’s announced their separate plan to improve factory safety. Their plan committed $42 million to worker safety initiatives and $100 million in loans and other financing to help Bangladeshi factory owners fix safety problems. But unlike the accord signed by European retailers, the Wal-Mart plan lacks legally binding commitments to pay for improvements. Some labor rights groups estimated it could cost as much as $3 billion to bring Bangladesh’s garment factories up to acceptable standards. The two retailer agreements came a month after the Obama administration announced it would suspend certain trade privileges for Bangladesh in response to serious shortcomings in worker rights and workplace safety standards. “The administration’s action sends a strong message to the Bangladeshi government and employers that there will be no business as usual until Bangladeshi workers can exercise their fundamental rights to organize and bargain collectively, workers receive living wages, and fire and building safety standards are established and enforced,” said International President Leo W. Gerard.
Labor unions had long been pressing the Obama administration to suspend trade breaks on tariffs the United States gives Bangladesh under the Generalized System of Preferences, a World Trade Organization program that seeks to promote economic growth. The suspension will affect less than 1 percent of America’s $4.9 billion in imports from Bangladesh, including tobacco and plastic bags, but will not touch the garment industry, which does not have American duty-free status. Even though the suspension is limited, Kernaghan called it an important effort. “Someone had to put the line down and say enough is enough,” he said. The U.S. move, he said, could influence the European Union to take similar action. Europe annually buys 60 percent of Bangladesh’s clothing exports, and, unlike the United States, extends duty free privileges to apparel.
Collective bargaining
Bangladesh enacted weak unionization measures in July after the USW urged the Obama administration to demand that Bangladesh remove all of its restrictions on labor union registration and collective bargaining that deny workers in the apparel industry the right to form unions. Human Rights Watch said the amendments make some improvements but still fall short of protecting workers’ rights and meeting international standards. Without effective workplace representation, the USW said no amount of government or corporate monitoring will protect workers who typically earn about $38 a month, among the lowest wages in the world. “The workers need a voice and the only voice you have as a worker is to join a union. You can’t do it by yourself,” said Kernaghan, who describes conditions in Bangladesh garment factories as close to slavery. The minimum wage starts at 12 cents an hour with a top wage of 26 cents an hour for senior sewers. Shifts as long as 15 hours are common as are seven-day workweeks. “They have nothing. They just live and work and starve,” said Kernaghan, who visited garment workers in their homes and in hospitals around Dhaka. “They live under the most miserable conditions I have ever seen.”
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he Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights has set up a relief fund for workers who were injured in the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory building in Bangladesh. Institute Director Charles Kernaghan pledges that every dollar donated will go to helping the injured workers. For information, go to the institute’s website, www.glhr.org. Checks can be also sent to the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, Five Gateway Center, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15222.
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