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The Fight For Bangladeshi Labor Rights Hits New York City Tara Do naldso n
Labor rights activists gathered outside of Walmart board member Christopher Williams’ Manhattan of f ice last T hursday in a display of organized dissent against the company’s decision to f orego signing onto the Accord on Fire and Building Saf ety in Bangladesh. Walmart, which has declined to support the legally-binding agreement requiring companies to implement and f und specif ic saf ety measures in f actories, has previously said it would conduct its own in-depth saf ety inspections and make the results of those inspections public. T he retail giant then helped lead ef f orts to create the Alliance f or Bangladesh Worker Saf ety, a parallel initiative to the International Labour Organization (ILO) backed Accord, causing a heavily debated divide between proponents of the Accord and of the Alliance. Both undertakings were born out of a need to restore Ready-Made-Garment (RMG) worker well-being in Bangladesh f ollowing the deadly Tazreen garment f actory f ire and the Rana Plaza building collapse. While some steps have been taken to implement increased saf ety measures to prevent f uture tragedies, victims of the previous tragedies are still suf f ering. Up to now, one year af ter the Tazreen garment f actory f ire and six months af ter the Rana Plaza building collapse, victims of these incidents have not been compensated. “We’re here to ask Chris to tell the Walmart board to pay the f ull and f air compensation to workers in Bangladesh,” Kalpona Akter, executive director of the Bangladesh Center f or Worker Solidarity, said. T he group, made up of members f rom the International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF) and the Bangladesh Center For Workers Solidarity, also called on Walmart to sign the Accord and f or Williams to resign his post on the board. Liana Foxvog, organizing director f or the ILRF who helped plan the demonstration, said that f ive of f ourteen product lines being made in the Tazreen f actory were Walmart’s and 112 workers died producing clothing f or the brand. Of f icials f rom the Bangladesh Center f or Worker Solidarity uncovered a document last year showing that even af ter Walmart publicly announced that it was cutting ties to the f actory f ollowing the Tazreen f ire, the retailer continued to produce goods there. Walmart responded in reports that a supplier subcontracted this work to the f actory unbeknownst to them. Foxvog said Walmart is just “avoiding responsibility” and “shif ting the blame,” and the group of activists has been leaf leting in f ront of Walmart board members’ homes and of f ices around the country over the past year seeking to be heard. No board member has yet agreed to meet the Accord-backing activists and Williams also declined requests to meet and did not appear during the protest. Mr. Shaf iqul Islam, commercial counselor f or the Bangladesh Embassy in Washington, D.C. weighed in on the protest in an exclusive interview with Sourcing Journal, saying the protest doesn’t accomplish anything. “Walmart is trying to do the best they can, given their position in Bangladesh,” he said. “T hey have been very generous setting aside f inancing f or loans f or f actory improvements, and they have conducted many inspections of their own f actories.” Islam added that Walmart’s recent inspections have been “very thorough and transparent,” and of the 200 f actories the company has in Bangladesh, many have already made real progress.
T he demonstration f ollowed a panel discussion Wednesday evening at the Ford Foundation auditorium titled, “T he Rana Plaza Disaster in Bangladesh—Taking Stock Half a Year On.” T he talk was part of a Mary Robinson Speaker Series on Business & Human Rights and held to help spread the word about the progress, or lack thereof , in the RMG industry post-tragedies. Kalpona Akter, a constant voice in the f ight f or f actory worker rights in the country, gave the keynote speech. Lauren Compere, managing director and director of shareholder engagement at Boston Common Asset Management, Judy Gearhart, executive director of the International Labor Rights Forum, Harpreet Kaur, South Asia researcher at the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, Sarah Labowitz, co-director of the NYU Stern Center f or Business and Human Rights, and Chloe Poynton who manages BSR’s East Coast human rights practice made up the panel. Steven Greenhouse, the labor and workplace reporter f or the New York Times who has covered the tragedies in Bangladesh extensively, moderated the panel. In the six months since Rana Plaza, nothing signif icant has been done, Akter said. “T he government is really moving slower than other stakeholders,” she added. Representatives f rom the Bangladeshi government including Mr. Shaf iqul Islam, voiced dissent f rom the audience, citing a laundry list of accomplishments the government has made. A hotline is already in place f or receiving saf ety complaints, Islam said, there’s been an adoption of a national plan of action and installation of a committee to review f actory standards. But Akter didn’t buy it. T he problem, she said, is that the government isn’t doing much to enf orce any laws that benef it workers because they are more concerned with owners’ best interests as many of the country’s leaders are f actory owners themselves. “How do we prevent collusion when 10 percent of Parliament members are f actory owners?” Akter asked. T he discussion turned to the wage rate and the recent 77 percent increase to 5,300 taka ($68) which f actory owners reluctantly agreed to and garment workers were unsatisf ied with as it was less than the $100 they sought. “T hat rate is just the minimum,” Islam said, take-home pay af ter overtime is much more he added. Either way, if the government is going to raise the wage level, the prices brands pay f or goods have to be higher, he said. Akter agreed that brands will have to come out of pocket more than in the past. “To all the companies in this room,” she said, “You can still make a prof it and be good to workers.” With regard to the victims of both tragedies, Akter said every stakeholder has an obligation to act. Many of these victims can’t af f ord hospital bills, can’t work and have pulled their kids f rom school to send them to work. Instead of providing compensation the best these brands are doing is spending their money on public relations consultants, Akter said. “What is it going to take to get these companies to pay up?” she asked. Akter’s takeaway message to brands was, “We do not want you to leave our country, but we do want you to be responsible,” she said. “We want jobs, but we want jobs with dignity.” inShare
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