News
BackThis year, several textile factories in Bangladesh have either collapsed or gone up in flames. What happened as a result of the most devastating case on 24 April 2013 alone is horrifying: more than 1,100 fatalities and more than 2,000 seriously injured factory workers. On 17 September 2013, the Ambassador of Bangladesh addressed the Trade Committee of the European Parliament in Brussels. Also invited were representatives of the European textile industry, the Foreign Trade Association (FTA) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO). Jointly debated were issues concerning the necessary reforms for the protection of workers in Bangladesh, whereby the positions of the different stakeholders strongly differed in a number of points.
A disastrous record and its causes
The backgrounds of these horrific tragedies are always the same. All factory buildings had serious structural defects and did in no way comply with the in any case relatively low security regulations of the Bangladeshi authorities. In particular the collapse of the textile factory in Rana Plaza at the end of April this year had extremely tragic consequences: according to official figures, 1,129 workers died in the rubble, whilst 2,438 survived, most of them having suffered serious injuries. Workers in Rana Plaza produced for example clothing for Aldi, Tchibo, H&M, C&A and Benetton.
Since then, there have always been strident protests and strikes by textile workers in many parts of the country. Their main demands included in particular an increase in wages and the improvement of working conditions in form of better safety standards.
Discussions in the Committee of the European Parliament
In the Trade Committee, Ismat Jahan, the Ambassador of Bangladesh to Belgium and the EU, reported on the targeted political reforms in the textile industry of her native country. About 200 new inspectors would soon take up their positions and the right to organise trade unions would be improved. Making available an amount of USD 3 billion, it would also be possible to increase within five years all safety standards to a level required. This was equivalent to increasing the price of exported clothing by only 10 cent per item.
Gilbet Houngbo, ILO Deputy Director-General, welcomed the intention to implement reforms in Bangladesh on a political level; however, he criticised the comparably large hurdles in respect of establishing trade unions. It was still the case that 30 % of all workers of a company had to agree to be able to organise a trade union in the first place.
Members of the European Parliament voiced great concerns regarding the actual implementation of the intended reforms and pointed towards the necessity of fighting against corrupt factory inspectors. The demand for the financial compensation of the victims of the disaster resp. the targeted support of those workers, who suffered serious injuries in the disaster and were therefore no longer able to work in their previous job, was unanimous.
The representatives of the Foreign Trade Association (FTA) pointed out on several occasions that the large European retailers in Bangladesh were comprehensively supervised by means of an internal monitoring programme. Apart from that, they were in general not in charge of the factories themselves, which were outsourced to local operators. Hence, they were not directly responsible for the recent accidents.
However, apart from the question of guilt and the effectiveness of self-regulation it has to be emphasised that the large retailers seem to be rather unwilling to make profound changes to the safety, healthcare and general working conditions of textile workers in Bangladesh and other affected areas. For example, a meeting of the 29 largest European retailers in the clothing industry was supposed to take place at the beginning of September. Only 9 participated to discuss compensation for the victims of this year’s factory collapses in Rana Plaza and Tazreen. In the end, they rejected the idea to compensate the workers.
Outlook
The political will to introduce necessary changes for the protection of workers in Bangladesh’s textile industry has been repeated by all stakeholders over and over again. However, to this day no binding rules have been laid down for companies to implement certain standards; the same applies to the actual passing of comprehensive reforms by Bangladeshi politicians. The European Union too could - in view of the enormous trading volume with Bangladesh (about 9 billion Euros) - exert more political pressure. The fight of the textile workers in Bangladesh for more rights, higher wages and improved working conditions has only just begun. Equally unsolved remains the issue of compensation for the victims of Rana Plaza and Tazreen. The European textile industry denies its financial responsibility.
The backgrounds of these horrific tragedies are always the same. All factory buildings had serious structural defects and did in no way comply with the in any case relatively low security regulations of the Bangladeshi authorities. In particular the collapse of the textile factory in Rana Plaza at the end of April this year had extremely tragic consequences: according to official figures, 1,129 workers died in the rubble, whilst 2,438 survived, most of them having suffered serious injuries. Workers in Rana Plaza produced for example clothing for Aldi, Tchibo, H&M, C&A and Benetton.
Since then, there have always been strident protests and strikes by textile workers in many parts of the country. Their main demands included in particular an increase in wages and the improvement of working conditions in form of better safety standards.
Discussions in the Committee of the European Parliament
In the Trade Committee, Ismat Jahan, the Ambassador of Bangladesh to Belgium and the EU, reported on the targeted political reforms in the textile industry of her native country. About 200 new inspectors would soon take up their positions and the right to organise trade unions would be improved. Making available an amount of USD 3 billion, it would also be possible to increase within five years all safety standards to a level required. This was equivalent to increasing the price of exported clothing by only 10 cent per item.
Gilbet Houngbo, ILO Deputy Director-General, welcomed the intention to implement reforms in Bangladesh on a political level; however, he criticised the comparably large hurdles in respect of establishing trade unions. It was still the case that 30 % of all workers of a company had to agree to be able to organise a trade union in the first place.
Members of the European Parliament voiced great concerns regarding the actual implementation of the intended reforms and pointed towards the necessity of fighting against corrupt factory inspectors. The demand for the financial compensation of the victims of the disaster resp. the targeted support of those workers, who suffered serious injuries in the disaster and were therefore no longer able to work in their previous job, was unanimous.
The representatives of the Foreign Trade Association (FTA) pointed out on several occasions that the large European retailers in Bangladesh were comprehensively supervised by means of an internal monitoring programme. Apart from that, they were in general not in charge of the factories themselves, which were outsourced to local operators. Hence, they were not directly responsible for the recent accidents.
However, apart from the question of guilt and the effectiveness of self-regulation it has to be emphasised that the large retailers seem to be rather unwilling to make profound changes to the safety, healthcare and general working conditions of textile workers in Bangladesh and other affected areas. For example, a meeting of the 29 largest European retailers in the clothing industry was supposed to take place at the beginning of September. Only 9 participated to discuss compensation for the victims of this year’s factory collapses in Rana Plaza and Tazreen. In the end, they rejected the idea to compensate the workers.
Outlook
The political will to introduce necessary changes for the protection of workers in Bangladesh’s textile industry has been repeated by all stakeholders over and over again. However, to this day no binding rules have been laid down for companies to implement certain standards; the same applies to the actual passing of comprehensive reforms by Bangladeshi politicians. The European Union too could - in view of the enormous trading volume with Bangladesh (about 9 billion Euros) - exert more political pressure. The fight of the textile workers in Bangladesh for more rights, higher wages and improved working conditions has only just begun. Equally unsolved remains the issue of compensation for the victims of Rana Plaza and Tazreen. The European textile industry denies its financial responsibility.