RMG workers� working conditions need further improvement

The RMG sector's overall progress towards completing the remedial initiatives aimed at establishing good governance in the aftermath of the Rana Plaza disaster has been recently termed satisfactory

Bangladesh's Ready­made Made Garment (RMG) sector though witnesses a considerable progress within the space of three years after Rana Plaza disaster in 2013,  still the workers face poor working conditions and anti-union tactics in the sector. The RMG sector's overall progress towards completing the remedial initiatives aimed at establishing good governance in the aftermath of the Rana Plaza disaster has been recently termed “satisfactory” by Transpa­rency International Bangladesh (TIB). On the other hand Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) says the progress in working conditions improvements in  the country’s garment factories is very slow.   
After the Rana Plaza collapse the authorities took 106 initiatives in the RMG sector. According to TIB “Marked progress” has been achieved in 77 percent of these steps. The findings of a TIB study were revealed at the TIB office in the capital on April 21, 2016 which say about 95 percent of the RMG factories are providing salaries to their workers following the guidelines of the Minimum Wage Board, and most compliant factories have distributed identity cards to their workers with emergency numbers. Insisting realistic implementation progress is a must to establish governance and ensure transparency in the RMG sector in real sense the TIB said "Bringing infrastructural, ethical and legal progresses are not enough to sustain the progress".
The TIB warned many challenges still remain in the sector which need to be addressed on emergency basis. The study proposes a set of recommendations to address the challenges of the RMG sector. These include forming a separate ministry on RMG sector, taking steps to ensure technical compliance in factories which are not members of BGMEA or BKMEA, accelerating the formation of workers' welfare fund, and bringing the perpetrators of the Rana Plaza disaster to justice under the Speedy Trial Tribunal.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said Bangladesh government should urgently remove legal and practical obstacles to unionisation in its readymade garment sector. The rights body said "Garment workers face daunting challenges to unionisation, and remain at risk of interference and threats by factories three years after the Rana Plaza building collapse". The April 2013 Rana Plaza building collapse killed 1,100 garment workers and injured many others yet to be taken care after.
The Bangladesh government committed in July 2013 to a Sustainability Compact with the European Union (EU), pledging to reform labour laws. The HRW said but its laws and rules governing labour rights and export processing zones still have rigid union restrictions, in violation of international law. Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of HRW commented "Let's remember that none of the factories operating in Rana Plaza had trade unions. If their workers had more of a voice, they might have been able to resist managers who ordered them to work in the doomed building a day after large cracks appeared in it".
It is mentionable that only about 10 percent of Bangladesh's more than 4,500 garment factories have registered unions. While many factory workers have tried to form unions, government authorities have frequently rejected applications. In an April 2016 Human Rights Watch meeting with Bangladesh Labour and Employment Ministry, the minister dismissed concerns raised about the difficulty of registering a union, saying, "Most who apply for union registration have no idea what a union is". Bangladesh labour laws and procedures pose formidable barriers to founding and operating a union. The labour law requires an unreasonably high 30 percent of workers in a factory to agree to form a union and mandates excessive registration procedures.
Moreover, the HRW claimed "The government has vaguely defined powers to cancel a union's registration". The RMG factories also threaten and attack unions and their members with impunity. The HRW has documented cases of physical assault, intimidation and threats, dismissal of union leaders, and false criminal complaints against garment workers by factory officials or their associates. The global rights body claimed the Bangladesh authorities have failed to hold factory officials accountable for attacks, threats, and retaliation against workers involved with unions. The HRW argues "If their workers had more of a voice, they might have been able to resist managers who ordered them to work in the doomed building (Rana Plaza) a day after large cracks appeared in it".  They should also insist that all aspects of the Sustainability Compact have publicised timelines against which the Bangladesh government's record can be assessed.
The HRW said unless such steps are taken and demonstrable progress made under the Sustainability Compact the EU should send a clear message to the Bangladesh government that it will initiate action to revoke the country's trade preferences under the Everything But Arms trade initiative. The HRW said the EU and other donors should also insist that the Bangladesh government put in place a robust process for investigating and resolving cases of unfair labour practices. It is to be noted that the United Stats is yet to restore GSP facilities for the Bangladesh garment exports.   
Experts opine global apparel and footwear brands that source from factories in Bangladesh, including those in the Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Accord and the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, should also support efforts to ease legal restrictions on unions and stop factory union-busting activities. They should disclose their supplier and processing factories, and work with them to ensure they comply with international standards for workers' basic rights.
Phil Robertson also said "Thwarting independent garment worker unions is bad for businesses, workers, and Bangladesh's international reputation. Bangladesh needs to show it has political will to permit workers to exercise their rights by registering unions promptly and punishing factory owners who bust unions or fire their leaders". Experts’ opinion is garment workers in Bangladesh still face poor working conditions and anti-union tactics by employers including assaults on union organisers. These are the genuine challenges yet to be mitigated by the Bangladesh RMG sector on its own apart from inter party volcanic political differences in the national front based on the state of democracy in the country.   
    
The writer is a retired Professor of Economics

RMG workers� working conditions need further improvement

The RMG sectors overall progress towards completing the remedial initiatives aimed at establishing good governance in the aftermath of the Rana Plaza disaster has been recently termed satisfactory

Bangladeshs Readymade Made Garment (RMG) sector though witnesses a considerable progress within the space of three years after Rana Plaza disaster in 2013, still the workers face poor working conditions and anti-union tactics in the sector. The RMG sectors overall progress towards completing the remedial initiatives aimed at establishing good governance in the aftermath of the Rana Plaza disaster has been recently termed satisfactory by Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB). On the other hand Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) says the progress in working conditions improvements in the countrys garment factories is very slow. After the Rana Plaza collapse the authorities took 106 initiatives in the RMG sector. According to TIB Marked progress has been achieved in 77 percent of these steps. The findings of a TIB study were revealed at the TIB office in the capital on April 21, 2016 which say about 95 percent of the RMG factories are providing salaries to their workers following the guidelines of the Minimum Wage Board, and most compliant factories have distributed identity cards to their workers with emergency numbers. Insisting realistic implementation progress is a must to establish governance and ensure transparency in the RMG sector in real sense the TIB said Bringing infrastructural, ethical and legal progresses are not enough to sustain the progress. The TIB warned many challenges still remain in the sector which need to be addressed on emergency basis. The study proposes a set of recommendations to address the challenges of the RMG sector. These include forming a separate ministry on RMG sector, taking steps to ensure technical compliance in factories which are not members of BGMEA or BKMEA, accelerating the formation of workers welfare fund, and bringing the perpetrators of the Rana Plaza disaster to justice under the Speedy Trial Tribunal. Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said Bangladesh government should urgently remove legal and practical obstacles to unionisation in its readymade garment sector. The rights body said Garment workers face daunting challenges to unionisation, and remain at risk of interference and threats by factories three years after the Rana Plaza building collapse. The April 2013 Rana Plaza building collapse killed 1,100 garment workers and injured many others yet to be taken care after. The Bangladesh government committed in July 2013 to a Sustainability Compact with the European Union (EU), pledging to reform labour laws. The HRW said but its laws and rules governing labour rights and export processing zones still have rigid union restrictions, in violation of international law. Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of HRW commented Lets remember that none of the factories operating in Rana Plaza had trade unions. If their workers had more of a voice, they might have been able to resist managers who ordered them to work in the doomed building a day after large cracks appeared in it. It is mentionable that only about 10 percent of Bangladeshs more than 4,500 garment factories have registered unions. While many factory workers have tried to form unions, government authorities have frequently rejected applications. In an April 2016 Human Rights Watch meeting with Bangladesh Labour and Employment Ministry, the minister dismissed concerns raised about the difficulty of registering a union, saying, Most who apply for union registration have no idea what a union is. Bangladesh labour laws and procedures pose formidable barriers to founding and operating a union. The labour law requires an unreasonably high 30 percent of workers in a factory to agree to form a union and mandates excessive registration procedures. Moreover, the HRW claimed The government has vaguely defined powers to cancel a unions registration. The RMG factories also threaten and attack unions and their members with impunity. The HRW has documented cases of physical assault, intimidation and threats, dismissal of union leaders, and false criminal complaints against garment workers by factory officials or their associates. The global rights body claimed the Bangladesh authorities have failed to hold factory officials accountable for attacks, threats, and retaliation against workers involved with unions. The HRW argues If their workers had more of a voice, they might have been able to resist managers who ordered them to work in the doomed building (Rana Plaza) a day after large cracks appeared in it. They should also insist that all aspects of the Sustainability Compact have publicised timelines against which the Bangladesh governments record can be assessed. The HRW said unless such steps are taken and demonstrable progress made under the Sustainability Compact the EU should send a clear message to the Bangladesh government that it will initiate action to revoke the countrys trade preferences under the Everything But Arms trade initiative. The HRW said the EU and other donors should also insist that the Bangladesh government put in place a robust process for investigating and resolving cases of unfair labour practices. It is to be noted that the United Stats is yet to restore GSP facilities for the Bangladesh garment exports. Experts opine global apparel and footwear brands that source from factories in Bangladesh, including those in the Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Accord and the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, should also support efforts to ease legal restrictions on unions and stop factory union-busting activities. They should disclose their supplier and processing factories, and work with them to ensure they comply with international standards for workers basic rights. Phil Robertson also said Thwarting independent garment worker unions is bad for businesses, workers, and Bangladeshs international reputation. Bangladesh needs to show it has political will to permit workers to exercise their rights by registering unions promptly and punishing factory owners who bust unions or fire their leaders. Experts opinion is garment workers in Bangladesh still face poor working conditions and anti-union tactics by employers including assaults on union organisers. These are the genuine challenges yet to be mitigated by the Bangladesh RMG sector on its own apart from inter party volcanic political differences in the national front based on the state of democracy in the country. The writer is a retired Professor of Economics