by Admin | Sep 10, 2013 | Highlights
In light of the tragedy at the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh, the world is scrambling to help the survivors and commemorate the victims. Let us visit the place where it all began and hear the aftermath story from the Director of the International Labor Organization (ILO) office in Dhaka.
The ILO’s branch in Bangladesh has the story.
© Munir Uz Zaman / AFP
A number of initiatives have been launched in response to the Rana Plaza building collapse in Dhaka, Bangladesh, which expand upon ILO action following previous accidents in the country. The Director of the ILO Office in Dhaka, Srinivas B. Reddy, explains what these initiatives are and the steps that have been taken on the ground.
What action has been taken during the past three months?
Since April 24, when the Rana Plaza building collapsed, claiming 1,127 lives and injuring many more, the ILO has played a lead role in seeking to address the root causes of the disaster and help rehabilitate injured victims. We are working closely with the Government and employers’ and workers’ organizations (the ILO’s tripartite constituents), to help improve workers’ rights and safety in the ready-made garment (RMG) sector.
In the immediate aftermath of the accident, the ILO sent a high-level mission to Dhaka, headed by the Deputy Director-General for field operations, Gilbert Houngbo. The result of the mission was aJoint Statement, signed on May 4, by the Government and employers’ and workers’ organizations, which set out a six-point response agenda.
What does the response agenda consist of?
The Joint Statement committed the Government of Bangladesh to submitting a set of amendments to its Labour Law, which it did on 15 July, and ILO has commented on it. The response agenda also requires an assessment of all the active RMG factories for fire safety and structural integrity, as well as measures to fix the issues discovered. It also commits the government to recruit, within 6 months, 200 additional inspectors and to ensure that the Department of the Chief Inspector of Factories and Establishments will have been upgraded to a Directorate with an annual regular budget allocation adequate to enable the recruitment of a minimum of 800 inspectors and the development of the infrastructure required for their proper functioning.
It recommends expanding the existing National Tripartite Action Plan on Fire Safety, signed after the Tazreen Fashions factory fire in November 2012. Progress has already been made through an agreement reached on July 25 by the Government, employers and workers to integrate this plan and the Joint Statement to form a comprehensive National Tripartite Plan of Action on Fire Safety and Structural Integrity in the RMG sector.
For those directly affected by the Rana Plaza collapse, a skills training and rehabilitation programme will be launched for those disabled by the disaster and those who were left unemployed.
The Joint Statement also called on the ILO and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to consider launching a Better Work Programme for Bangladesh. Better Work is a partnership programme between the ILO and the IFC, which aims to improve both compliance with international labour standards and competitiveness in global supply chains.
How does this plan fit with the other response initiatives established by brands, retailers, global unions and other institutions since April?
These emerging response initiatives have endorsed and echoed the now integrated National Tripartite Plan of Action on Fire Safety and Structural Integrity (NTPA) and, in several cases, the ILO’s technical support has been asked for to help ensure their implementation and coordination.
For example, the ILO fulfills the role of neutral chair of the Accord on Fire and Building Safety, signed by global unions and over 80 fashion brands and retailers. The Accord is a five-year programme aimed at ensuring health and safety measures, including the assessment and remediation of structural integrity and fire safety in factories used by the signatories.
Another initiative, the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, brings together 17 US retailers and brands and aims to inspect and set safety standards in 100 per cent of the factories used by the signatories over the next 5 years.
The Sustainability Compact, between the EU, Bangladesh Government and the ILO, published in July, builds on the NTPA and seeks action on labour rights, in particular freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, building structural integrity and occupational safety and health, as well as responsible business conduct by all stakeholders engaged in the RMG and knitwear industry in Bangladesh.
The Compact has assigned a coordinating and monitoring role to the ILO. Coordination between these various initiatives will be vital, to ensure they have the desired impact.
These plans sound good in theory but what tangible action has been taken so far?
For its part, the ILO Office in Dhaka is implementing a US$ 2 million, six-month programme from July to December this year.
The first element is assisting the constituent partners in establishing a system to undertake a preliminary assessment of the safety of factory buildings. The ILO will work with the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) to train 30 specialist teams of structural engineers to undertake these assessments.
In parallel, workers in ready-made garment factories will receive safety training and those injured during the disaster and in previous accidents will begin to receive rehabilitation and skills training.
During the last three months, the ILO has also developed a broader three-year programme to take these actions forward and provide support to several key components of the National Tripartite Action Plan on Fire Safety and Structural Integrity.
This includes ensuring structural integrity assessments by trained engineers of the almost 2,000 factories not covered by the Accord and Alliance and the purchase of necessary equipment. It will also involve training of the 800 labour inspectors referred to earlier and worker and management training in occupational safety and health and worker rights.
Is this the first time that the ILO has worked in this area in Bangladesh?
We have in fact been working closely with the Government and employers’ and workers’ organizations for some time on labour conditions in the garment industry.
For example, since January 2012 a dedicated project on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work has focused on improving workers’ rights in Bangladesh, particularly in the RMG sector. It has worked with the ILO constituents to improve labour legislation and practices in Bangladesh and to develop labour relations based on rights and responsibilities.
Technical experts from the ILO office in Dhaka have been working closely with the Government during the last year on amendments to the country’s labour law, with a view to bringing it into line with international labour standards.
As previously mentioned, we also promote safer work places and have assisted the Government and social partners in developing the national response to the Tazreen factory fire in November 2012. ILO projects have also produced a fire safety video designed to be shown to and understood by all factory workers in the country and is working on a number of outreach efforts to improve knowledge of occupational safety and health best practices.
What are the next steps in the response?
We will work closely with the Government and employers’ and workers’ organizations as they implement the National Tripartite Action Plan on Fire Safety and Structural Integrity in the RMG sector, over the coming weeks and months.
A priority will be to help ensure that skilled engineers are making initial structural integrity and fire safety assessments of garment factory buildings. These will be undertaken by the engineering teams led by BUET and will be underway by September.
Skills training of disabled workers, in partnership with the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), will also be up and running and we will help coordinate services to injured and unemployed Rana Plaza victims through the National Skills Development Council Secretariat.
Training programmes for trade union leaders, mid-level managers and supervisors on occupational safety and health and workers’ rights are also due to begin, along with training to strengthen the labour inspection system.
The ILO will continue to engage with the government and its other constituents with regard to the legislative framework.
by Admin | Aug 27, 2013 | Highlights
In response to the worst factory disaster in Bangladesh’s history, the country will start surveys of over 2000 factories on September 15, 2013. The Daily Star has the story.
Activists and the relatives of missing garment workers gather on August 2 in front of a sculpture made by members of labour organisations at the site of collapsed Rana Plaza in Savar. Photo: REUTERS/FILE
Factory Survey Starts on September 15
Thirty expert panels led by Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology will start inspection of garment factories from September 15 to check structural flaws and ensure worker safety, a government official said yesterday.
The teams will inspect around 2,000 garment factory buildings in three months under a tripartite agreement between the government, trade unions and the International Labour Organisation, Labour and Employment Secretary Mikail Shipar said.
The inspection teams have already been formed with experts from other universities, the ILO, donor agencies, trade unions, Bangladesh Employers’ Federation, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
The tripartite agreement was signed in two phases on February 20 and July 25 after two deadly factory accidents — Tazreen Fashions fire on November 24 last year and Rana Plaza collapse on April 24.
“We will inspect the buildings, which were not included on the lists of IndustriALL and North American Alliance, to avoid repetition,” Shipar said. IndustriALL — a global trade union, and North American Alliance — a platform of 20 US-based retailers and brands for worker safety in Bangladesh, will separately inspect 800 and 1,200 factories. IndustriALL will inspect the factories under an accord signed by 85 retailers and brands, mostly European.
However, Shipar could not say when IndustriALL and North American Alliance will start the inspection. Buet will train the inspection teams from August 28, the secretary said, adding: “We will also prepare a checklist and a guideline for factory inspection on September 7.”
The labour and employment ministry has already recruited four inspectors and will appoint 72 more by October, Shipar said.
A process is underway to appoint 128 inspectors in November, he added.
Sekender Ali, a professor at Buet, said more than 200 factories will not come under the tripartite inspection as those have already been visited by experts after the Rana Plaza collapse. However, Ali is unsure whether these 200 factories will be inspected by IndustriALL and the North American Alliance.
Roy Ramesh Chandra, general secretary of IndustriALL Bangladesh Council, said they received 57 applications for the post of chief executive officer to conduct the inspection.
“We will appoint both global and local CEOs soon to start our function,” he said.
IndustriALL will open an office in Dhaka and the 85 retailers and brands will pay $12.5 million each in the next five years for the inspection and as compensation to workers. The North American Alliance has already appointed former US under-secretary of state Ellen Tauscher as the independent chair of its board of directors to start the inspection.
by Admin | Aug 21, 2013 | Highlights
Interestingly, the fire and collapse in Bangladesh’s garment factories in the last year, have not initiated a relocation of supply chain production for major apparel retailers. In this Reuters story, the sad truth that led to compromised safety standards, still seems to prevail- Cost is still King.
An employee sorts newly finished T-shirts at the Estee garment factory in Tirupur in Tamil Nadu June 19, 2013. Credit-REUTERS/Mansi Thapliyal
(Reuters) – With knitwear exports of over $2 billion a year, India’s garment manufacturing hub Tirupur has earned the nickname “Dollar City,” but its allure for price-conscious global retailers obsessed by discounts of as little as one U.S. cent pales before Bangladesh.
Indian and Southeast Asian apparel manufacturers had hoped the orders would come flooding in, after the deadly collapse of a Bangladesh garment factory complex this year galvanised global brands such as Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M) (HMb.ST) to consider relocating production.
But several industry organisations and factories contacted by Reuters in Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India – Asia’s top apparel makers outside China – said international retailers were not beating a path to their door just yet. When it comes to price, Bangladesh is king.
“The reason Bangladesh went from zero to hero in the garment sector is because there is no country with such low labour and other costs,” said Arvind Singhal, chairman of India-based retail consultancy Technopak Advisors.
“No buyer is in a hurry to move from Bangladesh because Western retailers are stressed about passing any retail price increases to customers,” he said. “Currently, there is no substitute for Bangladesh, where manufacturers even risk operating from rickety structures to cap costs.”
Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) has stood by its Bangladesh production, saying the South Asian nation remains an important sourcing market. H&M also said its quest for alternative manufacturers was not at the expense of Bangladesh.
“We are not reducing our purchases from Bangladesh. We aspire to have long-term relations with our suppliers,” H&M spokeswoman Elin Hallerby said. “We are always looking at new production capacity to support our continuous expansion.”
The latest data from Bangladesh highlights its enduring appeal: garment exports in June rose 26 percent year-on-year to $2.2 billion.
COST IS KING
More than four million people, mostly women, work in Bangladesh’s clothing sector, making it the second-largest global apparel exporter behind China.
The world’s biggest fashion retailers, Inditex SA (ITX.MC) and H&M, as well as Wal-Mart, Gap Inc (GPS.N) and JC Penney Company Inc (JCP.N) are a few of the brands manufacturing there.
The $21 billion-a-year industry has been built on low wages, government subsidies and tax concessions from Western countries. But the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory complex outside Dhaka in April raised concerns about safety loopholes. The disaster, one of the world’s worst industrial accidents, killed 1,132 people.
The collapse prompted global brands to consider tapping regional alternatives.
Indonesian textile firm Sri Rejeki Isman PT (Sritex) (SRIL.JK), which makes clothing for Zara, H&M and other brands, said it was in talks with H&M about taking over an as yet unspecified amount of Bangladesh-sourced production. H&M declined to comment.
But as large factory owners across the region discovered, translating talks into orders is difficult as, compared to Bangladesh, they are considered too expensive.
“Garments produced in Bangladesh have a very competitive price, around two-to-three times lower than in Vietnam,” said Nguyen Huu Toan, deputy director of SaiGon 2 Garment JSC, a Vietnam factory whose clients include British fashion retailers New Look and TopShop.
The cost disadvantage also impacts Sri Lanka’s $4 billion-a-year garment industry, and factory owners there say any shift in production from Bangladesh will be transient.
“We are much better than any other country in the region, but it is a temporary advantage,” said Tuly Cooray, the secretary-general of industry group Joint Apparel Association Forum. “At the end of the day, the price is going to matter.”
NOT CUT FROM THE SAME CLOTH
The economic slowdown in Europe and the United States has made retailers all the more keen to seek out the lowest-cost manufacturing centres to keep their store prices down.
N. Thirukkumaran, owner of Tirupur-based apparel maker Estee which racked up $8.3 million in sales last year, said he holds marathon haggling sessions with foreign customers demanding discounts as little as one cent per unit.
At least one U.S. retailer asked about moving production from Bangladesh, he said, but they have yet to place orders. Thirukkumaran would not name the brand, citing client confidentiality.
“There are positive signals from buyers, but they are still sceptical about price,” he added.
Monthly minimum salaries for garment sector workers in Bangladesh average around $38, far below the $100 average for Indian factory workers.
After the Rana Plaza collapse, the cabinet approved changes to the labour laws that pave the way for garment workers to create trade unions without the approval of factory owners.
The cabinet also formed a wage board to consider pay increases. But industry experts say Bangladesh has too much to lose by alienating global retailers, which means that for now, the low costs are here to stay.
“No other destination has what we have and that is skilled and cheap labour,” said Mohammad Mujibur Rahman, a Bangladeshi academic leading factory inspections.
“Foreign buyers realize this and nobody is in a hurry to move out … there might be a small trickle outside, but nothing significant that will hurt us.” (Additional reporting by Nandita Bose and Ruma Paul in DHAKA, Shihar Aneez in COLOMBO, Nguyen Phuong Linh in HANOI, Fathiya Dahrul in JAKARTA, Jessica Wohl in NEW YORK, Anna Ringstrom in STOCKHOLM; Writing by Miral Fahmy and John Chalmers; Editing by Ryan Woo)
by Admin | Aug 21, 2013 | Highlights
On August 20, 2013, the American alliance elected an Ellen O’ Kane Tauscher as the independent chair of its board of directors, and also welcomed three new members- Costco, Intradeco Apparel and Jordache Enterprises, bringing the total up to 20 retailers and apparel brands. Read more in this story from just-style.com.
Ellen O’Kane Tauscher. Source- Wikimedia Commons
US: Bangladesh Safety Alliance Names Chair as Talks Begin
The group of leading retailers and brands who make up the North American Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety has named Ellen O’Kane Tauscher as the independent chair of its board of directors.
The Alliance also said it has been joined by three more companies – Costco, Intradeco Apparel and Jordache Enterprises – bringing the total to 20 apparel companies, retailers and brands.
With the new members, more than US$45m has been committed to administer the programmes developed by the Alliance over the next five years to help improve factory safety conditions for garment workers in Bangladesh.
A two-day board meeting is now underway in Chicago, where members will be briefed on progress toward several milestones taking place next month, including development of a common Fire and Building Safety Standard and Inspection Protocol, and the fire and safety training curriculum that will be given to factory managers and employees.
In September, the Alliance expects to announce the selection of its operating team, including the executive director for the programme.
Leading the board of directors, Tauscher is a seven-term member of Congress and has worked for the US Department of State. She was appointed by president Barack Obama as under-secretary of state for arms control and international affairs, serving in the role from 2009-2012.
When she returned to the private sector in 2012, she joined Baker Donelson Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz PC, in Washington DC as strategic advisor to clients in national security, defence, transportation, export control and energy policy areas.
“The respect Ellen has earned in Congress, the State Department, and the private sector will serve her well in the role as an independent leader and convener who can work with Alliance members and governments to pursue the critical safety mission and aggressive implementation schedule,” said Ambassador James Moriarty, an Alliance board member and former US Ambassador to Bangladesh.
The board also includes three other stakeholder representatives, including Mohammad Atiqul Islam, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturing and Exporters Association (BGMEA); Randy Tucker, global leader of the fire protection and safety team at CCRD, a Houston-based engineering firm; and Muhammad Rumee Ali, managing director of enterprises at BRAC, the international NGO founded in Bangladesh.
Four Board members from Alliance companies include: Daniel Duty, vice president of global affairs for Target; Jay Jorgensen, senior vice president and global chief compliance officer forWal-Mart Stores Inc; Tom Nelson, vice president for global product procurement for VF Brands; and Bobbi Silten, senior vice president of global responsibility for Gap Inc and president of Gap Foundation.
Other retailers and brands that have signed up to the Alliance include: Canadian Tire Corporation; Carter’s; The Children’s Place Retail Stores; Gap; Hudson’s Bay Company; IFG; JC Penney; The Jones Group; Kohl’s Department Stores; LL Bean;
by Admin | Aug 20, 2013 | Highlights
This story from fashionunited.co.uk, reflects the negative criticism the American Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety is receiving as it begins to implement the plan to meet its September deadline.
Credit-http://www.bangladeshworkersafety.org
Major US retailers including Gap and Walmart are expected to begin implementing the Bangladesh safety-plan, to meet the September 10 deadline. In the wake of the Bangladesh factory that collapsed last April, a group of 20 retailers will appoint an executive director and management firm to oversee the 45 million dollar funding in place to improve worker safety.
The retailers, which also include Macy’s and Target, struck a five-year deal to train workers and inspect factories. It will, however rely on factory owners in Bangladesh to pay for their own safety renovations despite the retailing committing to providing 100 million dollars in low-cost loans toward the effort. Participation in the lending program is voluntary and varies by retailer, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The agreement continues to attract scrutiny from labour activists and worker groups who say the safety plan falls short of a separate, legally binding agreement that commits Hennes & Mauritz, Tommy Hilfiger parent PVH Corp and 70 other, mostly European companies to directly pay for the costs of repairing and renovating some 5,000 Bangladesh garment factories.
Critics also complain of the absence of labor organizations from the North American alliance’s board of directors and say that nothing will change as long as the retailers continue to control the inspection process by choosing and paying the auditors, as well as electing a board that is supposed to conduct oversight and ensure the companies follow through with their safety plan.
“They are essentially asking the companies and factory owners to regulate themselves,” said Scott Nova, executive director at the Worker Rights Consortium, who helped craft the European-led accord. “They want people to see this as an alternative plan, but it’s no different than what companies have been doing without success for decades.”
The North American retail alliance’s eight-member board includes four company representatives from Target, Wal-Mart, Gap and VF Corp. as well as former US Ambassador to Bangladesh Jim Moriarty and fire-safety consultant Randy Tucker, both of whom were employed by the companies on previous safety programs.
