US Senator says Bangladesh still lags on labour rights
November 25, 2013 - Bangladesh has yet to meet benchmarks set by the U.S. government
for restoration of trade benefits suspended after a garment factory collapse that
killed more than 1,100 people, an influential Democratic senator said on Friday.
A report by Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, chairman of Senate Committee on Foreign
Relations, said Bangladeshi authorities need to make further improvements in factory
safety and labor rights. The report, compiled by staff of the committee's Democratic
majority, acknowledged some progress, but said the presence of labor unions is still
nominal. The U.S. government suspended duty-free benefits to Bangladesh in July,
two months after global garment industry's worst disaster when the Rana Plaza collapsed
outside Dhaka, the latest in a series of deadly accidents in the South Asian nation's
sweatshops. The U.S. outlined actions needed to improve standards for the nation's
4 million garment workers. A review of Bangladesh's eligibility for the trade benefits
is expected in mid-2014. In all, there are about 3,500 operating garment factories
in the country. The benefits don't cover the garment industry, which accounts for
80 percent of the impoverished nation's exports, but their suspension affects $40
million in other exports and could exact a reputational cost. “The tragedies in Bangladesh
present an important opportunity to improve labor rights and empower workers. No consumer
will want to wear clothing if it's stained by the blood of innocent workers,'' Menendez
said in a statement, urging the U.S. government to stick to its demands for labor
reforms before reinstating duty-free access. Still, the ready-made garment industry
in Bangladesh saw exports increase 24 percent year-on-year in the third quarter of
2013, in the aftermath of the factory collapse, according to the report. At least
27 garment workers have been killed and nearly 760 injured in factory fires in the
past seven months. Under a national action plan on factory safety adopted by Bangladesh
in July, a labor inspection directorate was upgraded and committed to creating 800
positions, including 200 inspectors, by the year's end. But the report said as of
late November, only four new labor inspectors had been hired in the past year, bringing
the total to just 56. (Source: AP)