Worker wellbeing
While economic growth is important, and the structural safety of infrastructure is vital, the main lesson which human rights organisations the world over have been pushing since Rana Plaza is that the welfare of workers matters more than anything.
Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) and Labour Behind the Label have been two of the strongest voices calling for the perpetual improvement of worker safety initiatives in Bangladesh – something which they believe is best served under the operations of the Accord.
Christie Miedema of CCC told Ecotextile News: “In the past five and a half years the Accord has been of tremendous importance to improve safety in, until that time, notoriously unsafe Bangladeshi garment factories. It is credible because it shows real progress where voluntary attempts have failed and it is transparent and legally binding. The work is, however, not yet done.
“The future of the Accord hangs in the balance. Its vital work has operated under the threat of a restraining order for many months now and the decision has been postponed time and again. This creates insecurity for many people in the industry, but it most of all affects workers.
“We’ve received support statements from many workers in Bangladesh who explain how the work of the Accord has taken away the fear of entering the workplace and has helped them feel confident to refuse unsafe work. Right now they live in uncertainty whether next year this will still be the case.”
Often with CSR discussions, quantifying progress can be tricky as it is almost impossible to equate numbers or percentages to the happiness and healthiness of workers. In terms of workplace safety, however, remediation and safety inspections are usually a good yardstick, and in its most recent update report the Accord claims to have inspected or scheduled an inspection at a total of 2,104 factories – a figure which highlights the scale of the nation’s industry.
Miedema’s sentiments were echoed by Dominique Muller, Labour Behind the Label, when she told us: “The bad situation of factories as found in 2013 and the difficulties in addressing that caused the remediation process to be a slow and difficult one. It is not yet finished and needs to continue, especially as the 2018 Transition Accord was aimed to extend the Accord’s work to home textile factories and other as yet dangerous workplaces beyond the ready-made garment category.
“Everyone involved in the Bangladeshi garment industry, including the factory owners and the government, would be best served by a total removal of the restraining order on the Accord. Its vital work has saved the image of the industry after the Rana Plaza catastrophe.
“Curtailing this work would create a severe drop in consumer and buyer trust in Bangladeshi garment production. The conditions on the Accord as suggested by the government would destroy its independence and thereby its credibility in board rooms and headquarters around the world.”
