SUSTAINABLE BD
Better Work
Bangladesh holds
2nd Stakeholder and
Buyer Forum Alliance for
Bangladesh Workers
Safety completes
72% repairs
About 300 national and
international garment sector
representatives, including partners
from the Government, employers’
associations, unions, as well as 80
members from international fashion
brands, attended the recently
held 2nd Better Work Bangladesh
Stakeholder and Buyer Forum to
explore the progress made by the
programme in the country. 2014, Better Work Bangladesh
had introduced an entirely new
concept of supporting readymade
garment factories to boost their
compliance, while enhancing
productivity. Alliance for Bangladesh Workers Safety has reported completion
of 72 per cent of the required repair work, almost four years
since the collapse of Rana Plaza. Of the repairs completed, 64
per cent were of high priority. Meanwhile, it has shut down 142
factories for failing to make adequate progress on remediation,
while 71 factories have completed their Corrective Action Plans.
Addressing the same, Farook
Ahmed, Secretary-General,
Bangladesh Employers’
Federation was of the opinion
that Better Work could help
achieve the 2021 goals and
elevate the country status to
middle-income. He also noted
that the programme needs
to be flexible in adapting to
Bangladesh’s on-the-ground
reality. In 2014, it started new training programme that taught almost
1.3 million workers how to protect themselves in case of
emergency. It has retrained 85 per cent of the Alliance workforce
to ensure that new employees are covered and that the skills are
up to date.
Louis Vanegas, Programme
Manager, Better Work
Bangladesh said, “We are here to
unite diverse stakeholders, promote
decent work for all and help the
garment industry in Bangladesh
thrive. We would like to see the
sector attain the Government’s own
goals: for Bangladesh to become a
middle-income country with a US
$ 50 billion export sector and good
compliance conditions by 2021.”
The programme currently
engages 120 garment factories.
Bringing more factories under
the programme and convincing
individual factory owners and
their trade bodies are some of the
challenges faced. Srinivas Reddy,
ILO Bangladesh Country Director,
said that following its launch in
Kutubuddin Ahmed, Secretary
General of the IndustriALL
Bangladesh Council (IBC), said
that enhancing compliance
levels in factories was key to
guaranteeing workers’ safety and
well-being, but “healthy workers
means healthy production;
therefore, we need to address
the workers’ problems. Without
addressing them we won’t be able
to achieve the country’s goals.
The world’s eyes are focused on
Bangladesh’s development.”
Also, its confidential hotline, 'Amader Kotha', is available 24
hours a day and has received more than 1,25,000 calls to date on
issues ranging from wage disputes to concerns about structural
safety. Another step ahead, formation of 140 safety committees
in its approved factories, has facilitated more open dialogue
between workers and factory management.
James Moriarty, Country Director, Alliance is expecting the
number of completions to more than double within the next
few months. He also confirmed that no worker died at an
Alliance-compliant factory since remediation work began.
“There is no question, however, that much work lies ahead for
the Alliance over the next 15 months. Achieving completion of
high-priority repairs – and investing in workers through the
helpline, our safety re-training and the development of safety
committees – all remain our laser focus,” said James.
Formed in 2013 to improve safety in Bangladeshi readymade
garment fa ctories, the Alliance covers 676 active factories with
around 1.2 million workers.
www.apparelresources.com | MAY 2017 | Apparel Online Bangladesh
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