COVER STORY
Bangladesh faces overall concern on worker issues post Rana Plaza …
Individual factories are not being targeted
While many of the reports for India are very much targeted to specific issues and companies , reports mentioning Bangladesh are more generic in nature , and taking Rana Plaza as the starting point , they analyse how much work has been done or not done . According to the Bangladesh NGO Affairs Bureau ’ s latest report , at present 2,565 NGOs operate in Bangladesh ’ s readymade garment sector , mostly with foreign assistance . Almost all of them are working for worker upliftment with various degrees of success .
Most of the reports on ‘ 5 years after Rana Plaza ’ share common ideas , and the brief that The Clean Clothes Campaign has given in its latest report sums up very aptly what most of the reports are talking about and the concerns that follow …
“ In the first two years , it seemed that such promises were more than just lip service paid to reassure a shocked public . Within a year of the disaster there had been a revision of the Labour Act , and the minimum wage was increased from 3,000 BDT to 5,300 BDT ( currently about 51 euro ). Labour unions used their newfound space to start organising and the number of registered unions jumped . The Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety was signed by the majority of major brands sourcing from Bangladesh and – as a result – garment factories were subject to credible and meaningful inspections for the first time ever … Yet , such action could only truly amount to fundamental change , if firstly they applied to the whole industry , and not just Bangladesh ; and if secondly , they were sustained over time . Five years on , although improvements have undoubtedly been made fire and building safety clause in Bangladesh , this success has not led to the development of similar initiatives elsewhere , and the initial gains in labour law , trade union rights and wages have not only stagnated but are now being eroded .”
Even the organisations committed to workers and their rights have not been spared …
A report by three international NGOs claims that Social Accountability International ( SAI ) and Ethical Trading Initiative ( ETI ) have failed to deliver on promises to deal effectively with concrete complaints about abusive labour conditions for girls and young women in the textile and apparel industries of South India . While SAI is a social certification organisation for factories and organisations , ETI is an alliance of companies , trade unions and voluntary organisations working to improve the lives of workers .
‘ Case closed , problems persist ’, a report of 27 pages by The India Committee of the Netherlands ( ICN ), the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations ( SOMO ), Netherlands , and Homeworkers Worldwide ( HWW ), UK reads that the grievance mechanisms of ETI and SAI fail to benefit young women and girls in the South Indian textile industries . The factories / spinning mills involved in the complaint procedures under review are working with top global brands .
The report exploreds how concrete complaints were dealt with by ETI and SAI and whether their complaint systems met the standards of the United Nations Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights . It further recommends that ETI and SAI urgently improve their procedures in terms of accessibility , legitimacy , transparency , predictability , equitability , and rights-compatibility to help tackle labour abuses .
For many years , these NGOs have been reporting issues in Tamil Nadu ( southern Indian state and major textile and apparel production hub , exporting its products to all major brands across the globe ). In their current report , it has been insisted that the long and drawn-out way complaints have been handled by both ETI and SAI has not resulted in tangible improvements for young women workers . “ ETI did not take a leading role in settling the complaint . This was mostly left to the complainant and the ETI member company . There is no evidence that the grievance procedure improved labour conditions in the spinning mills and factories concerned ,” the report reads .
In the meanwhile , observing the criticality and addressing the reports on garment & textile worker-related cases in the textile hub of south India – Tamil Nadu , counselling sessions for the workers have been initiated by Tamil Nadu Spinning Mills Association ( TASMA ) that represents more than 650 mills . It is hoped that the counselling sessions will help the young talent of the textile industry to release their work-related stress and deal better with the situation . They are also being encouraged to report harassment at workplace .
Work pressure , trauma , ill-treatment and sexual harassment are the major problems being faced by workers employed in textile mills in the state . The workforce , majorly represented by young women , is compelled to work for long hours and forced to live in unauthorised hostels . A series of deaths reported in textile factories and hostels raises questions on safety of the workers . Reports claim that some of the cases related to deaths are ‘ suicidal ’ and a proper investigation has not been carried out in such cases . In the first three months of this year , 23 such deaths were reported in Tamil Nadu , especially . Tirupur and Erode districts – collectively known as ‘ Textile Valley of India ’, where majority of the industry is located .
Brands also not Spared !
Latest report on workplace safety slams GAP , H & M , Walmart for gender-based violence in Asian factories
The Asia Floor Wage Alliance ( AFWA ) has come up with three separate reports which claim that the women workers who work at the supplier units of leading fashion retail players like H & M , GAP Inc . and Walmart , are at risk of assault , sexual abuse and other harassment every day . Notably , AFWA is a global coalition of trade unions , worker and human rights that is actively working to enhance the lives of garment factory workers in the Asian countries .
The reports by the association claim to have evidence based on the investigation that took place
20 Apparel Online India | JULY 16-31 , 2018 | www . apparelresources . com