A Safe Workplace Can the ILO’s Better Factories Cambodia Program Benefit Bangladesh’s Dangerous Garment Factories?

Corporate Social Responsibility Codes of conduct International labor standards • Compliance determined by auditing and monitoring programs

Protecting Labor Rights Through Trade Agreements “Garment Sector Working Conditions Improvement Project” (currently known as “Better Factories Cambodia”) • 1999 U.S.-Cambodia Bilateral Textile Trade Agreement • ILO conducts factory monitoring • “Real inroads have been made but there is still room to improve.” www.betterfactories.org

Bangladesh Densely populated - 150 million people Garment industry is relatively young but it is the source of 76% of Bangladesh’s exports 2 million garment workers – 85% are women Among the lowest paid in the world Face opposition for their right to unionize Hazardous conditions are ‘normal’

Problem Statement • In the last five years, at least 172 Bangladesh garment factory workers died as a result of hazardous working conditions. • Even with elaborate labor laws, foreign company audits and national monitoring programs, the Bangladesh garment industry is considered one of the most dangerous industries in the world.

Reasons for repeated fatal accidents in garment factories Inadequate auditing and monitoring programs Poor infrastructure Unchecked building standards Insufficient safety arrangements

Garib & Garib Sweater Factory February 25, 2010 21 workers died Exits were locked Materials blocked stairways The factory’s fire equipment was useless Security guards did know how to operate fire extinguishers

Survivors of the Garib & Garib fire "Everyone who worked on the top floor died, because the exits were locked. All of them were women. They were trapped and they suffocated.”

Garib & Garib . . . again Factory closed after March fire Re-opened April 1, 2010 Another fire on April 13, 2010 1 death, 10 injured 3rd fire in less than 2 years

“Came to work alive; don't want to go home a corpse.”

Garment Industry Deaths since 1990 21 killed at Garib and Garib Factory, Gazipur, 2010 62 killed at KTS Garments, Chittagong, 2006 23 killed at Shan Knitting, Narayanganj, 2005 • 74 killed at Spectrum Sweater, Dhaka, 2005 23 killed at Chowdhury Knitwear, Narsingdi, 2004 23 killed at Macro Sweater, Dhaka, 2000 12 killed at Globe Knitting, Dhaka, 2000 24 killed at Shanghai Apparels, Dhaka, 1997 20 killed at Jahanara Fashion, Narayanganj, 1997 22 killed at Lusaka Garments, Dhaka, 1996 32 killed at Saraka Garments, Dhaka, 1990 (Source: The Daily Star, March 1, 2010)

Spectrum Factory collapse April 2005 74 workers buried alive Built on marshland Four-floor building approved Nine-floor building was built

Responsibility International brands – ALL companies in the garment supply chain Bangladesh Government World Trade Organization Bangladesh garment industry

International brands Compliance is not enforced to keep business going Fails to detect day-to-day issues Workers should but are not involved in the process Audits should be more transparent and accountable to workers

Bangladesh government Extensive national labor rights policies pertaining to occupational safety and health in place; no enforcement Party to various ILO conventions; but they are not implemented

The World Trade Organization Lacks consideration of the link between trade and the conditions under which goods are manufactured  Workers would enjoy more protection if the WTO recognized such provisions

Bangladesh garment industry Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) • Conflicting interests • Impotent monitoring program due to a lack of manpower

Laws being violated • Various ILO Conventions C29 Forced Labour Convention, 1930 C81 Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 C89 Night Work (Women) Convention (Revised), 1948 • Bangladesh Labor Laws 1996 Part 3: Occupational Health, Safety and Welfare • Bangladesh Factory Act of 1965 Chapter III Health and Hygiene Chapter IV Safety

Proposed Solution The basic premise established in Better Factories Cambodia could offer Bangladesh the best way forward. “ILO’s Better Factories Cambodia program, has been more beneficial to workers than any anti-sweatshop campaign.”

Venue of Discussion • Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) The CCC is a network of coalitions that aim to improve working conditions in the global garment and sportswear industries. The organization has been calling for a review of all Bangladeshi garment factories since 2000. • The International Labor Organization In collaboration with CCC, a letter to the ILO, suggesting a program based on Better Factories Cambodia.