Montreal, Canada (BBN)-The Pope, the president of the United States and people the world over have forced some improvements Bangladesh’s infamous garment factory workers, but they could be quickly eroded if Canada and its clothing companies don’t push for tougher standards and an accounting of where and how the clothes on their backs are made, says the acting head of one the country’s major labour unions.
One year after the deadly collapse of the Rana Plaza factory, a building where clothes were produced for companies such as Joe Fresh, the Children’s Place, Benetton and Walmart, salaries have increased slightly and working conditions have improved somewhat, said Repon Chowdhury, acting general secretary of the Bangladesh Free Trade Union Congress, reports Canada-based online newspaper thestar.com.
But the country’s government and the vast majority of the powerful and economically vital garment manufacturers are simply going through the necessary motions to maintain profits.
“Their fear is not about the factories’ structure. Their fear is that inspectors are coming and it might affect their business interests,” Chowdhury told the Star in an interview ahead of an address to the Canadian Labour Congress’s annual convention in Montreal.
“The real fear that is supposed to be inside of them is not there — that suddenly their building could collapse and they could also die in the building . . . . They don’t care. This is the real concern.”
More than 1,100 people died in the collapse of the eight-storey building on April 24, 2013 and another 2,500 were critically injured.
A compensation fund for the victims has only raised $15 million (US) of the $40-million goal and has recently paid out an initial sum of $700 to the families of the dead, the injured as well as those not injured, but who lost a job, in the building collapse.
Many are still struggling, financially as well as emotionally.
“There are so many missing and families are still looking for the dead bodies. I saw one family where the father was still looking around (for his daughter) one year after. He said he needed the dead body to bury his daughter with dignity and honour,” Chowdhury said.
Despite the devastation, Bangladeshi and international labour organizers see a window to advance workers’ rights in the country. Union registrations in Bangladesh numbered 130 in the 30 years that preceded the Rana Plaza collapse but about 140 have been registered in the 12 months that followed (Chowdhury suspects a number are “puppet unions” set up and controlled by employers to give the appearance of improvement).
The fear is that this window could quickly close when the world’s focus shifts to the next great international cause. That’s why Chowdhury and others are urging the Canadian government and clothing companies to exert greater pressure by demanding a factory shop-to-store window accounting of where products are produced.
Mandated disclosure of which factories produce the clothes Canadians buy is one way of boosting working conditions on the other side of the world. But more important is establishing ethical trade agreements based on meeting things like health and safety standards within certain timeframes, Chowdhury says.
“Canada can do many things. Canada is one of the largest trading partners in the garment sectors.”
Ontario and Manitoba have already committed to what’s known as ethical sourcing when buying employee uniforms and other clothing items.
In addition to a panel discussion on the Bangladesh tragedy at the CLC’s annual convention on Wednesday, delegates are debating a resolution calling on retailers and the federal and provincial governments to strengthen their corporate social responsibility programs and put more emphasis on recognition of labour rights before signing trade or investment agreements.
Last month the labour group also sent an open letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper asking that Ottawa pressure Canadian companies to sign on to a fire and building safety agreement in Bangladesh — a safety, inspection and emergency training program — that was forged in the wake of the Rana Plaza disaster.
Of more than 100 companies identified as doing business with garment manufacturers in Bangladesh, only one firm, Loblaw, has signed the accord.
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