Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)-Last April, 27-year-old Mushamat Begum was at her sewing machine on the fifth floor of the Rana Plaza building when it collapsed in Bangladesh.
More than 1,100 of her co-workers were killed, and she was later pulled from the rubble with a leg injury, reports The Guardian.
Speaking about the factory's condition before the collapse, she said: "Our working conditions are horrible. We basically never get a day off. If there's a death in the family, the bosses say, 'Well, there's nothing anyone can do about that. If someone's dead, he's dead'.
"We only get money if we're at the factory. There's no paid vacation. There are always people watching over us. They scold us when we have to go to the bathroom. They're there all the time and we're not allowed to take any breaks. Now and then they'll slap one of us."
Begum's experience is a direct consequence of living without national social protection systems and legally binding worker rights, within the context of an international trade system based on inequality and exploitation.
After the collapse of the Rana Plaza building, I spoke to Repon Chowdhury, general secretary of the Bangladesh Association of Social Workers.
I asked him what was the core role of social work in a country of extreme poverty where workers are systemically exploited by higher income countries because of Bangladesh's cheap labour.
He explained that the struggle to improve labour rights and conditions is at the heart of social work practice in Bangladesh.
"Social workers are a very important advocate for the fundamental rights of workers, and for the development of social protection systems on a daily basis," he said.
"We do what we can to reduce child labour, creating safer conditions in the workplace and promoting gender equity and healthy environments for living."
However, he added that "without adequate labour rights enforced at the global level there will be continued poverty, human indignity and sufferings at workplaces".
Establishing agreed international labour rights is a key issue for eliminating poverty in Bangladesh and elsewhere.
Repon explained that many people inside Bangladesh fear that, if their country advances labour laws in isolation, and in the absence of enforced international standards, the result could be the loss of jobs and export earnings that could significantly increase poverty.
This would lead to wide-scale forced migration and social unrest. Instead, the answers lie in "international solidarity and promoting core labour standards and the elimination of poverty on a global scale".
The accord on fire and building safety in Bangladesh, which 150 international companies have signed up to, has been hailed as a potential solution. But Repon said it simply offers "baby steps" towards regulation.
"It has to be recognised that, apart from the failures of the companies, the Bangladeshi state also lacks the structures to enforce workplace safety," he said.
"There should be detailed plans to improve workplace conditions by providing adequate resources and employing expert staff. Social workers would like to see the government taking a central role in ensuring the safety of workers."
While fire and building safety are the critical issues in Bangladesh, they are not the only health and safety problems in the workplace.
Workers also face a range of occupational health matters that include respiratory ailments due to dust, and musculo-skeletal disorders due to long working hours and physically awkward conditions.
"The time has come to create a universal social protection floor for all workers around the globe," says Repon.
Mushamat Begum was employed at the Rana Centre on a base full-time wage of 4,000 taka (about €39) a month.
The rent for the one room that houses herself, her husband and two children is 1,850 taka (€18) a month.
Her children sleep on the floor and her family shares a kitchen and toilet with seven other families. Her husband drives a rickshaw and earns very little.
Even if the Bangladesh accord could be implemented in the remaining four-year time frame, it won't stop Begum from being worked to death by the age of 60.
It will not stop her children from getting waterborne diseases, such as hepatitis and typhoid fever, because of inadequate systems to ensure clean water.
The most realistic option that will enable her, and the billions of others like her, to find a decent future is to implement worldwide agreements that establish international labour laws.
These would put workers and governments on an equitable footing and give them the chance to establish adequate social protection.
International regulation based on social justice is not prevented by a lack of resources, or by complexity of administration: its negotiation, development and phased implementation is a question of political resolve from governments and world leaders.
The consequences of not introducing such measures condemn more than half the world's population to the conditions experienced by Begum. Social work in Bangladesh, like in all countries, is about the transformation of society to enable people to live sustainably, and in dignity.
The International Federation of Social Workers has joined forces with 90 other international NGOs in calling for social protection to be included in the post-2015 development goals.
BBN/SS/AD/30Apr14-2:30pm (BST)
