What Next after Rana Plaza: Progress in the Garment Industry?

Abstract

REPORT ❐ TO FOLLOW thus uniting trade unions representing workers in all of the global manufacturing industries. Staff and affiliates of the ITGLWF were concerned that the priority needs of workers in ‘our’ industry might be lost in the process of merger into IndustriALL. However the ground-breaking achievements reacting to Rana Plaza and other vital work including achieving significant minimum wage gains in Cambodia has dispelled any doubts about the prominence of the garment and textile sector inside IndustriALL. The creation of IndustriALL enabled the weight and resources of the larger organisation to work on these campaigns and achieve historic progress. The Accord is doing impressive remediation across the industry in Bangladesh. They have identified thousands of fire and safety risks and closed down dangerous factories. Another Rana Plaza could have already happened without this work. Following the Rana Plaza collapse IndustriALL worked tirelessly to bring the brands and suppliers to the bargaining table with national and international trade unions and NGOs. Worker representatives led by IndustriALL and UNI Global Union together with their Bangladeshi affiliates succeeded in negotiating a strong agreement in the form of the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh. Until Rana Plaza only two brands had been prepared to sign; PVH, the owner of Calvin Klein and Tchibo a German retailer. The Accord has now been signed by 180 international brands and numerous local trade unions. The ILO acts as the independent chair of the Accord. The Accord is legally binding, a feature which is in contrast with the plethora of voluntary corporate codes of conduct and multi-stakeholder standards. Under the terms of the Accord signatory brands are each obliged to contribute up to US$500,000 per year towards costs of implementing the terms of Accord. Crucially the Accord includes a central role for trade unions in the provision of safety training as well as in the governance of the programme including membership of factory safety committees. The Accord is managing a huge programme of independent and credible inspection together with effective and timely remediation. Key issues for the future ■ Bangladeshi employers and Government have hitherto conspired to deny workers their rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining. It remains a huge challenge for trade unions to take advantage of the space offered by the Accord to build effective factory level trade unions in every one of the 4,000 factories producing garments for export. What Next after Rana Plaza: Progress in the Garment Industry? IndustriALL affiliates have organised nearly 40,000 workers, but this is barely one percent of the total workforce: organising remains a top priority INTERNATIONAL union rights Page 24 Volume 21 Issue 4 2014 STEVE GRINTER was Education Secretary with the International Textile Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation (ITGLWF) from 1994 to 2012. He is now retired F our million largely female Bangladeshi garment workers risk their lives every day in the production of cheap garments for European and US markets. The collapse of the Rana Plaza factory in Savar, Dhaka in April 2013 was exceptional only in the fact that there were 1,200 fatalities. The Spectrum Factory also in Savar collapsed in similar circumstances in April 2005 killing 62 workers and seriously injuring 70 more. Workers in the 4000 plus garment export factories are not only at risk from their factories collapsing but also from fire. Hundreds of factories are located in shared-use premises with enterprises such as shops and restaurants. This compounds hazards of fire and limits the chance of escape. The Garib fire in 2010 killed 21 workers ; it was the second fire at the factory within 6 months. Employers have become skilled at presenting to buyers and social auditors a false impression of ‘compliance’ with buyers’ (often pathetically weak) corporate codes of social responsibility. In particular wages and timekeeping records are routinely works of fiction for presentation to auditors. The grim reality for workers is a different story comprising excessive working hours including forced overtime, unachievable production targets, brutal repression and above all denial of all trade union rights. Even today wages remain pitifully low; currently the minimum wage in the readymade garment industry is 5300 Taka or euro 54 per...