[Senate Prints 116-17]
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116th Congress } { S. Prt.
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2d Session } { 116-17
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SEVEN YEARS AFTER RANA PLAZA, SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGES REMAIN
__________
A MINORITY STAFF REPORT
PREPARED FOR THE USE OF THE
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
UNITED STATES SENATE
One Hundred Sixteenth Congress
SECOND SESSION
March 5, 2020
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Relations
Available via World Wide Web:
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______
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
39-906 PDF WASHINGTON : 2020
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
JAMES E. RISCH, Idaho, Chairman
MARCO RUBIO, Florida ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey
RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland
CORY GARDNER, Colorado JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire
MITT ROMNEY, Utah CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, Delaware
LINDSEY GRAHAM, South Carolina TOM UDALL, New Mexico
JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming CHRISTOPHER MURPHY, Connecticut
ROB PORTMAN, Ohio TIM KAINE, Virginia
RAND PAUL, Kentucky EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts
TODD YOUNG, Indiana JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon
TED CRUZ, Texas CORY A. BOOKER, New Jersey
DAVID PERDUE, Georgia
Christopher M. Socha, Staff Director
Jessica Lewis, Democratic Staff Director
John Dutton, Chief Clerk
(ii)
C O N T E N T S
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Page
Letter of Transmittal............................................ v
Executive Summary................................................ 1
Introduction: Factories Are Now Safer, But Workers Are Not....... 7
Chapter One: Abuse of Workers in Ready-Made Garment Factories.... 9
Female Garment Workers Face Disproportionate Abuse........... 11
Culture of Impunity.......................................... 13
Chapter Two: Workers' Rights Under Attack........................ 15
Government Response to Worker Protests....................... 16
Challenges to Union Registration............................. 18
Chapter Three: Factory Safety Has Improved....................... 23
Government of Bangladesh's 2013 Labor Commitments............ 24
Subcontracting............................................... 28
Chapter Four: The Key Actors Shaping Factory Safety and Labor
Rights in Bangladesh........................................... 29
The International Safety Initiatives: The Accord and the
Alliance................................................... 29
The European-Led Accord's Accomplishments.................... 30
The American-Led Alliance's Accomplishments.................. 30
The Successor to the American-Led Alliance, Nirapon.......... 31
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturing and Exporters
Association (BGMEA)........................................ 32
The RMG Sustainability Council............................... 32
Chapter Five: The United States and European Union Response to
the Tazreen Fashions and Rana Plaza Tragedies.................. 35
U.S. Response................................................ 35
U.S. Assistance for International Labor Rights............... 35
EU Sustainability Compact.................................... 36
The Brands' Response to the Tazreen Fashions and Rana Plaza
Tragedies.................................................. 37
Brand Purchasing Practices................................... 38
Consumers.................................................... 39
Conclusion................................................... 39
Full List of Recommendations..................................... 41
(iii)
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
----------
United States Senate,
Committee on Foreign Relations,
Washington, DC, March 5, 2020.
Dear Colleagues: On April 24, 2013, more than eleven
hundred garment workers lost their lives in the collapse of the
Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh, which housed factories
supplying major Western brands. The tragedy of Rana Plaza was
the worst in a string of disasters, including a fire at Tazreen
Fashions factory which killed 112 people. Following these
tragedies, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC)
Democratic Staff produced a report at my direction which
concluded that Bangladesh's garment workers could not have
truly safe, healthy, and decent working conditions unless they
gained the ability to organize and defend their rights. Nearly
seven years have passed, during which two brand-led
international initiatives were mandated to inspect and
remediate over 2,000 Ready-Made Garment factories in
Bangladesh. The second of these initiatives will conclude in
the coming months, and a locally-led private safety monitoring
entity will fully assume these safety monitoring
responsibilities. Bangladesh faces a critical inflection point
as these initiatives come to a close and the government and
local industry look to fill the void.
Given this changing landscape, I directed my SFRC Staff to
assess the progress made in worker safety and labor rights
since 2013. Last year, my staff conducted a visit to Dhaka,
Bangladesh, where they met with Bangladeshi garment workers and
union activists, leaders of the international safety monitoring
initiatives, government of Bangladesh officials, the
International Labour Organization, civil society, and other
stakeholders. They collected additional information through
meetings in Brussels with European Union labor officials, and
in Washington D.C. with U.S. government officials,
international labor rights advocates, retailer brand
associations, and the head of a Bangladesh-based private safety
monitoring organization.
(v)
During the course of their research, they found that while
many Bangladeshi Ready-Made Garment factories were structurally
safer, the workers inside are not. Workers face increased
intimidation, threat, and violence in retaliation for their
labor activism. Worse, some workers are being subjected to
physical abuse--especially women, who constitute the majority
of Bangladesh's Ready-Made Garment workforce. As I said in
2013, American consumers will simply not accept clothes stained
with the blood of those who made them. I remain in awe of the
courage and bravery shown by these Bangladeshi garment workers.
This report shines a light on the ongoing plight of these
workers in their fight to defend their rights and gain better
treatment.
Bangladesh's continued growth of its garment sector is
critical to supporting the country's economic development,
including supporting women's economic empowerment, both goals
that the United States should enthusiastically support.
However, unless clear steps are taken, Bangladesh's garment
sector will struggle to grow amid a competitive fast-fashion
market and growing global consumer concern about the conditions
under which their clothes are made. Significant steps have been
taken to improve safety in some of Bangladesh's factories and
the government has made some progress through reforms to its
labor law. This progress must be built upon and I hope that the
Bangladeshi government will take seriously its responsibility
to protect factory workers, not only from unsafe buildings, but
abusive management and repression of labor rights.
Labor unions across the world are increasingly under attack
for exercising their rights to organize. The Trump
administration has consistently sought deep decreases in
funding for international labor rights programs, but to date,
Congress has thankfully rejected these cuts. The United States
must lead in advancing labor rights, at home and abroad, and
call on foreign governments to respect the internationally-
recognized rights to associate, organize, and collectively
bargain. This report provides practical and timely
recommendations for the U.S. Government and other stakeholders
to protect workers from abuse, ensure workers are empowered to
defend their rights, and to safeguard and advance the gains in
factory safety.
Sincerely,
Robert Menendez,
Ranking Member.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
----------
Nearly seven years ago, in April 2013, the Rana Plaza
garment factory in Bangladesh collapsed and killed more than
one thousand workers.\1\ Today, many of Bangladesh's Ready-Made
Garment (RMG) factory buildings are structurally safer, but the
workers inside are not. Labor rights have declined
precipitously in recent years as union organizers contend with
pressure on freedoms to associate, organize, and demonstrate.
Worse, workers are being abused--verbally, physically, and
sexually--and their perpetrators are largely walking free.
According to one Bangladeshi labor organizer, ``the environment
for workers has never been worse.''\2\
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\1\ In April 2013, Rana Plaza, an eight-story commercial building
in Dhaka, Bangladesh that housed ready-made garment factories supplying
Western brands collapsed. The day before, a local engineer had
inspected the building and deemed it unsafe, urging everyone to
evacuate. The building owner, Mohammad Sohel Rana, dismissed police
orders and instructed employees to return to work the next day. At
least 1,138 people were killed, and more than 2,000 were injured.
``Bangladesh Factory Collapse Toll Passes 1,000,'' BBC, May 10, 2013.
\2\ Factory Worker, Interview with Committee Staff, Senate
Committee on Foreign Relations Staff Visit to Dhaka, Bangladesh, July
2019.
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In the wake of the devastating Rana Plaza collapse, and a
2012 fire at a garment factory that killed at least 112, two
international initiatives--the European-based Accord on Fire
and Building Safety in Bangladesh and the American-based
Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety--were created to improve
factory building safety, and they have largely succeeded.\3\
However, as both initiatives conclude their operations, the
government of Bangladesh must now assume full responsibility
for ensuring factory safety and protection of labor rights.\4\
Today, many workers and worker advocates are concerned that
standards for safety and rights could backslide, raising the
specter of more accidents in the future.
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\3\ The two international factory safety-monitoring initiatives are
discussed further in Chapter Four.
\4\ The Alliance concluded its operations in December 2018.
``Alliance Announces End of Its Tenure,'' New Age Business, Dec. 14,
2018; The Accord is due to wrap up operations in 2020. ``Bangladesh
Factory Safety Monitors Get Court Extension,'' France24, May 19, 2019,
See Chapter Four.
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Bangladesh sits at a crucial inflection point. The
remaining international safety initiative, known as the Accord,
is handing the reins on building safety and labor rights over
to a locally-run private safety monitoring entity, the Ready-
Made Garment Sustainability Council. As the responsibility for
monitoring safety conditions and respect for labor rights in
RMG factories in Bangladesh evolves, stakeholders in Bangladesh
and the international community must address the following
questions:
1. Will the government maintain the progress made in building
safety and take additional measures to protect labor
rights?
2. Will the new Ready-Made Garment Sustainability Council
build upon the progress of the international
initiatives and continue to improve building safety,
promote respect for labor rights, and protect workers
from abuse?
3. Will international brands insist on both building safety
and respect for labor rights, including protection
against worker abuse?
Unless positive movement can be made on these key
questions, the Bangladesh RMG sector will face an uncertain
future in a competitive fast-fashion market.
Shopna, a garment worker in Dhaka, summed up the sacrifices
made by workers producing the clothes we wear: ``[It] makes me
happy that [consumers] are wearing something that I made. But I
want to let them know that this is more than a piece of cloth.
This piece of cloth is bathed in my blood, sweat and dignity.
I've sacrificed all of that to be able to make a pair of pants
that you will wear and feel comfortable.''\5\ This report will
illustrate some of the treatment workers endure and the
sacrifices they make, and will detail what stakeholders must do
to improve conditions for workers like Shopna.
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\5\ ActionAid, ``80 Percent of Garment Workers in Bangladesh Have
Experienced or Witnessed Sexual Violence and Harassment at Work,'' June
10, 2019, https://actionaid.org/news/2019/80-garment-workers-
bangladesh-have-experienced-or-witnessed-sexual-violence-and.
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After the Rana Plaza tragedy, the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee Democratic Staff issued a 2013 report entitled Worker
Safety and Labor Rights in Bangladesh's Garment Sector.\6\ The
report found that an independent and robust organized labor
movement in Bangladesh was imperative to the future of the RMG
sector and would provide the ultimate bulwark against another
tragic accident on the scale of Rana Plaza. Nearly seven years
following that first report, unfortunately, the main
recommendations with respect to labor rights remain
unfulfilled. This second report by the Committee finds that a
culture of safety has begun to take hold around RMG factories,
but not a culture of respect for workers and their labor
rights.\7\ Ultimately, workers are best placed to represent
their own safety concerns and defend themselves against abuses.
Independent, representative labor unions provide the greatest
tool for them to do so.
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\6\ Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Majority Staff, Worker
Safety and Labor Rights in Bangladesh's Garment Sector, Nov. 22, 2013.
\7\ This report was finalized in February 2020.
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report findings
Chapter One: Abuse of Workers in
Ready-Made Garment Factories
RMG workers, especially union leaders and organizers, are
increasingly subjected to abuse and harassment, with
almost no punishment for the perpetrators.
Female workers--who make up the majority of RMG workers--
are disproportionately affected by the abuse in
factories. Most female workers serve in junior roles
such as machine operators and rarely hold leadership
positions.
Lack of access to justice, especially for women,
contributes to a pervasive culture of abuse in RMG
factories, where perpetrators often act with impunity.
Chapter Two: Workers' Rights Under Attack
Despite hopes that the Rana Plaza tragedy would motivate
genuine labor rights reform in Bangladesh, the
environment for union organizers and activists has
deteriorated. The violence and repression during the
December 2018 and January 2019 worker protests over the
minimum wage illustrates this downward trajectory.
While hundreds of unions were registered in the
immediate aftermath of Rana Plaza, union leaders now
face significant bureaucratic obstacles to registration
and intimidation from factory owners.
Factory owners have not been held accountable for unfair
labor practices, as defined by the 2006 Bangladesh
Labor Act. Examples of unfair labor practices include
dismissal and firing from employment, or the threat of
it, if a worker joins a union, encourages others to do
so, or files a labor related complaint. As of January
2020, the Bangladesh Department of Labor has failed to
successfully fully prosecute or enforce reinstatement
of union leaders in most, if not all, unfair labor
practice cases--of which more than 15 have been pending
for years.\8\
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\8\ Email from Solidarity Center Representative, to Committee
Staff, Oct. 7, 2019.
Chapter Three: Factory Safety Has Improved
The international initiatives created after Rana Plaza
significantly improved fire, structural, and electrical
safety conditions in the factories under their
respective purviews.
Thousands of RMG factories across Bangladesh have been
inspected or remediated, largely due to the work of
international safety initiatives. However, there are
reportedly thousands of unregistered RMG factories
operating in Bangladesh that likely do not meet safety
standards. The government of Bangladesh is responsible
for inspecting and remediating hundreds of other
factories, but has fallen short in its responsibility
to ensure safety standards at these factories.\9\
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\9\ Paul Barrett et al., Five Years after Rana Plaza: The Way
Forward (``Five Years after Rana Plaza''), NYU Stern Center for
Business and Human Rights (Apr. 2018).
Chapter Four: Key Actors Shaping Factory Safety
and Labor Rights in Bangladesh
The government of Bangladesh has reformed its labor law and
sought to develop bureaucratic capacity to conduct
factory building inspections, but these efforts have
been insufficient and fall short of international
standards. As the international safety initiatives
phase out, there is concern that the government of
Bangladesh and local institutions will be unable to
sustain, let alone advance, the progress made by the
international initiatives.
The new locally-run private safety monitoring entity, the
Ready-Made Garment Sustainability Council that will
take over the Accord's operations, will be governed by
a Board of Directors that includes industry
representatives, brands and trade unions. The
credibility of this institution will be determined by
several factors, particularly the balance of power on
the Board.
Chapter Five: The U.S. and European Union Response
to the Tazreen Fashions and Rana Plaza Tragedies
After the Rana Plaza tragedy, in June 2013, the United
States suspended Bangladesh's trade benefits under the
Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), and negotiated
an action plan with the government, that if
implemented, would have provided a basis for
reinstatement of GSP trade benefits. Nearly seven years
later, it has not been fully implemented and workers
are facing increasing challenges, such as abuse inside
factories and violations of labor rights.
The Trump administration has consistently sought to cut
funding for global labor rights programs. Congress
continues to deny requested funding cuts and has
maintained international labor funding, including for
Bangladesh.
Some global brands insist suppliers ensure labor rights and
safe work environments. However, their purchasing
practices often incentivize the opposite behavior.
Western brands have effectively used their economic
leverage to improve the safety culture in factories
from which they source directly. However, the low
prices they pay for garments, as well as poor
forecasting practices and unfair penalties for
production delays, continue to incentivize factory
owners to cut corners on safety and violate labor
rights.
Consumers in Western countries are willing to pay more for
clothes made under safe working conditions where labor
rights are respected.
report recommendations
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of
Peaceful Assembly and of Association should:
Immediately launch an investigation into allegations of
widespread abuse--including gender-based violence--of
RMG workers in Bangladesh.
Conduct a country visit to Bangladesh focused on workers'
rights to associate, join a union, conduct union
activities and be free from retaliation, such as
retaliatory firings and false criminal charges.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) should:
Launch a Commission of Inquiry on Bangladesh in response to
alleged violations of the ILO Conventions on Freedom of
Association and Protection of the Right to Organise and
Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining.
The U.S. Government should:
Support, in its capacity as a member of the ILO Governing
Body of the International Labour Office, the launch of
a Commission of Inquiry on Bangladesh.
Maintain the suspension of trade benefits under the
Generalized System of Preferences until the government
of Bangladesh fully implements the 16-point labor
action plan (formerly known as the GSP Action Plan)
that the United States presented to the government of
Bangladesh in 2013.
Update the 16-point labor action plan to reflect the new
challenges in Bangladesh's RMG sector--including abuse
of workers and increased violations of workers' rights.
Consider imposing visa bans against government officials
and factory owners implicated in retaliatory violence
against labor organizers.
Increase funding for U.S. programs promoting labor rights
in Bangladesh, particularly the right to organize and
bargain collectively.
Under the auspices of the Government Accountability Office,
conduct an analysis of the status of labor rights in
apparel-producing countries to inform U.S. government
policy and programming.
The Government of Bangladesh should:
Protect union leaders from retaliation and illegal
terminations by promptly and effectively investigating
and prosecuting factory owners who have violated labor
laws, including by engaging in anti-union activity and
abuse of workers.
Carry out independent and impartial investigations of
alleged violations of internationally recognized labor
rights and abuse of workers--including sexual
harassment--and prosecute those responsible.
Complete pending investigations of unfair labor practices
in a thorough and expeditious manner.
Properly compensate workers who were victims of false
criminal cases filed by factory management and police.
Revise the country's labor law to ensure it conforms with
international labor standards, particularly with the
ILO Conventions on Labor Inspection, Freedom of
Association and Protection of the Right to Organise,
and Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining.
Consult civil society and independent trade unions in
reforms.
Expeditiously register unions that meet administrative
requirements and transparently provide information to
applicants throughout the process.
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA)
should:
Ensure that workers' representatives have power equal to
the BGMEA and participating brands on the Ready-Made
Garment Sustainability Council Board of Directors.
Hold factory owners and management accountable for credible
allegations of worker abuse and violations of labor
rights.
Apparel Retailers and Global Brands Sourcing from Bangladesh should:
Collectively develop and implement a policy of zero-
tolerance on violence and harassment, especially
gender-based violence and harassment, and make these
expectations public.
Ensure that local initiatives maintain the high standards
established by the international factory safety
initiatives, including breaking contracts with
suppliers that are non-compliant with safety and labor
rights standards.
Ensure that pricing and sourcing contracts with RMG
factories incorporate cost of labor and safety
compliance--including cost of the minimum wage
increase, overtime payments, and all legal benefits--to
eliminate incentives for unsafe conditions and worker
abuse.
basis of findings and recommendations
The findings and recommendations in this report are based
on congressional oversight following the Rana Plaza tragedy and
on a July 2019 visit to Dhaka by Committee Staff. Staff visited
garment factories supplying Western brands and met with factory
owners, Bangladeshi government officials, labor and civil
society activists, the BGMEA, and representatives of the Accord
on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh. Staff conducted
separate meetings with union leaders and garment workers,
including both union and non-union workers. Separately,
Committee Staff engaged with USAID, European Union and U.S.
diplomats, as well as the Ready-Made Garment Sustainability
Council that succeeded the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker
Safety.
INTRODUCTION: FACTORIES ARE NOW SAFER, BUT WORKERS ARE NOT
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On November 24, 2012, Reba Khatun, 27, was on the third
level of the Tazreen Fashions factory walking up a flight of
stairs when a fire broke out. Trapped by the smoke from the
fire and desperate to escape the flames, she jumped out of a
window, and fell three stories to the ground. Khatun survived,
but with several injuries.\10\ Years later, she remains wary of
returning to a large factory job and can still hear the sounds
of Tazreen Fashions workers shouting ``Save me, save me.''\11\
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\10\ Khatun sustained spinal and leg injuries that required
treatment at three separate hospitals.
\11\ Chris Herlinger, ``Survivors Still Coping with Trauma of 2012
Factory Fire,'' National Catholic Review, Apr. 20, 2016.
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Tazreen's managers had illegally stored large amounts of
fabric and yarn, fueling the fire.\12\ They also ignored the
fire alarms and ordered workers to continue working in order to
meet production quotas. Workers that did try to escape found
doors and gates locked. One hundred and twelve workers did not
find a way out and lost their lives that day. Two hundred,
including Reba Khatun, were left grievously injured.\13\
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\12\ Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Majority Staff, Worker
Safety and Labor Rights in Bangladesh's Garment Sector, at 2, Nov. 22,
2013; Julfikar Ali Manik & Jim Yardley, ``Bangladesh Finds Gross
Negligence in Factory Fire,'' The New York Times, Dec. 17, 2012.
\13\ Farid Ahmed, ``At least 117 Killed in Fire at Bangladeshi
Clothing Factory,'' CNN, Nov. 25, 2012; Chris Herlinger, ``Survivors
Still Coping with Trauma of 2012 Factory Fire,'' National Catholic
Review, Apr. 20, 2016.
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Five months after the Tazreen fire, deep cracks appeared in
the walls of an eight-story building on the outskirts of Dhaka
known as Rana Plaza, which housed factories producing clothes
for Western brands such as Mango, Walmart, Primark, and
Benetton. A local engineer inspected the building and deemed it
unsafe. As he fled, he urged everyone to evacuate. The police
ordered the building to be emptied until further inspection,
but the owner, Mohammad Sohel Rana, dismissed the police orders
and instructed employees to return to work the next day or risk
losing their jobs.\14\ Sometime before 9am on April 24, 2013,
more than 2,000 workers in need of their meager pay and lacking
union representation apprehensively entered the building. The
entire structure soon crumbled and fell to the ground, taking
less than 90 seconds to collapse.\15\ Found in the rubble were
broken sewing machines, concrete slabs, and crushed bodies.\16\
The building collapse killed 1,138 people and injured more than
2,000.\17\
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\14\ Paul Barrett et al., Five Years after Rana Plaza, at 5.
\15\ Michael Safi & Dominic Rushe, ``Rana Plaza, Five Years On:
Safety of Workers Hangs in Balance in Bangladesh,'' The Guardian, Apr.
24, 2018.
\16\ Paul Barrett et al., Five Years after Rana Plaza, at 5.
\17\ Human Rights Watch, Paying for a Bus Ticket and Expecting to
Fly: How Apparel Brand Purchasing Practices Drive Labor Abuses
(``Paying for a Bus Ticket and Expecting to Fly''), at 47 (Apr. 2019).
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The Tazreen and Rana Plaza disasters spurred into action
most of the international brands sourcing from Bangladeshi
factories. Within months, global retailers created two
initiatives--the European-led Accord on Fire and Building
Safety in Bangladesh (``the Accord'') and the American-led
Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety (``the Alliance'')--both
of which sought to improve building and worker safety in
Bangladesh's garment sector.\18\
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\18\ Id.
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Since 2013, these two groundbreaking international
initiatives have been a force for real change in the Ready-Made
Garments (RMG) industry in Bangladesh, transforming the culture
of safety in RMG factories over the course of their five-year
mandates. They did so in part by leveraging the economic and
reputational power of brands to inspect the supplying factories
and require safety improvements. For the first time ever,
unsafe factories that did not meet the Accord's and the
Alliance's safety standards were at risk of losing their
business relationships with participating Western buyers.\19\
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\19\ Paul Barrett et al., Five Years after Rana Plaza, at 6.
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But, this progress only represents half the picture. While
factory safety has improved since the Rana Plaza collapse and
Tazreen Fashions fire, this report finds that labor rights are
under attack, workers face routine abuse, and female workers
are being sexually harassed and assaulted in the Bangladesh RMG
factories that supply many Western brands.
CHAPTER ONE: ABUSE OF WORKERS IN READY-MADE GARMENT FACTORIES
----------
Nearly four million ready-made garment (RMG) workers in
Bangladesh produce goods for export to the global market,
primarily to Europe and North America. Factories vary in size
and sophistication, ranging from large operations that employ
thousands of workers, use modern machinery, and hold long-term
contracts with foreign buyers, to smaller factories that employ
dozens of workers on a short-term basis and in some cases are
unregistered. Women are reported to comprise between 60 and 74
percent of the workers in Bangladesh's garment industry.\20\
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\20\ Email from International Labor Rights Forum Representative, to
Committee Staff, Nov. 19, 2019; Ibrahim Hossain Ovi, ``Women's
Participation in RMG Workforce Declines,'' Dhaka Tribune, Mar. 3, 2018.
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Many of Bangladesh's rural poor and women have gained
employment in this sector, but their rights as workers fall
considerably below international standards. Factory owners are
increasingly operating with impunity and a belief that they can
unfairly fire, abuse, and attack workers.\21\ According to the
Executive Director of the Accord, Rob Wayss, it is common for
the initiative to receive credible safety and health complaints
of workers being slapped, pushed, and subjected to vulgar
language.\22\
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\21\ Worker's Rights Consortium, Banning Hope: Bangladesh Garment
Workers Seeking a Dollar an Hour Face Mass Firings, Violence, and False
Arrests, at 29 (Apr. 2019), https://www.workersrights.org/wp-content/
uploads/2019/04/Crackdown-on-Bangladesh.pdf.
\22\ Rob Wayss, Executive Director, Accord on Fire and Building
Safety in Bangladesh, Interview with Committee Staff, Senate Committee
on Foreign Relations Staff Visit to Dhaka, Bangladesh, July 2019.
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Rubana Huq, President of the Bangladesh Garment
Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), an influential
national trade association that represents the RMG sector, has
suggested the ``allegations of labor abuse in the industry
[are] isolated, negative practices.''\23\ Labor advocates,
activists, and experts paint a different picture. Sexual
harassment allegations are regularly received via the Accord
occupational safety and health complaints mechanism. Sexual
harassment prevention is also a component of the Accord's
factory based safety training programs.\24\ In one illustrative
case, the U.S.-based labor rights organization Solidarity
Center reported in November 2018 that political allies and men
associated with the management personnel of a Konabari factory
intimidated union leaders and organizers who had been
organizing workers at the factory for several years. Just weeks
after the union filed for registration with the Department of
Labor, these men assaulted a male labor organizer and took a
female organizer to an isolated area and raped her.\25\ With
the assistance from the union and labor lawyers, the rape
victim reported the assault to the police, which charged and
detained the perpetrators temporarily. They have been released,
but the government continues to prosecute the case against
them. This is a unique case in which justice is being pursued,
although not yet delivered. The victim's quest for justice is
facilitated by support from union and labor lawyers, but most
gender-based violence survivors are not so lucky.\26\ According
to international labor advocates, victims of gender-based
violence generally do not seek accountability due to a deep-
rooted culture of shaming sexual assault victims in
Bangladesh.\27\
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\23\ Anuradha Nagaraj, ``First Female Boss Vows to Shake up
Bangladesh's Fashion Factories,'' Reuters, Apr. 9, 2019.
\24\ Email from Rob Wayss, Executive Director, Accord on Fire and
Building Safety in Bangladesh, to Committee Staff, Jan. 27, 2020.
\25\ Email from Solidarity Center Representative, to Committee
Staff, Oct. 7, 2019.
\26\ Email from Solidarity Center Representative, to Committee
Staff, Feb. 21, 2020.
\27\ Email from Solidarity Center Representative, to Committee
Staff, Oct. 7, 2019.
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Prominent labor leader Kalpona Akter describes the
discrimination, sexual abuse, and predicament female workers in
Bangladesh's garment sector face by male supervisors as
follows:
A woman is continuously pressured and asked many times.
She's afraid that someone will find out and she's
afraid what will happen if she becomes pregnant or her
coworkers or her family find out. If there is a
beautiful girl on the production floor, the supervisor
can try to convince her that he's in love, or if she
has a good relationship with him then he can increase
her salary. First it might be, ``Let's go to the
park.'' Later on he tries to convince her to have sex.
``Let's have sex and maybe I'll let you leave the
factory early at 5 pm or 6 pm or you can walk around
the production floor without being harassed. . . .''
She's also been trapped. ``You need to continue this
relationship with me or I'll tell others.'' She is now
afraid she will never be able to get married, or, if
the community finds out, that they will look at her in
a different way and think of her as a sex worker. If a
woman has sex before she is married, she can rarely get
married or she will be considered a prostitute for
sleeping with multiple guys or she'll be considered a
bad person. There are lots of rape cases involving
women workers. The woman is always blamed. ``She is
bad; that's why it happened to her.''\28\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\28\ International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF), Our Voices, Our
Safety: Bangladeshi Garment Workers Speak Out, at 41 (Dec. 2015),
https://laborrights.org/sites/default/files/publications/
Our%20Voices,%20Our%20Safety%20Online--1.pdf.
Bangladeshi women generally do not talk about their
experiences of sexual abuse because society puts the blame on
them. They fear backlash or being harassed further. Beyond the
stigma, these workers also fear being fired if they report the
abuse.\29\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\29\ Email, Representative, International Labor Rights Forum, to
Committee Staff, Nov. 19, 2019.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Men in garment factories also face mistreatment, and in
some cases, physical abuse, in the workplace. During a July
2019 meeting between garment workers and Committee Staff, a
worker sat hunched over, holding his arm over his chest. Staff
invited him to share his story. He first hesitated, but
eventually revealed that his factory manager had punched him in
the face and kicked him in the ribs. In that meeting, other
garment workers agreed that verbal and physical abuse is a
regular occurrence in their workplaces.\30\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\30\ Factory Worker, Interview with Committee Staff, Senate
Committee on Foreign Relations Staff Visit to Dhaka, Bangladesh, July
2019.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
FEMALE GARMENT WORKERS FACE
DISPROPORTIONATE LEVELS OF ABUSE
Bangladesh's garment industry is dependent on female
workers, who are subjected to abuse by factory managers, who
are mostly men. That abuse includes verbal abuse, physical
violence, coercion, threats, and retaliation. Female workers
have little to no ability to push back on the abuse because
they are concentrated in subordinate roles, such as machine
operators, checkers, and helpers, and rarely reach leadership
positions.\31\ In an interview with the U.S.-based human rights
advocacy organization Human Rights Watch, a female worker at a
Dhaka-based factory employing mostly women shared an anecdote
to describe the abusive conditions that female workers face.
When workers protested their manager's refusal to offer
maternity leave benefits, a factory owner said, ``If you're all
concentrating on f****g, why are you working here? Go and work
in a brothel.''\32\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\31\ Shikha Silliman Bhattacharjee, End Gender-Based Violence and
HarassmenteGender Justice on Garment Global Supply Chains: An Agenda to
Transform Fast Fashion, Global Labor and Justice and Asia Floor Wage
Alliance, at 15 (2019). .
\32\ Human Rights Watch, Whoever Raises Their Head Suffers the
Most, at 24-25 (Apr. 2015).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In October 2019, reports emerged that garment workers at a
factory operated by the Youngone Corporation, which makes
clothes for North American brand Lululemon, are ``paid scant
wages, verbally harassed by their managers with slurs like
`slut' and `whore,' and face the threat of physical violence on
the job.''\33\ One female factory worker claimed she was
slapped for leaving work early because she did not feel well.
``[The technician in charge of her line] slapped me so hard my
cheeks turned red. . . .''\34\ In another illustrative case,
workers reported, ``During last Ramadan, they created a new
line and recruited new female workers. One day, a technician
hit a label operator so hard on her chest. We could see she was
in pain the whole day. . . . She was lying in the back of the
line for hours but our bosses did nothing about her.''\35\
Lululemon reportedly indicated that its social responsibility
and production team visited the factory in Bangladesh
immediately to speak with workers and it will work with an
``independent non-profit third party to fully investigate the
matter.'' It went on to state that, ``While our production at
this factory is extremely limited, we will ensure workers are
protected from any form of abuse and are treated fairly.''\36\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\33\ Hannah Gold, ``Workers Making Lululemon Clothes Say They're
Beaten and Harassed on the Job,'' The Cut, Oct. 17, 2019.
\34\ Sarah Marsh & Redwan Ahmed, ``Workers Making 88
Lululemon Leggings Claim They are Beaten,'' The Guardian, Oct. 14,
2019.
\35\ Id.
\36\ Hannah Gold, ``Workers Making Lululemon Clothes Say They're
Beaten and Harassed on the Job,'' The Cut, Oct. 17, 2019.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity conducted focus
groups and interviews in 2019 and found many examples of
gender-based violence in RMG factories, ranging from a line
chief touching a worker's breast while showing her how to
operate a machine, to another forcing a worker to lie down
under a table in his office and raping her.\37\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\37\ Email from International Labor Rights Forum Representative, to
Committee Staff, Nov. 19, 2019.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hafsa Begum, a 20-year-old garment worker, was finishing a
night shift at her factory job in Dhaka when her line manager
sexually assaulted her. ``I kicked and slapped him, but he
still managed to drag me into a dark alley next to the
factory,'' explains Begum.\38\ She said he forcefully kissed
and touched her, and he threatened to fire her if she did not
have sex with him. Begum sought the help of a local union
leader, and eventually her manager was fired. But speaking out
has its consequences. Begum's abuser was not criminally
prosecuted, and she had to leave her job with a negotiated
resignation compensation package. She lives in fear of reprisal
for exposing her abuser and seeking accountability.\39\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\38\ Jennifer Chowdhury, ``#MeToo Bangladesh: The Textile Workers
United against Harassment,'' The Guardian, Sept. 10, 2019.
\39\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
ActionAid UK, a chapter of the South Africa-based
international non-governmental organization ActionAid
International, published in 2019 a survey of 200 garment
factory workers in Dhaka, including 181 women, and found that
80 percent reported having experienced or witnessed sexual
harassment and abuse at work.\40\ According to Aruna Kashyap,
Senior Counsel at Human Rights Watch:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\40\ Sarah Young, ``Growing Number of Garment Factory Workers in
Bangladesh Subjected to Sexual Harassment and Violence, Action Aid UK
Finds,'' Independent, June 10, 2019; ActionAid, ``80% of garment
workers in Bangladesh have experienced or witnessed sexual violence and
harassment at work,'' June 10, 2019.
If garment workers didn't face retaliation for exposing
sexual harassment, many of them would be screaming
#MeToo at the top of their lungs. Their experiences are
part of the global crisis of workplace sexual
harassment, less visible in places like garment
factories, but no less important than the high-profile
cases involving Hollywood, the media, and political
figures.\41\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\41\ Human Rights Watch, Tackling Sexual Harassment in the Garment
Industry, (Dec 2017).
The combination of gender discrimination ingrained in
society, limited female representation in political life, and
the shaming of women who report sexual abuse hinders women from
seeking justice.\42\ Suffice to say, abuses in Bangladesh's RMG
factories are not simply ``isolated, negative practices.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\42\ Jennifer Chowdhury, ``#MeToo Bangladesh: The Textile Workers
United against Harassment,'' The Guardian, Sept. 10, 2019.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
At the forefront of the movement against sexual abuse and
assault of women in Bangladesh is labor activist Dolly Akhtar,
who was only 16 years old when she started working in garment
factories in Dhaka that supply Western brands. She accepted the
low wages and long hours, but did not expect the culture of
sexual abuse in RMG factories. ``When the line manager at the
very first factory I worked at tried to get me to sleep with
him, I was terrified,'' she said.\43\ She left this factory job
for another only to find herself in the same situation. Akhtar
started to work full-time as an organizer for the Sommilito
Garments Sramik Federation, one of Bangladesh's largest trade
organizations, spearheading efforts to fight sexual harassment,
assault, and exploitation in the country's garment
factories.\44\ Committee Staff spoke to Akhtar about her
experience in the Bangladesh RMG industry, and she made a plea
for vigilance:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\43\ Id.
\44\ Id.
This economy is developing constantly. A major
contributor is female workers, and these women workers
are harassed in public places as well, not just in
factories. So I request all concerned people in this
industry to treat these workers with dignity and
respect and that influential persons in [the] community
and society also do the same.\45\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\45\ Email from Solidarity Center Representative, to Committee
Staff, Feb. 21, 2020.
CULTURE OF IMPUNITY
There appears to be little political will to tackle the
pervasive culture of gender-based violence in RMG factories. If
there is no accountability, male perpetrators will continue to
prey on the female workers who report to them. Bangladesh's
Supreme Court issued guidelines against sexual harassment at
work in 2009, but ten years later, ineffective implementation
of the court order and lack of protection from retribution when
workers complain have rendered the ruling meaningless.\46\ The
United Nations should act quickly to investigate allegations of
abuse, particularly abuse of, and violence against, women in
RMG factories.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\46\ Mizanur Rahman, ``10 Years On, HC Guidelines against Sexual
Harassment Neglected,'' Dhaka Tribune, May 4, 2019.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In November 2017, Bangladesh's leading independent human
rights organization, Odhikar, reported that:
Women are becoming victims of such violence due to non-
implementation of laws, a prevailing culture of
impunity in the government, lack of victims and witness
protection, criminalization and corruption in the law
enforcement agencies, supremacy of socially and
politically influential persons, poor economic
conditions of women, weak administration, and also due
to lack of awareness in society. In most cases, victims
are not getting justice due to a prevailing culture of
impunity, which instigates more such crimes and
encourages potential perpetrators.\47\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\47\ Odhikar, Human Rights Monitoring Report November 1-30 2017, at
29 (Dec. 2017), http://odhikar.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/human-
rights-monitoring-report-November-2017--Eng.pdf.
CHAPTER TWO: WORKERS' RIGHTS
UNDER ATTACK
----------
Abusive treatment of workers is further exacerbated by a
growing repression of labor rights, including the right to
associate, organize, and collectively bargain. In a meeting
with Committee Staff, one garment worker asserted that respect
for labor rights is the worst it has been in Bangladesh's
history.\48\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\48\ Factory Worker, Interview with Committee Staff, Senate
Committee on Foreign Relations Staff Visit to Dhaka, Bangladesh, July
2019.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In December 2016, the government of Bangladesh and factory
owners initiated a severe crackdown on labor rights following a
largely peaceful protest by thousands of garment workers
calling for higher wages. At least 1,500 workers were
dismissed, 38 union leaders were arrested on baseless criminal
charges, and trade union offices were closed or came under
intense pressure from government authorities.\49\ Only after
Western brands sourcing from Bangladesh boycotted a high-
profile annual summit organized by the BGMEA did the
Bangladeshi government start releasing detained workers. In
February 2017, the government and the BGMEA reached an
agreement with the IndustriAll Bangladesh Council, an umbrella
body for many of the country's garment unions and a local
affiliate of the global union IndustriAll, to release those
remaining in prison, reinstate fired workers, and drop pending
criminal charges against the arrested workers and leaders.\50\
The brands' advocacy had a significant impact on government and
the BGMEA's decision to change course, but this proved to be
short-lived.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\49\ Clean Clothes Campaign, International Labor Rights Forum,
Maquila Solidarity Network & Worker Rights Consortium, Update on the
Labor Rights Crisis in Bangladesh (Apr. 21, 2017), https://
laborrights.org/publications/update-labor-rights-crisis-bangladesh.
\50\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Two years later, as part of the ongoing pressure on
workers' rights, RMG workers faced another crackdown. In
September 2018, the government announced a wage increase for
Bangladeshi garment workers to go into effect that December.
The new minimum wage was announced to be set at 8,000 taka
($95) a month, up from 5,300 taka ($63).\51\ However, this
increased wage primarily benefitted junior workers. Senior
workers received only a modest increase that failed to factor
in rising costs of living.\52\ The inadequate wage increase
sparked months-long protests and a government and factory
owner-led crackdown on Bangladeshi workers in retaliation to
the protests.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\51\ Marjorie van Elven, ``Bangladesh Raises Minimum Wage for
Garment Workers,'' Fashion United, Sept. 14, 2018.
\52\ Fair Labor Association, Minimum Wage Adjustments in Bangladesh
Stir Protests and Mass Worker Dismissals from Factories (Mar. 2019);
Factory Worker, Interview with Committee Staff, Senate Committee on
Foreign Relations Staff Visit to Dhaka, Bangladesh, July 2019.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
GOVERNMENT RESPONSE TO WORKER PROTESTS
Anger over the uneven and inadequate wage increase led to a
wave of wage-related strikes in December 2018 and January 2019
across the country. In January, police clashed with protestors
and used tear gas, water cannons, batons, and rubber bullets
against them, injuring dozens and killing one.\53\ On January
8, 2019, 22-year old Sumon Mia, a worker at Anlima Textile in
the Savar sub-district of Dhaka, was returning from lunch with
a colleague when they got caught in the protests. His colleague
told Human Rights Watch, ``Police started shooting and the
workers started running away, so Sumon and I started running
and suddenly Sumon was shot in his chest and he fell down. I
fled. Later I found Sumon's body lying in the road. The police
didn't even take his body.''\54\ Police reportedly raided
homes, shooting indiscriminately. One woman told Human Rights
Watch that she could hear the police coming towards her house
on a raid while shooting. She heard six rounds of firing; two
bullets hit her window and one hit her lower abdomen.\55\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\53\ ``Bangladesh Police, Garment Workers Clash in Protests,''
Associated Press, Jan. 9, 2019.
\54\ Sushmita S. Preetha, ``Post-mortem of a Worker's Death,'' The
Daily Star, Jan. 18, 2019.
\55\ ``Bangladesh: Investigate Dismissals of Protesting Workers,''
Human Rights Watch, Mar. 5, 2019, https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/03/05/
bangladesh-investigate-dismissals-protesting-workers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
According to the IndustriAll Bangladesh Council, an
estimated 11,600 workers were fired, forced to resign, or
jailed for participating in those strikes.\56\ Some factory
owners also sought to block union leaders and workers who
protested from finding a job elsewhere. In May 2019, lists with
names and photographs of terminated employees were posted at
some factories, leading to the blacklisting of at least 1,793
workers.\57\ Committee Staff met with some blacklisted garment
workers in Dhaka in July 2019 who indicated that they remained
unemployed. Workers shared anecdotes about themselves or other
workers who did not participate in the protests, but were still
dismissed and blacklisted.\58\ Ministry of Labour and
Employment officials told Committee Staff that the dismissals
and criminal cases were in response to vandalism and looting,
and claimed a lack of knowledge about workers and union leaders
being blacklisted for engaging in protests. They made this
claim despite widespread news coverage and reports made to the
Ministry and the BGMEA from trade union leaders contradicting
their claims.\59\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\56\ IndustriAll Global Union, ``Over 11,600 Bangladesh Garment
Workers Lose Jobs and Face Repression,'' Feb. 11, 2019, http://
www.industriall-union.org/over-11600-bangladesh-garment-workers-lose-
jobs-and-face-repression.
\57\ Email from U.S. Agency for International Development Official,
to Committee Staff, May 29, 2019.
\58\ Garment Workers, Interview with Committee Staff, Senate
Committee on Foreign Relations Staff Visit to Dhaka, Bangladesh, July
2019.
\59\ Ministry of Labour and Employment Official, Meeting with
Committee Staff, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Staff Visit to
Dhaka, Bangladesh, July 2019.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Garment workers and union leaders in Dhaka described to
Committee Staff a growing trend of factory owners filing
criminal charges, largely fabricated, against union members and
leaders.\60\ Human Rights Watch reported that 29 criminal cases
were filed against 551 named individuals and more than 3,000
unnamed people--meaning that the authorities could arbitrarily
fill those slots with the names of union leaders or workers
they deem to be troublemakers. In January and February 2019,
authorities arrested approximately 50 workers and denied bail
to 11 for several weeks.\61\ Despite the BGMEA's assurances
that member factory owners would drop the baseless charges
brought against workers, only 14 of 35 cases have been
dismissed to date, largely due to pressure on brands from
advocacy groups.\62\ Some of the U.S. brands buying from
factories that have filed trumped-up charges against workers
that demonstrated for higher wages include Abercrombie & Fitch,
American Eagle Outfitters, Gap, Kontoor Brands, VF Corporation,
and Walmart.\63\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\60\ Garment Workers, Interview with Committee Staff, Senate
Committee on Foreign Relations Staff Visit to Dhaka, Bangladesh, July
2019.
\61\ ``Bangladesh: Investigate Dismissals of Protesting Workers,''
Human Rights Watch, Mar. 5, 2019, https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/03/05/
bangladesh-investigate-dismissals-protesting-workers.
\62\ Email from Solidarity Center Representative, to Committee
Staff, Feb. 21, 2020.
\63\ Email from International Labor Rights Forum Representative, to
Committee Staff, February 26, 2020.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The BGMEA is an influential private trade association with
political clout in Bangladesh, representing the RMG sector in
Bangladesh.\64\ During the 2018-2019 wage protests, BGMEA
leadership said that only workers who vandalized factories
would lose their jobs, yet thousands of non-violent protestors
were reportedly fired.\65\ More than one year after the
protests, hundreds continue to be blacklisted over what factory
owners and managers insist are criminal charges.\66\ The BGMEA
is investigating member factories that terminated workers
during the unrest, but ultimately the responsibility to
investigate and prosecute credible allegations of crimes,
including abuse and labor rights violations should rest with
the government, not a private association of factory
owners.\67\ To date, no factory owners or managers have been
prosecuted for unfair labor practices.\68\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\64\ See Chapter Four.
\65\ Refayet Ullah Mirdha & Aklakur Rahman Akash, ``RMG Unrest: No
`Innocent' to be Sacked,'' Jan. 18, 2019, The Daily Star https://
www.thedailystar.net/business/no-innocent-rmg-worker-in-bangladesh-
will-be-terminated-bgmea-1688917; ``Bangladesh: Investigate Dismissals
of Protesting Workers,'' Human Rights Watch, Mar. 5, 2019, https://
www.hrw.org/news/2019/03/05/bangladesh-investigate-dismissals-
protesting-workers.
\66\ Chris Remington, ``Bangladeshi Workers Still Facing Repression
over Wage Protests,'' EcoTextile News, Jan. 15, 2020.
\67\ Bangladeshi Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association
(BGMEA), ``BGMEA Probes IBC Allegations of Worker Lay-offs by
Factory,'' (accessed Jan. 22, 2020), http://www.bgmea.com.bd/home/
activity/BGMEA--probes--IBC--allegations--of--worker--lay-off--by--
factories.
\68\ Email from Solidarity Center Representative, to Committee
Staff, Feb. 4, 2020.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The 2018-2019 wage protests came amid Bangladesh's
parliamentary elections, which were marred by irregularities,
attacks on the opposition, and intimidation of voters.\69\ The
protests represented a test for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina,
who responded by declaring an additional minimum wage increase
for senior level workers. Workers told Committee Staff that
they do not find the pay rates to be a living wage and worry
about making ends meet given high costs of living in Dhaka.\70\
Nonetheless, union leaders agreed to the deal. Bangladesh
Garment and Industrial Workers Federation President Babul Akter
explained, ``We had to accept it as the proposal came from our
prime minister. How can we dishonor it?''\71\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\69\ Sumit Ganguly, ``The World Should be Watching Bangladesh's
Election Debacle,'' Foreign Policy, Jan. 7, 2019.
\70\ Garment Workers, Interview with Committee Staff, Senate
Committee on Foreign Relations Staff Visit to Dhaka, Bangladesh, July
2019.
\71\ Ruma Paul, ``Bangladesh Garment Workers Stage Protests, Say
Pay Rise Insufficient,'' Reuters, Jan. 14, 2019.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Government security forces have reportedly intimidated and
arbitrarily detained workers at the behest of factory owners.
For example, union workers reported that during the 2018-2019
minimum wage protests, unionized workers at Tivoli Apparel Ltd.
factory, based in Dhaka, Bangladesh, refrained from engaging in
the protests.\72\ Vandalism occurred in neighboring factories,
so management closed the Tivoli factory for one day. Despite
constructive work by union leaders at this factory to establish
agreed-upon wages in a Memorandum of Understanding with
management, special police entered the homes of, and detained,
five union leaders the night after the agreement was signed on
January 12, 2019.\73\ The workers allege that they were
blindfolded and tortured into falsely confessing involvement in
vandalizing factories, criminally charged, and spent two weeks
in jail.\74\ The workers were eventually released on January
21, 2019, and the union negotiated with Tivoli management to
secure termination benefits for some of those leaders and
reinstatement for two of them. However, both union leaders
chose to receive severance instead of reinstatement, apparently
out of fear that management would retaliate against them again
in the future.\75\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\72\ Email from Solidarity Center Representative, to Committee
Staff, Oct. 4, 2019.
\73\ Id.
\74\ Id.
\75\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHALLENGES TO UNION REGISTRATION
Despite international support for the rights of Bangladeshi
unions to organize and register, and renewed energy and courage
on the part of labor organizers, the challenges to union
registration in Bangladesh remain considerable.
Widespread distrust remains between employers and trade
unions, and negative attitudes toward unions pose barriers to
both the formation of new unions and to existing independent
unions. The revisions to the Bangladesh Labour (Amendment) Act
in 2013 led to an initial strong growth in the number of RMG
trade unions, however, that trend did not continue.\76\ The
U.S. State Department reported that after a sharp increase in
trade union applications in 2014, there has been a decline
every year since.\77\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\76\ European Commission, Implementation of the Bangladesh Compact:
Technical Status Report, at 15 (Sept. 2018), https://
trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2018/september/tradoc--157426.pdf.
\77\ U.S. Department of State, Report to Congress on the Government
of Bangladesh's Support for Human Rights; Protection of Freedom of
Expression, Association, and Religion, and Due Process of Law; and
Ensuring a Free, Fair, and Participatory Elections, Jan. 1, 2020.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In addition, the union registration process remains
cumbersome. Union leaders consistently expressed concern to
Committee Staff about the bureaucratic hurdles to registering
independent unions.\78\ The Bangladeshi government currently
rejects a high number of union applications.\79\ The European
Commission found a need to protect the Bangladeshi trade union
registration process from arbitrary rejections.\80\ When
discussing this topic, a senior Bangladeshi government official
admitted to Committee Staff that corruption and bribery are
serious problems.\81\ According to International Labour
Organization (ILO) member states, the Ministry of Labour
received 1,031 union registration applications between 2010 and
2018 and denied 46 percent of the applications.\82\ The
Ministry of Labour and Employment reported that the country had
596 unions in the garment sector; this figure includes 574 new
unions in the garment sector since 2013.\83\ The Solidarity
Center and trade union federation representatives assess that
the Bangladesh Ministry of Labour officials managing the
registration process have too much discretion.\84\ The ILO
Committee of Experts also found that the government rejects
applications for registration at a high rate, and that ``a
substantial proportion of rejections come without
explanation.''\85\ They request that the government ensures
that registration is ``a simple, objective, and transparent
process, which does not restrict the right of workers to
establish organizations without previous authorization.''\86\
In many cases, ministry employees or officials reject
applications for union registration due to minor mistakes such
as misspelled member names. Once those mistakes are corrected,
they may identify additional arbitrary reasons to reject
applications.\87\ The U.S. State Department reports that
``registration applications are often rejected or challenged
for erroneous or extrajudicial reasons,'' and ``prospective
unions continued to report rejections based on reasons not
listed in the labor law.''\88\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\78\ Garment Workers, Interview with Committee Staff, Senate
Committee on Foreign Relations Staff Visit to Dhaka, Bangladesh, July
2019.
\79\ European Commission, Implementation of the Bangladesh Compact:
Technical Status Report, at 3 (Sept. 2018), https://trade.ec.europa.eu/
doclib/docs/2018/september/tradoc--157426.pdf.
\80\ Id.
\81\ Bangladeshi Government Official, Interview with Committee
Staff, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Staff Visit to Dhaka,
Bangladesh, July 2019.
\82\ ``ILO members states to propose inquiry commission against
Bangladesh,'' NewAgeBD, Aug. 26, 2019.
\83\ U.S. Department of State, Report to Congress on the Government
of Bangladesh's Support for Human Rights; Protection of Freedom of
Expression, Association, and Religion, and Due Process of Law; and
Ensuring a Free, Fair, and Participatory Elections, Jan. 1, 2020.
\84\ Trade Union Leaders, Interview with Committee Staff, Senate
Committee on Foreign Relations Staff Visit to Dhaka, Bangladesh, July
2019.
\85\ International Labor Organization, Observation (CEACR)-adopted
2017, published 10th ILC Session (2018), https://www.ilo.org/dyn/
normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:13100:0::NO:13100:-P13100--COMMENT--
ID:3343756:NO (last visited Feb. 21, 2020).
\86\ Id.
\87\ Solidarity Center Representative, Interview with Committee
Staff, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Staff Visit to Dhaka,
Bangladesh, July 2019.
\88\ U.S. Department of State, Report to Congress on the Government
of Bangladesh's Support for Human Rights; Protection of Freedom of
Expression, Association, and Religion, and Due Process of Law; and
Ensuring a Free, Fair, and Participatory Elections, Jan. 1, 2020.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
A common talking point from government officials, the
BGMEA, and factory owners in Bangladesh is that ``factory
owners like to have unions'' because it keeps everyone
accountable and the workers happy.\89\ However, the Accord's
Rob Wayss said that ``they seem more to like to have a union if
it is a union that is agreeable to management positions and if
it does not raise disputes, disagreements, and alleged
violations with the brands, global unions, and labor rights
support organizations.''\90\ Local union leaders referred to
these type of unions as ``yellow unions.'' They are set up by
factory owners with the goal of preventing the registration of
genuine trade unions. This practice has resulted in authorities
rejecting the registration application of independent union
leaders because another union already exists--the ``yellow''
one. After the 2018-2019 protests, ``yellow union'' members
approached independent union leaders and pressured them to sign
documents to accept responsibility for protests and damages to
factories in exchange for back wages, essentially attempting to
coerce workers to admit guilt even if they had not engaged in
vandalism.\91\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\89\ Email from Rob Wayss, Executive Director, Accord on Fire and
Building Safety in Bangladesh, to Committee Staff, Jan. 27, 2020.
\90\ Id.
\91\ ``Bangladesh: Investigate Dismissals of Protesting Workers,''
Human Rights Watch, Mar. 5, 2019, https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/03/05/
bangladesh-investigate-dismissals-protesting-workers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trade unions face harassment, intimidation, and other
obstacles when seeking to register and, once registered, when
trying to organize. Employer retaliation against workers who
file union registration papers is common. Rita Akhter, a labor
activist and garment worker at the Korean-owned Chunji Knit
Ltd. factory, was physically attacked when trying to form a
union, which had a chilling effect on other workers' efforts to
form unions in that area. She noted, ``The workers say to us,
even you organizers were beaten up by the factory management--
so how can you protect us, what will be our fate if we join
you?''\92\ The government needs to pursue genuine efforts to
combat anti-union activity and unfair labor practices. The
overall environment of impunity remains a significant concern
for Bangladesh's workers, as the government of Bangladesh has
been slow to adjudicate unfair labor practices cases. While the
government of Bangladesh highlights that a number of cases of
unfair labor practices, including cases of unfair termination
of employment, have been referred to the courts in recent
years, they are unable to point to a single successful
prosecution.\93\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\92\ Human Rights Watch, Whoever Raises Their Head Suffers the
Most, at 50 (Apr. 2015). http://features.hrw.org/features/HRW--2015--
reports/Bangladesh--Garment--Factories/index.html
\93\ Email from U.S. Government Official, to Committee Staff, Feb.
20, 2020.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Labor activist Kalpona Akter asserts that forming unions is
a right that exists on paper in Bangladesh's constitution and
laws, as well as in the ILO Convention on Right to Organise and
Collective Bargaining, which Bangladesh has ratified; however,
``the factory owners are so reluctant toward the unions.. . .
Whenever [workers] join with unions, they will face threats,
they get fired . . .and sometimes even forced [sic] to leave
their community. And the same happens when workers raise their
voices against the poverty wages they've been getting.''\94\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\94\ Michelle Chen, ``6 Years after the Rana Plaza Collapse, are
Government Workers Any Safer?'' The Nation, July 15, 2019.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The ILO Governing Body of the International Labour Office,
which includes governments, has the option to establish a
``Commission of Inquiry'' (COI) to examine complaints against
member States for not complying with ratified conventions.\95\
In June 2019, union delegates sought a COI against the
government of Bangladesh given complaints that the government
violated ILO conventions on labor inspection, freedom of
association, right to organize, and collective bargaining.\96\
The ILO decided to put this item on the agenda of the 338th
Session of the Governing Body slated to convene in March 2020,
at which point it will vote whether to establish a COI.\97\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\95\ International Labour Organization, Complaints, https://
www.ilo.org/global/standards/applying-and-promoting-international-
labour-standards/complaints/lang--en/index.htm (last visited [Jan. 23,
2020]).
\96\ ``ILO Members States to Propose Inquiry Commission against
Bangladesh,'' NewAge Business, Aug. 26, 2019 (last accessed Jan. 24,
2020).
\97\ International Labour Office, ``First Report: Complaint
oncerning non-observance by Bangladesh of the Labour Inspection
Convention, 1947 (No. 81), the Freedom of Association and Protection of
the Right to Organise Convention, 1949 (No. 98), made under Article 26
of the ILO Constitution by several delegates to the 108th Session
(2019) of the International Labour Conference,'' Oct. 29, 2019; ``ILO
Members States to Propose Inquiry Commission against Bangladesh,''
NewAge Business, Aug. 26, 2019 (last accessed Jan. 24, 2020).
CHAPTER THREE: FACTORY SAFETY
HAS IMPROVED
----------
Bangladesh provides an ideal combination of cheap labor and
quick turnaround for fast-fashion manufacturers that produce
inexpensive clothing rapidly in response to the latest trends.
For years, Bangladesh worked to facilitate the sector's growth
with little concern for factory conditions and labor rights. As
the sector's growth exploded, more and more garment factories
sprouted up in apartment buildings and multi-use structures
that were not designed or built to safely handle large numbers
of workers and machines. While building safety standards
existed on paper, the government of Bangladesh lacked the
capacity and political will to enforce them.
The tragedies of Rana Plaza and Tazreen Fashions served as
a much-needed wakeup call to the government of Bangladesh that
safety must be prioritized. What has the government of
Bangladesh done thus far to make its RMG factories safer? The
short answer is not enough. The RMG sector in Bangladesh has
fueled the country's economy for three decades, growing from
$12,000 in exports in 1978 to annual sales now exceeding $28
billion.\98\ The sector generates 80 percent of the country's
export revenue.\99\ Bangladesh is the world's second largest
garment exporter, and the industry employs nearly four million
people.\100\ The country has more than halved the percentage of
people living under the $1.90 poverty line since 1991.\101\
Bangladesh's great strides in reducing poverty can largely be
attributed to its increase in labor earnings due to the
expansion in RMG sector employment.\102\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\98\ Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Majority Staff, Worker
Safety and Labor Rights in Bangladesh's Garment Sector, at 3, Nov. 22,
2013; Paul Barrett et al., Five Years after Rana Plaza: The Way
Forward, NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, at 6 (Apr.
2018).
\99\ Paul Barrett et al., Five Years after Rana Plaza, at 7.
\100\ Mostafiz Uddin, ``RMG Industry as the Major Employment
Sector,'' The Daily Star, Feb. 17, 2019.
\101\ ``Creating Jobs and Diversifying Exports in Bangladesh,''
World Bank, Nov. 14, 2017, https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/
2017/11/14/creating-jobs-and-diversifying-exports-in-bangladesh.
\102\ United Nations Development Program, Bangladesh Quarterly
Development Update, at 11 (Oct-Dec 2017).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Rana Plaza tragedy led the government of Bangladesh to
make a series of labor rights commitments to the international
community and in its 2013 National Tripartite Plan of Action on
Fire Safety and Structural Integrity (NTPA).\103\ The NTPA
lists 25 action items in three areas--policy and legislation,
administration, and practical activities--that were to be
implemented between June 2013 and December 2014.\104\ The NTPA
called for the submission of a labor law reform package and
amendment of the national labor law, recruitment of more safety
inspectors, creation of a factory information database, and
establishment of a worker safety hotline. The chart below
details the NTPA's full list of commitments: \105\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\103\ Government of Bangladesh, The National Tripartite Plan of
Action on Fire Safety and Structural Integrity (July 2013).
\104\ Mohd Raisul Islam Khan & Christa Wichterich, Safety and Labor
Conditions: The Accord and the National Tripartite Plan of Action for
the Garment Industry of Bangladesh, Global Labor University, at 20
(Sept. 2015).
\105\ Id. at 20-21.; International Labour Organization, ``National
Tripartite Plan of Action on Fire Safety and Structural Integrity in
the Garment Sector of Bangladesh (NTPA), (last accessed February 26,
2020).
GOVERNMENT OF BANGLADESH'S 2013 LABOR COMMITMENTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Activities
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Legislation and Policy Submission of a labour law reform
package and the amendment of the
Bangladesh Labour Law 2006
----------------------------------------
Adoption of a National Occupational
Safety and Health Policy
----------------------------------------
Review and adjustment of laws, rules
and regulations related to fire,
building, electrical and chemical
safety
----------------------------------------
Establishment of a taskforce of the
cabinet committee on building and fire
safety
========================================================================
Administration Recruitment of 200 additional labour
inspectors to the Department of
Inspection for Factories and
Establishments (DIFE)
----------------------------------------
Upgrading of the Institution of
Inspection for Factories and
Establishments from a Directorate to a
Department
----------------------------------------
Implementation of MoLE project
``Modernization and Strengthening the
Department of Inspection for Factories
and Establishments''
----------------------------------------
Review and adjustment of factory
licensing and certification procedures
concerning fire, structural,
environmental, chemical and electrical
safety
----------------------------------------
Consideration of the establishment of a
one-stop shop for fire safety
certification and licensing
----------------------------------------
Development and introduction of a
unified fire safety checklist to be
used by all relevant authorities
========================================================================
Practical Activities Inspection and assessment of factory-
level fire and electrical safety needs
----------------------------------------
Development and implementation of a
factory fire improvement programme
based upon the fire safety needs
assessment
----------------------------------------
Inspection and assessment of structural
integrity of all active RMG industries
----------------------------------------
Development of an accountable and
transparent industry subcontracting
system
----------------------------------------
Delivery of a fire safety ``crash
course'' for mid-level factory
management and supervisors
----------------------------------------
Development and delivery of specific
training on fire safety for union
leaders
----------------------------------------
Development and delivery of a mass
worker education tool to raise
awareness regarding fire safety, OSH
risks and prevention
----------------------------------------
Establishment of a fire safety hotline
for workers through the Department of
Fire Service and Civil Defence (FSCD)
----------------------------------------
Development and delivery of specific
training on fire safety and structural
integrity for factory inspectors
----------------------------------------
Strengthening of the capacity of Fire
Service and Civil Defence
----------------------------------------
Development of guidelines for the
establishment of a labour-management
committee on OSH
----------------------------------------
Development and dissemination of fire
safety self-assessment and remediation
tools
----------------------------------------
Development of a tripartite protocol
for death and injury compensation for
workers
----------------------------------------
Establishment of a publicly accessible
database on OSH issues in RMG
factories
----------------------------------------
Political Activities Redeployment of the RMG workers who
lost jobs as a result of occupational
accidents, rehabilitation of disabled
workers
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Official website, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government
of Bangladesh
The government's implementation of NTPA is incomplete.\106\
The following examples illustrate some areas where the
government of Bangladesh has failed to fully implement its
commitments as outlined in its action plan. The government
committed to ``upgrade'' a national body responsible for
inspections of structural integrity, fire, and electrical
safety in factories, known as the Department of Inspection for
Factories and Establishments (DIFE) under the Ministry of
Labour and Employment.\107\ The government has taken steps to
build DIFE's capacity, including by increasing its annual
budget from $900 thousand in 2013 and 2014 to $4.93 million in
FY 2016 to 2017.\108\ DIFE also launched an online system in
March 2018 that compiles and makes accessible to the public
labor inspection data, including information on factory license
applications.\109\ However, there is ongoing concern about
DIFE's commitment and capacity to inspect RMG factories. The
European Union Sustainability Compact's 2018 report concluded
that DIFE was still not fully operational and that it had
filled only 312 of the authorized 575 safety inspector
positions as of March 2018. The report also concluded that the
information on the DIFE website needed to be updated regularly
and some of the information was outdated.\110\ As of February
2020, the DIFE website's latest data appears to be from May
2018.\111\ According to DIFE, it has inspected 1,549 RMG
factories.\112\ While the Accord and the Alliance were jointly
responsible for improving safety at approximately 2,300 RMG
factories, the government reportedly has responsibility for
safety in 745 RMG factories.\113\ Thus, it is unclear what
constitutes DIFE's data given the number of factories for which
the government is responsible falls below 1,000. The website
also shows that as of 2018, only 107 of 809 factories under the
government's responsibility have been fully remediated.\114\ As
of March 2018, the website indicates 422 factories remediated
more than 50% and 111 factories remediated more than 80% of the
safety compliance issues identified in their corrective action
plans.\115\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\106\ U.S. Government Official, Call with Committee Staff, Aug. 28,
2019.
\107\ European Commission, Implementation of the Bangladesh
Compact: Technical Status Report, at 19 (Sept. 2018).
\108\ Id. at 20.
\109\ Id.
\110\ Id. at 22.
\111\ Bangladesh Ministry of Labor and Employment, Department of
Inspection for Factories and Establishments, http://
database.dife.gov.bd/ (last visited Feb. 11, 2020). Notably, as of
February 25, 2020, the website was not functioning.
\112\ Id.
\113\ Clean Clothes Campaign, International Labor Rights Forum,
Maquila Solidarity Network & Worker Rights Consortium, Bangladesh
Government's Safety Inspection Agencies Not Ready to Take Over Accord's
Work, at 1 (Apr. 2019), https://laborrights.org/sites/default/files/
publications/RCC%20report%204-1--3.pdf; Bangladesh Ministry of Labour
and Employment, Department of Inspection for Factories and
Establishments.
\114\ Bangladesh Ministry of Labour and Employment, Department of
Inspection for Factories and Establishments.
\115\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
DIFE's online database also has a ``Complaint Box'' that
allows workers or employers to submit complaints about
workplace issues. Unfortunately, this complaints mechanism does
not guarantee anonymity.\116\ This shortcoming could explain
why the government of Bangladesh reportedly received only 18
complaints through the DIFE complaints mechanism between 2013
and April 2019, whereas the Accord's anonymous reporting
mechanism received 1,152 complaints during that same
period.\117\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\116\ Clean Clothes Campaign, International Labor Rights Forum,
Maquila Solidarity Network & Worker Rights Consortium, Bangladesh
Government's Safety Inspection Agencies Not Ready to Take Over Accord's
Work, at 1 (Apr. 2019).
\117\ By comparison, the Accord's complaint mechanism provides
workers a tool to anonymously submit safety and health complaints at
Accord-covered RMG factories; ensures that workers are able to exercise
their right to refuse dangerous work; protects workers from
retaliation; and provides retailers with knowledge of factory-level
issues that would otherwise go undetected and unreported. The Accord
ensures the concerns are properly addressed and remediated. Clean
Clothes Campaign, International Labor Rights Forum, Maquila Solidarity
Network & Worker Rights Consortium, Bangladesh Government's Safety
Inspection Agencies Not Ready to Take Over Accord's Work, at 1 (Apr.
2019).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
As part of the NTPA, the government of Bangladesh also
committed to labor law reforms. In July 2013, the government
adopted amendments to the 2006 Bangladesh Labour Act (BLA) to
improve occupational health and safety conditions and to boost
workers' rights, but the latter still falls short of
international labor standards.\118\ In September 2018, the
government lowered the membership threshold requirements for
trade union registration from 30 to 20 percent of the total
members of the factory workforce.\119\ The 2018 European
Commission report on Bangladesh labor called for legislative
changes to the BLA and its implementing rules--particularly
with respect to lowering the membership threshold requirements
for unionization--to bring Bangladesh in line with
international labor standards. It recognized the reduction ``to
form a union [from 30 percent] to 20 percent of the workforce
[as] an important first step which needs to be fully applied in
practice,'' but that the threshold ``should be further lowered
to comply with international labor standards.''\120\ Labor
rights advocates, including Solidarity Center, assert the
threshold is still too high as compared to other
countries.\121\ While the ILO Convention does not specify a
number for minimum membership in a trade union for
registration, it asserts that these requirements be
``realistically attainable in all relevant circumstances.
However, minimum membership requirements must not act as a
deterrent to the establishment of organizations in
practice.''\122\ Although Bangladesh has adopted standard
operating procedures for trade union registration, government
officials have broad discretion to decide on union registration
applications.\123\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\118\ European Commission, Implementation of the Bangladesh
Compact: Technical Status Report, at 7 (Sept. 2018), https://
trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2018/september/tradoc--157426.pdf.
\119\ ``Government Cuts Requirement for Trade Union Registration,''
BDNews24, Sept. 3, 2018.
\120\ European Commission, Implementation of the Bangladesh
Compact: Technical Status Report, at 8 (Sept. 2018).
\121\ Solidarity Center Representatives, Interview with Committee
Staff, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Staff Visit to Dhaka,
Bangladesh, July 2019.
\122\ The International Labour Organization, Substantive Provisions
of Labor Legislation: Freedom Association, https://www.ilo.org/legacy/
english/dialogue/ifpdial/llg/noframes/ch2.htm#18.
\123\ European Commission, Implementation of the Bangladesh
Compact: Technical Status Report, at 7; Solidarity Center
Representative, Interview with Committee Staff, Senate Committee on
Foreign Relations Staff Visit to Dhaka, Bangladesh, July 2019.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
As the second of two international initiatives comes to an
end, responsibility for factory monitoring and remediation will
shift to the new RMG Sustainability Council and the government.
International labor rights experts question the government's
capacity and ability to ensure safety conditions in RMG
factories under its purview moving forward. Concrete progress
made by the international initiatives could all be undone if
the focus on compliance is not maintained.\124\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\124\ Email from U.S. Department of State Official, to Committee
Staff, Aug. 8, 2019.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
SUBCONTRACTING
An often overlooked element of Bangladesh's garment
industry is a two layer system whereby larger export-oriented
factories subcontract garment production to smaller factories
that operate in the shadows. Given short turnaround times and
slim profit margins described earlier in the report,
subcontracting factories play a critical role in helping the
large factories maintain low production costs and manage the
ebb and flow of orders. Factories that do subcontracting work
generally do not have direct relationships with large Western
buyers.\125\ As a result, unauthorized subcontracted factories
could be the most dangerous for workers' safety. Tazreen
Fashions factory made clothes for Walmart as a subcontractor,
although Walmart argues it did not authorize the factory to do
this work, emphasizing the point that lack of oversight of
these facilities poses a serious danger to safety of
workers.\126\ As noted earlier in the report, the deadly fire
at Tazreen Fashions in November 2012 resulted in 112 deaths and
more than 200 injuries.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\125\ Paul Barrett et al., Five Years after Rana Plaza, at 2.
\126\ Id. at 9.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Associate Director of the Center for Business and Human
Rights, April Gu, argues that Western brands turn a blind eye
to subcontracting. ``It's an open secret. I mean, at one
subcontracting factory we visited, there was a quality control
inspector on the floor, from the Accord-covered supplier.
Brands know that's going on; they know there's this two-tier
system that's developed . . . the fast-fashion business model
relies on it, because the supply chain has to be flexible
enough to accommodate large orders that come in at the last
minute.''\127\ There appears to be no consensus on the number
of subcontracting factories in Bangladesh. The government has
not done a census on the industry.\128\ In May 2019, the
government issued guidelines requiring subcontractor factories
to have membership in the industry associations (i.e. BGMEA and
Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association),
minimum wage for workers at subcontracting factories, and
government approval of factory structural designs.\129\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\127\ Maya Singer, ``Until Western Brands Take a Stand, the Lives
of Bangladeshi Garment Workers are at Risk,'' Vogue, Dec. 4, 2018.
\128\ Paul Barrett et al., Five Years after Rana Plaza, at 7.
\129\ ``BGMEA, BKMEA Membership Must for Garment Subcontracting
Factories,'' NewAge Business, July 2, 2019.
CHAPTER FOUR: THE KEY ACTORS SHAPING FACTORY SAFETY AND LABOR RIGHTS IN
BANGLADESH
----------
Safety in some of Bangladesh's RMG factories has improved
due to unprecedented work and collaboration among international
labor advocates, industry leaders, the brands, and the
government of Bangladesh. The U.S. government and the European
Union applied diplomatic and economic pressure towards
improvements in factory safety and to a lesser extent, labor
rights. Meanwhile, amid a competitive global RMG market,
consumers are increasingly becoming aware of the conditions
under which their clothes are made. The contributions of these
stakeholders in shaping the Bangladesh RMG landscape are
discussed in detail in this chapter.
THE INTERNATIONAL SAFETY INITIATIVES:
THE ACCORD AND THE ALLIANCE
Shortly after the Rana Plaza collapse, well-known European
retailers--such as Inditex, which is the Spanish parent company
of Mango and Zara, Sweden-based H&M, and the British retail
chain Tesco--formed the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in
Bangladesh. In addition, the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker
Safety was established, representing companies like Walmart
Inc., Target Corporation, and The Gap, Inc. Their member brands
agreed to inspect supplying factories and committed to cut off
any suppliers that failed to meet safety standards set by them.
The European-led Accord included 220 brands, and the North
American-led Alliance included 29 brands.\130\ The Accord's
steering committee included representatives of major
international unions and two Bangladeshi labor
federations.\131\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\130\ Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, ``Alliance Cites
Progress Toward a Collective Agreement on Worker Safety,'' Apr. 11,
2018, http://www.bangladeshworkersafety.org/en/476-progress-toward-
collective-agreement (last visited Jan. 27, 2020).
\131\ Paul Barrett et al., Five Years after Rana Plaza, at 11.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The initiatives have been a groundbreaking beacon of hope
for Bangladeshi garment workers and have set an international
standard for how agreements among brands, suppliers, unions and
workers should be designed and implemented. They produced the
first legally binding and comprehensive set of standards for
fire and building safety measures that mandated inspection,
remediation, and ongoing monitoring of the workplaces. The
strength of the Accord, in particular, rested on enforcement
mechanisms under which hundreds of multinational labels, like
H&M, Esprit, and American Eagle, ``were formally liable for the
safety conditions of their supplier factories.''\132\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\132\ Michelle Chen, ``6 Years after the Rana Plaza Collapse, Are
Government Workers Any Safer?'' The Nation, July 15, 2019.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE EUROPEAN-LED ACCORD'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS
In February 2014, the Accord initiated its fire,
electrical, and inspection program across more than 2,000 RMG
factories producing for its factory signatories. Five years
later, 85 percent of the safety hazards identified during
initial inspections across all Accord factories had been fixed;
150 Accord factories have fully remediated their factories and
857 factories have completed more than 90 percent of
remediation requirements.\133\ The Accord also reports
significant progress on what it calls common safety issues. For
instance, 97 percent of its factories removed the lockable or
collapsible gates found onsite during initial safety
inspections, allowing for egress from a building in case of a
fire or other emergency.\134\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\133\ Accord Bangladesh, ``Achievements 2013 Accord,'' July 20,
2018, https://bangladeshaccord.org/updates/2018/07/20/achievements-
2013-accord.
\134\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Workers at Accord-covered factories can anonymously submit
complaints on a range of topics--including structural safety,
forced overtime, denial of sick leave or maternity benefits,
and violence and harassment, including gender-based violence
and unfair termination. The Accord takes action by contacting
factory owners to rectify the problem and investigating the
complaint.\135\ If a factory owner refuses to address the
issue, the Accord informs the retailers sourcing from that
factory and terminates the business relationship between the
brand and all of the factory owner's facilities.\136\ The
Accord indicated to Committee Staff that most workers' issues
get resolved, and often by workers agreeing to separation from
work with payment.\137\ The Accord's website reports that as of
February 25, 2020, 175 factories have been made ineligible for
business with Accord member buyers for failure to implement
workplace safety measures.\138\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\135\ Rob Wayss, Executive Director, Accord on Fire and Building
Safety in Bangladesh, Interview with Committee Staff, Senate Committee
on Foreign Relations Staff Visit to Dhaka, Bangladesh, July 2019.
\136\ Elena Arengo et al., Calling for Remedy: The Bangladesh
Accord Complaint Mechanism has Saved Lives and Stopped Retaliation
across Hundreds of Factories, International Labor Rights Forum, at 10
(May 2019).
\137\ Rob Wayss, Executive Director, Accord on Fire and Building
Safety in Bangladesh, Interview with Committee Staff, Senate Committee
on Foreign Relations Staff Visit to Dhaka, Bangladesh, July 2019.
\138\ Accord Bangladesh, https://bangladeshaccord.org/factories
(last visited Jan. 27, 2020).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE AMERICAN-LED ALLIANCE'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS
A parallel international initiative, the Alliance for
Bangladesh Worker Safety, was formed by North American brands.
Its mandate concluded in December 2018, and its final report
shows that over the last five years, the initiative inspected
714 factories, and completed 93 percent of remediation at its
factories. The Alliance estimated that its 24-hour confidential
worker hotline reached more than 1.5 million workers.\139\ The
report notes that to date, the Alliance has suspended 178
factories for failing to make adequate remediation
progress.\140\ The Alliance's final report notes that ``nearly
1.6 million workers have been trained to protect themselves in
case of a fire emergency, and the Alliance . . . developed
local training partners to expand the training beyond Alliance-
affiliated factories [and] 181 worker safety committees have
been formed, giving workers a seat at the table with management
in resolving safety issues within their factories.''\141\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\139\ ``Alliance Announces End of Its Tenure,'' New Age Business,
Dec. 14, 2018.
\140\ Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, An Industry
Transformed: Leaving a Legacy of Safety in Bangladesh's Garment Sector,
(Nov. 2018), http://www.bangladeshworkersafety.org/files/
Alliance%20Fifth%20Annual%20Report%202018.pdf.
\141\ Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, ``Alliance Fifth
Annual Report 2018,'' Dec. 11, 2018.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE SUCCESSOR TO THE AMERICAN-LED ALLIANCE, NIRAPON
When the Alliance shut down its operations in 2018, several
former Alliance members launched a new self-regulating platform
known as Nirapon (which roughly translates as `safe place' in
Bangla). Nirapon is responsible for overseeing safety
inspection, remediation, and training efforts at the 600 member
factories from which its members source.\142\ Nirapon's member
brands include Abercrombie & Fitch, The Gap, Carter's, Costco
Wholesale, J.C. Penney, Nordstrom, Macy's, The Children's
Place, Walmart, Target, and Kohl's.\143\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\142\ ``Factory Safety: Nirapon Comes in Place of Alliance,'' The
Daily Star, Apr. 30, 2019.
\143\ Nirapon, Membership, https://www.nirapon.org/membership/
(last visited Jan. 27, 2020).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
While noting that Nirapon will build on the achievements of
the Alliance, Nirapon CEO Moushumi Khan made clear that ``the
Nirapon model is fundamentally different.''\144\ The Alliance
worked directly with factories on factory remediation;
Nirapon's model is to conduct independent oversight and
verification of safety and training compliance and will not
suspend factories. Also, it will not publicly share safety
compliance issues, and will keep this information private with
its members.\145\ The lack of transparency in the Nirapon model
will make it harder for local and international labor advocates
to hold brands and suppliers accountable for unsafe factories.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\144\ ``Factory Safety: Nirapon Comes in Place of Alliance,'' The
Daily Star, Apr. 30, 2019.
\145\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The BGMEA has reportedly sought to incorporate Nirapon into
the RMG Sustainability Council structure; however, Nirapon has
not agreed, to date, to be a part of the organization.\146\ On
October 22, 2019, after a factory owner sought a petition
against Nirapon, the courts barred Nirapon from conducting any
safety monitoring visits in factories for six months. The
courts also asked Nirapon to justify why it should not be
ordered to join the RMG Sustainability Council.\147\ Nirapon
appealed the case; however, in December 2019, the courts upheld
the earlier decision to impose the six month ban.\148\ Some
observers view the court case against Nirapon as a possible
pressure campaign by BGMEA.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\146\ Representative of Nirapon, Meeting with Committee Staff, Nov.
22, 2019.
\147\ ``High Court Imposes Ban on Nirapon for 6 Months,'' New Age
Business, Oct. 23, 2019.
\148\ Simon Glover, ``Nirapon loses appeal against High Court
ban,'' Ecotextile News, Dec. 3, 2019.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE BANGLADESH GARMENT MANUFACTURERS AND
EXPORTERS ASSOCIATION (BGMEA)
The BGMEA is a national trade association of garment
manufacturers that wields extraordinary power and political
influence in the country. While the law does not give the BGMEA
the authority to serve a regulatory function, in practice the
BGMEA exerts regulatory authority in certain areas. For
example, the government entrusts the BGMEA with issuing a
utilization declaration to factories, which is essentially a
license required to export materials. The BGMEA also takes part
in bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations.\149\ Its
members are important drivers of the national economy; in
addition to their ownership of garment factories, a number of
them are Members of Parliament, and owners of television
stations and newspapers, and other commercial enterprises.\150\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\149\ BGMEA, ``BGMEA's Activities,'' Sept. 3, 2019, http://
www.bgmea.com.bd/home/about/BGMEASACTIVITIES.
\150\ Jim Yardley, ``Garment Trade Wields Power in Bangladesh,''
The New York Times, July 24, 2013.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The BGMEA has a clear incentive to ensure building safety
to avoid attracting negative international attention to the RMG
industry again. While the garment industry has turned
Bangladesh into the second largest exporter of RMG in the
world, trailing only China, there are other countries--such as
Vietnam--that are strong contenders for the number two
spot.\151\ The RMG sector produced over 80 percent of
Bangladesh's exports and contributed to 11.1 percent of the GDP
in fiscal year 2017-2018.\152\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\151\ Ibrahim Hossain Ovi, ``RMG Global Market Share, Bangladesh
Loses as Vietnam Gains,'' Dhaka Tribune, Aug. 4, 2019.
\152\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Current BGMEA President Rubana Huq was elected in April
2019. She is the managing director of Mohammadi Group, a
conglomerate that owns multiple factories supplying brands like
H&M and Primark.\153\ Huq made it an early priority of her
presidency to work with the government of Bangladesh, global
brands, and the Accord to establish the Ready-Made Garment
Sustainability Council, a new locally-led safety initiative
that will take over the Accord's operations. Huq stated during
her election speech that Bangladesh's RMG industry's failure to
create its own regulatory body was a huge mistake, and that in
her new capacity she intended to create a regulatory agency to
supervise and monitor the industry.\154\ Huq has reached that
goal with the creation of the RMG Sustainability Council.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\153\ Anuradha Nagaraj, ``First Female Boss Vows to Shake up
Bangladesh's Fashion Factories,'' Reuters, Apr. 9, 2019.
\154\ Satarupa Barua, ``First Female President of Bangladesh
Garment Group Eyes Advances,'' Voice of America, May 21, 2019.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE RMG SUSTAINABILITY COUNCIL
In April 2018, the Bangladeshi High Court ruled the
government could not extend the Accord's tenure following a
writ petition filed by a supplier accusing the Accord of
wrongdoing.\155\ Labor activists believe the courts pursued
action against the Accord under pressure from the BGMEA.\156\
In May 2018, the High Court in Bangladesh ordered the Accord to
cease operations.\157\ The Accord appealed this decision, and
the Supreme Court eventually held a hearing on the matter one
year later in May 2019.\158\ Before the hearing date, the
Accord and the BGMEA developed a transition plan that they
submitted to the court. The court decided the Accord could
continue operations for approximately 281 days in order to
transition to a new safety entity called the RMG Sustainability
Council.\159\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\155\ The writ asserted that the Accord acted improperly after its
inspectors found the remediation at the owners' factories insufficient
and Accord retailers broke their relationship with the supplier.
Refayet Ullah Mirdha, ``Accord's Extension Runs into Trouble,'' The
Daily Star, May 17, 2018.
\156\ Union leaders, Interview with Committee Staff, Senate
Committee on Foreign Relations Staff Visit to Dhaka, Bangladesh, July
2019.
\157\ Refayet Ullah Mirdha, ``Accord's Extension Runs into
Trouble,'' The Daily Star, May 17, 2018.
\158\ Weixin Zha, ``Uncertainty Lingers as Bangladesh Accord and
Government Fail to Reach Agreement,'' Fashion United, Feb. 18, 2019;
``Bangladesh Factory Safety Monitors Get Court Extension,'' France24,
May 19, 2019.
\159\ ``Bangladesh Factory Safety Monitors Get Court Extension,''
France24, May 19, 2019.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In January 2020, the Accord, the BGMEA, and the Bangladesh
Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association entered into
an agreement, which commits the three parties to ``initiate a
time bound transition process in which all major functions of
the Accord office in Bangladesh will transition before 31st of
May 2020 into the national initiative RSC [RMG Sustainability
Council].''\160\ The RMG Sustainability Council is a private
initiative and separate from, but complementary to, the
government's regulatory powers and bodies.\161\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\160\ Transition Agreement between Accord on Fire and Building
Safety in Bangladesh and BGMEA/BKMEA, (Jan. 14, 2020), http://
bgmea.com.bd/bgmea/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Accord-BGMEA-RSC.pdf.
\161\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The RMG Sustainability Council is to be governed by a Board
of Directors that includes an equal number of representatives
from the industry, brands, and trade unions.\162\ According to
the agreement, the new entity will retain all safety and health
inspections, and remediation, training, and complaints handling
functions maintained by the Accord.\163\ The credibility of the
institution will be determined by a number of factors,
including the true balance of power on the Board of
Directors.\164\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\162\ Id.
\163\ Id.
\164\ International Labor Rights Advocates, Interview with
Committee Staff, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Staff Visit to
Dhaka, Bangladesh, July 2019.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some notable elements of the agreement require the RMG
Sustainability Council to retain the Accord's practice of full
public disclosure of inspection results and remediation
activities; to maintain the Accord's independent complaints
mechanism; to share data with the Accord Foundation in
Amsterdam, but the terms of access to RMG Sustainability
Council data will be specified at a later date; and to appoint
a Chief Safety Officer (i.e. inspector) retaining the
independence, authorities, autonomy, and reporting requirements
as practiced by the Accord.\165\ According to the agreement,
the RMG Sustainability Council's safety inspectors must be
credible and independent and have the ability to recommend that
non-compliant factories be restricted from selling to apparel
brands.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\165\ Transition Agreement between Accord on Fire and Building
Safety in Bangladesh and BGMEA/BKMEA, (Jan. 14, 2020).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Labor advocates assert that ``[w]hile many important
details about the future Accord mechanism remain to be decided,
there are concerns about the [RMG Sustainability Council]
because of the brands and BGMEA's potential influence over the
complaints process, and their ability to self-regulate.''\166\
The notion that BGMEA would ultimately police itself in an
industry from which it profits is questionable. As one labor
expert put it, ``the BGMEA cannot be left to cut its own
chicken.''\167\ For the RMG Sustainability Council to prove
effective, workers' representatives must have a comparable
level of voting power to the BGMEA and brands on the RMG
Sustainability Council Board of Directors.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\166\ Email from International Labor Rights Advocate, to Committee
Staff, Nov. 15, 2019.
\167\ International Labor Rights Advocate, Interview with Committee
Staff, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Staff Visit to Dhaka,
Bangladesh, July 2019.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Accord's effectiveness also derives from its ability to
compel factories to be compliant with safety standards. The
Accord `escalation protocol' holds noncompliant factories
accountable because if factory owners do not comply, the Accord
will terminate the factory's business relationship with the
buyer.\168\ BGMEA officials did not indicate in conversations
with Committee Staff their intent to retain this protocol, and
instead referred to the BGMEA's power to withdraw a non-
compliant factory's utilization declaration.\169\ The BGMEA
argues that this escalation tool is stronger given that without
a utilization declaration, non-compliant factories cannot
export to any destination country, including Turkey and Russia,
as opposed to only being blocked from Western countries where
most Accord signatory brands are based.\170\ Revoking
utilization declarations appears to be a stronger tool for
holding noncompliant factories accountable if the BGMEA
enforces it when any factory fails to meet safety standards.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\168\ The Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety,
``Ineligible Suppliers for Business with Accord brands,'' Jan. 5, 2018,
https://bangladeshaccord.org/2018/08/22/ineligible-suppliers/.
\169\ BGMEA Representative, Interview with Committee Staff, Senate
Committee on Foreign Relations Staff Visit to Dhaka, Bangladesh, July
2019.
\170\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The uncertain fate of the Accord after the past year has
led to both employers and brands delaying repairs. Life-
threatening hazards remain uncorrected in some factories
covered by the Accord, as a result.\171\ It will be critically
important for these Accord-covered factories to complete
outstanding remediation before handover to the RMG
Sustainability Council.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\171\ Email from International Labor Rights Forum Representative,
to Committee Staff, Nov. 20, 2019.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bangladeshi labor activist Kalpona Akter asserts that the
Accord's biggest achievement is the drop in severe, fatal
factory accidents: ``[After] experiencing these hundreds and
thousands of workers dying in the factory collapses, it's a
phenomenal change, and it should get recognition, and it should
be continued.''\172\ Fellow labor union leader Nazma Akter
emphasized that ``[t]he Accord has saved our industry, our
country.''\173\ RMG workers and labor activists fear that the
departure of the Accord will have dire consequences for
workplace safety and labor rights. The government has a
responsibility to ensure a comprehensive and credible
transition to ensure the Accord's progress in improving factory
safety standards is not lost.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\172\ Michelle Chen, ``6 Years after the Rana Plaza Collapse, Are
Garment Workers Any Safer,'' The Nation, July 15, 2019.
\173\ Union Leader Nazma Akter, Interview with Committee Staff,
Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Staff Visit to Dhaka, Bangladesh,
July 2019.
CHAPTER FIVE: THE UNITED STATES AND EUROPEAN UNION RESPONSE TO THE
TAZREEN FASHIONS AND RANA PLAZA TRAGEDIES
----------
U.S. RESPONSE
Following the Tazreen Fashions and Rana Plaza tragedies,
the United States suspended Bangladesh's trade benefits under
the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) in June 2013, in
response to the government of Bangladesh's failure to recognize
RMG factory workers' internationally recognized labor
rights.\174\ The United States subsequently negotiated a labor
action plan with the government that, if implemented, would
have provided a basis for reinstatement of GSP trade benefits.
To date, the United States has not reinstated GSP trade
benefits due to lack of sufficient progress in the plan's
implementation, despite assertions by the government of
Bangladesh to the contrary. The original intent of the action
plan was that the government of Bangladesh would implement it
within a reasonable period of time; however, nearly seven years
later it has not been fully implemented. In addition, new
problems--particularly abuse of workers and increased
violations of workers' rights--have arisen that make the action
plan largely outdated.\175\ Given the overall deterioration of
the labor environment in Bangladesh, the United States should
update the labor action plan to reflect these new challenges in
Bangladesh's RMG sector.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\174\ Press Release, Office of the United States Trade
Representative, the Department of Labor & the Department of State,
Statement by the U.S. Government on Labor Rights and Factory Safety in
Bangladesh, July 19, 2013, https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/
press-office/press-releases/2013/july/usg-statement-labor-rights-
factory-safety.
\175\ U.S. Government Official, Meeting with Committee Staff, Oct.
3, 2019.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
U.S. ASSISTANCE FOR INTERNATIONAL LABOR RIGHTS
In 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor deployed a labor
attache to the U.S. Embassy in Dhaka to manage the Bangladesh
labor rights portfolio. The creation of this senior position
demonstrated the U.S. commitment to worker safety and labor
rights in Bangladesh. The labor attache, who concluded her
assignment in 2016, played a senior role in elevating the issue
in the bilateral relationship and provided some measure of
accountability. After almost three years, in September 2019,
Embassy Dhaka hired a labor analyst to monitor the labor
situation in Bangladesh.\176\ The Obama administration had
appointed a Special Envoy for International Labor Rights, who
led the State Department's global efforts to advance labor
rights. The Trump administration has left the post unfilled,
which reflects the lack of priority it places on international
labor rights.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\176\ Email from State Department Official, to Committee Staff,
Jan. 28, 2020.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Department of Labor, the United States Agency for
International Development, and the Department of State's
Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor bureau have expended, to
date, at least $23.2 million on labor rights programs in
Bangladesh since 2011.\177\ The Trump administration has
consistently sought to decrease labor-related programming
worldwide, consistent with its broader efforts to shrink
foreign aid, and continues to seek reduced funding for the
Department of Labor's Bureau of International Affairs--an
office that helps combat poor working conditions and organize
labor unions around the world. For example, for Fiscal Year
(FY) 2019, President Trump requested $18.5 million for the
Department of Labor's Bureau of International Affairs global
programs, a sharp decrease from the bureau's allotted $86.1
million in 2017.\178\ Despite the administration's efforts to
significantly reduce global labor programs, the Department of
Labor's budget operating plan shows $96.1 million went toward
these programs in FY 2020. However, President Trump's FY 2021
request again seeks to slash this number to $18.6 million.\179\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\177\ Email from USAID Official, to Committee Staff, Feb. 2, 2020.
\178\ U.S. Department of Labor, FY 2019 Department of Labor Budget
in Brief, at 42, https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/general/budget/
2019/FY2019BIB.pdf.
\179\ Id. at 47.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The United States also has a longstanding history of
providing support to the ILO. The State Department's
Congressional Budget Justification for FY 2021 shows actual
assistance to the ILO in FY 2019 to be $84.5 million instead of
the Trump administration's requested $42.5 million, and
estimates that FY 2020 will be $86.4 million. However, the
Trump administration has requested again to cut this assistance
by almost half, down to $42.1 million, in its FY 2021
request.\180\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\180\ U.S. Department of State, Congressional Budget Justification:
Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, Feb. 10,
2020, at 41, https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/FY-2021-
CBJ-Final.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Congress, however, has denied these requested funding cuts
and maintained resources for international labor programming
abroad through the appropriations process. Since the Rana Plaza
tragedy, from FY 2014 through 2019, Congress has earmarked a
total of $20 million for labor rights in Bangladesh.\181\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\181\ Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014, Pub. L. No. 113-76,
Explanatory Statement, 9 Cong. Record 160 at H1165; Consolidated and
Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2015, Pub. L. No. 113-235,
Explanatory Statement, 151 Cong. Record 160 at H9952; Consolidated
Appropriations Act of 2016, Pub. L. No. 114-113, Explanatory Statement,
H. Cmte. Print Bk. 2 at 1632; Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2017,
Pub. L. No. 115-31, Explanatory Statement, 76 Cong. Record 163 at
H4055; Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018, Pub. L. No. 115-141,
Explanatory Statement, H. Cmte. Print Bk. 2 at 1800; Consolidated
Appropriations Act of 2019, Pub. L. No. 116-6, H. Rept. 116-9 at 838.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
EU SUSTAINABILITY COMPACT
The United States joined the European Union (EU)
Sustainability Compact in 2013, which is a tripartite agreement
between the EU, the government of Bangladesh, and the ILO. The
Sustainability Compact's goals are broadly consistent with the
U.S. 16-point labor action plan, as is its assessment of the
government's lack of progress.\182\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\182\ Press Release, Office of the United States Trade
Representative, the Department of Labor & the Department of State,
Statement by the U.S. Government on Labor Rights and Factory Safety in
Bangladesh, July 19, 2013, https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/
press-office/press-releases/2013/july/usg-statement-labor-rights-
factory-safety; European Commission, Implementation of the Bangladesh
Compact: Technical Status Report, (Sept. 2018).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The impact of foreign assistance on promoting labor rights
is not only measured by the dollars spent or the number of
unions registered--but also by the change in the culture around
labor rights, whereby authorities and factory owners respect
freedoms of association and collective bargaining. Given the
lack of political will to protect and advance labor rights and
ensure accountability for abuse of workers in Bangladesh, U.S.
assistance and bilateral diplomatic engagement with Bangladesh
must consistently prioritize these issues.
THE BRANDS' RESPONSE TO THE TAZREEN FASHIONS
AND RANA PLAZA TRAGEDIES
Apparel brands and retailers have an important role to play
in ensuring protection of labor rights and safe conditions in
factories from which they directly and indirectly source.
However, despite the fact that many brands joined the Accord
and the Alliance, gaps in worker safety and respect for worker
rights persist. In fact, American brands have recently been
tied to garment factories that appear unsafe. An October 2019
Wall Street Journal (WSJ) investigation traced a shirt that a
third-party seller listed on Amazon for $4.99 to a factory in
Chittagong ``that has no fire alarms and where doors are of a
type managers can lock and keep workers in.''\183\ The WSJ
found ``other apparel on Amazon made in Bangladeshi factories
whose owners have refused to fix safety problems identified by
two safety-monitoring groups [the Alliance and the Accord],
such as crumbling buildings, broken alarms, and missing
sprinklers and fire barriers.''\184\ The WSJ also found
shipping records that tied Bangladeshi factories that had been
banned under the international safety initiatives to Walmart
and its online marketplace Walmart.com, as well as other
American retailers including Target, Sears, and Kmart. Some
items from these banned factories were reportedly sold directly
by Walmart or by third parties on Walmart's online
marketplace.\185\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\183\ Justin Scheck et al., ``Amazon Sells Clothes from Factories
Other Retailers Blacklist,'' The Wall Street Journal, Oct. 23, 2019.
\184\ Id.
\185\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In response to the WSJ report, an Amazon spokesperson said
``Amazon inspects factories that supply its own brands to
ensure they are in line with international safety standards
similar to those of the safety-monitoring groups. . . . Amazon
doesn't inspect factories making clothing that it buys from
wholesalers or that comes from third-party sellers. Instead it
expects those wholesalers and sellers to adhere to the same
safety standards.''\186\ A Walmart spokesperson indicated they
are reviewing items that Walmart is directly selling and in
talks with their suppliers.\187\ Target removed at least one
listing after the WSJ article was published but declined to
comment, according to the WSJ. Sears and Kmart are reportedly
importing from banned factories but also did not respond to
questions about their sourcing policies.\188\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\186\ Id.
\187\ Id.
\188\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
BRAND PURCHASING PRACTICES
In conversations with Committee Staff, the one issue that
garment workers, union leaders, labor rights advocates, and
Bangladeshi officials could all agree on was that brands need
to increase their purchasing prices and improve their
purchasing practices.\189\ While some global brands insist that
suppliers ensure labor rights and safe work environments, their
purchasing practices often incentivize the opposite behavior.
Low purchase prices, demands for fast turnaround, unfair
penalties, and poor forecasting affect the suppliers' bottom
line and often squeeze suppliers financially, driving them to
cut corners in ways that exacerbate unsafe conditions and
workplace abuses.\190\ For example, the pressure to
simultaneously lower costs while increasing speed and delivery
time results in factory managers insisting on long hours for
workers.\191\ Countries with abundant cheap labor, such as
Bangladesh, are unfortunately well-placed to meet these
demands.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\189\ Union Leaders, Interview with Committee Staff, Senate
Committee on Foreign Relations Staff Visit to Dhaka, Bangladesh, July
2019.
\190\ Human Rights Watch, Paying for a Bus Ticket and Expecting to
Fly, at 31 (Apr. 2019).
\191\ See, e.g., id, at 4.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brands generally require their RMG supplier factories to
respect their codes of conduct to enter a business
relationship, but rarely factor compliance with those codes
into what they pay the suppliers.\192\ To date, most brands
have not prioritized paying higher prices to suppliers to help
compensate for increased costs, including wage increases.\193\
However, some have participated in efforts such as the Action,
Collaboration, and Transformation (commonly known as ACT)
initiative, which seeks to address the issue of living wage in
the garment supply chain; the New York University Stern Center
for Business and Human Rights purchasing practices initiative,
which seeks to develop a series of evidence-based indicators
and benchmarks for best practices by examining the
interlinkages between company purchasing practices and factory-
level outcomes for workers; and the Better Buying initiative,
which offers information and analysis about good purchasing
practices. Primary responsibility for abusive and unsafe
workplace conditions lies with factory owners; however, if
brands are committed to clean supply chains, they need to
ensure that their own business practices do not increase the
risk of abuse and safety hazards. Steps could include improving
purchasing practices, avoiding unfair penalties imposed on
suppliers, and increasing how much they pay suppliers for
goods.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\192\ Id. at 15.
\193\ Id. at 15-18.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In addition, as mentioned earlier, the ILO Governing Body
of the International Labour Office, composed of governments,
workers, and employers will decide in the coming months whether
to establish a Commission of Inquiry (COI) to examine
complaints against the government of Bangladesh for violating
ILO conventions, including on freedom of association and
collective bargaining.\194\ Brands will have an opportunity to
demonstrate their commitment to safety of workers and
protection of labor rights by supporting the establishment of
the COI.\195\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\194\ International Labor Rights Advocate, Phone Call with
Committee Staff, Sept. 27, 2019.
\195\ Email from International Labor Rights Advocate, to Committee
Staff, Oct. 7, 2019.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONSUMERS
Shopna, the Dhaka-based garment worker referred to in the
Executive Summary, said in June 2019 that, ``It makes me happy
that [consumers] are wearing something that I made. But I want
to let them know that this is more than a piece of cloth. This
piece of cloth is bathed in my blood, sweat and dignity. I've
sacrificed all of that to be able to make a pair of pants that
you will wear and feel comfortable.''\196\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\196\ ActionAid, ``80 Percent of Garment Workers in Bangladesh Have
Experienced or Witnessed Sexual Violence and Harassment at Work,'' June
10, 2019.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
American consumers care about how their clothes are being
made, and are increasingly rejecting clothing stained with the
blood of factory workers. A 2018 study known as the Conscious
Consumer Spending Index by marketing agency Good.Must.Grow.
found that 32 percent of Americans actively boycotted products
and services within the past year that were not socially
responsible, a record high.\197\ According to the same poll, a
majority of Americans said that they would not buy a brand that
does not pay workers a fair living wage.\198\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\197\ Good.Must.Grow., ``Politics, Violence, and Price Tags
Creating Drag on Social Responsibility, According to Sixth Annual
Conscious Consumer Spending Index,'' Dec. 13, 2018, https://
goodmustgrow.com/cms/resources/ccsi/ccsindexpressrelease2018.pdf.
\198\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Clean Clothes Campaign, a global alliance dedicated to
improving working conditions, and the Changing Markets
Foundation, an organization focused on increasing the market
share of sustainable products, commissioned a survey (7,701
interviews) in November 2018, which showed that 72 percent of
respondents from the UK, the United States, France, Germany,
Italy, Poland and Spain believe clothing brands should be held
responsible for what happens during the manufacturing
process.\199\ Another 81 percent of respondents are concerned
about the working conditions of the employees.\200\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\199\ Ipsos MORI, ``Sustainable Fashion Survey: Prepared for
Changing Markets Foundation,'' Nov. 2018.
\200\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
This combination of committed organizations and consumer
opinion demonstrates that Americans care about how their
clothes are being produced and demand more information on
working conditions in fashion supply chains. Pressuring the
government of Bangladesh to ensure it improves safety
conditions and workers' rights is in the long-term interest of
businesses from a cost and reputation perspective.
CONCLUSION
The government of Bangladesh must prioritize respect for
the rights of Bangladeshi workers, and their protection from
unsafe conditions, above economic growth, particularly amid
rising global concern among consumers about the conditions
under which their clothes are made. Bangladesh cannot withstand
the daily tragedies faced by RMG workers subject to abuse and
sexual exploitation. While corporate international responses
have helped to considerably improve the safety culture around
garment factories, only Bangladesh can change its attitude
towards freedom of association and protecting its garment
workers from abuse. These workers fuel Bangladesh's economy. It
behooves the government to take bold action against those who
abuse them.
Nearly seven years after Rana Plaza, safety improvements in
the sector are real, but require continued commitment to be
sustained. The responsibility for safety in Bangladesh's
factories will soon fully shift to the government and the RMG
Sustainability Council. The onus is on the government of
Bangladesh and industry leaders to create a culture that not
only ensures safe factory buildings, but also safe workers. A
``Bangladeshi-led'' effort is not limited to the government or
BGMEA--it must also provide space for Bangladeshi workers and
labor unions to defend their rights and protect themselves from
abuse while helping build a stronger national economy. Only
then will ``Made in Bangladesh'' become a true label of pride
for all the people of Bangladesh.
FULL LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS
----------
FOR THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of
Peaceful Assembly and of Association should:
Immediately launch an investigation into allegations of
widespread abuse--including gender-based violence--of
RMG workers in Bangladesh.
Conduct a country visit to Bangladesh focused on workers'
rights to associate, join a union, conduct union
activities, and be free from retaliation, such as
retaliatory firings and false criminal charges.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) should:
Launch a Commission of Inquiry on Bangladesh in response to
alleged violations of the ILO Conventions on Freedom of
Association and Protection of the Right to Organise,
and Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining.
Focus technical assistance on increasing the number of
genuine unions while building union leaders' capacity
to organize and collectively bargain.
Consider establishing a multi-stakeholder task force,
organized with the government of Bangladesh and local
industry, and comprised of global brands and
international financial and development institutions.
The mandate of this task force would be to adopt a
shared responsibility model that would allow enhanced
coordination between key stakeholders (governments,
brands, and workers representatives) and facilitate
providing the financial resources necessary to make
garment industry factories safer and to enhance the
rights of workers.
FOR THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
The U.S. Government should:
Support, in its capacity as a member of the ILO's Governing
Body of the International Labour Office, the
establishment of an ILO Commission of Inquiry on
Bangladesh in response to violations of the ILO
Conventions on Freedom of Association and Protection of
the Right to Organise, and Right to Organise and
Collective Bargaining. Urge other members of the ILO
governing body to support the inquiry.
Maintain the suspension of U.S. Generalized System of
Preferences (GSP) trade benefits for the government of
Bangladesh until it fully implements the U.S. 16-point
labor action plan (formerly known as the GSP Action
Plan).
Update the U.S. 16-point labor action plan to reflect the
ongoing challenges in Bangladesh's RMG sector--
including abuse of workers and increased violations of
workers' rights.
Consider imposing visa bans against current and former
officials as well as factory owners who engage in abuse
of RMG workers and use violence and intimidation to
dissuade labor organizing efforts.
Continue ongoing U.S. programs promoting labor rights in
Bangladesh, and increase funding for them going
forward.
Deploy a senior Department of Labor official to serve as
labor attache at U.S. Embassy Dhaka in order to ensure
consistent high-level attention, and engagement on,
factory safety concerns and labor rights and
protections.
Carry out, under the auspices of the Government
Accountability Office, an analysis of the status of
labor rights across the globe to inform the U.S.
government's policy and programming.
Provide U.S. funding for a safer garment industry in
Bangladesh as part of a multi-stakeholder task force or
other shared responsibility initiative.
FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF BANGLADESH AND THE BANGLADESH GARMENT
MANUFACTURERS AND EXPORTERS ASSOCIATION (BGMEA)
The Government of Bangladesh should:
Investigate and prosecute factory owners and management
that have been implicated in violating internationally
recognized labor rights standards and domestic labor
laws, including by engaging in anti-union activity and
committing abuse against workers.
Expeditiously complete pending investigations of unfair
labor practices. Dedicate funding for the Ministry of
Labour and Employment to hire lawyers to properly
prosecute these cases in the labor court.
Properly compensate workers who were victims of false
criminal cases filed by factory management and police.
Protect unions and their members from anti-union
discrimination and reprisal. Any alleged worker
misconduct or offense related to industrial issues
should be filed in labor courts and/or with the
Ministry of Labour and Employment or Department of
Inspections for Factories and Establishments (DIFE). No
such case should be filed or accepted in criminal
courts or police stations.
Publicly declare that the BGMEA will not be allowed to
self-regulate in the RMG industry. Transfer authority
to issue ``utilization declarations''--which is
essentially a license to export--from the BGMEA to the
Ministry of Labour and Employment. Expand the
utilization declarations requirements to include
standards on factory safety and labor rights.
Further revise the country's 2006 labor law to conform with
international labor standards, including reducing
arbitrary administrative burdens for trade union
registration and further lowering the threshold for
membership to start a union. Consult civil society and
independent trade unions in reforms.
Expeditiously register unions that meet administrative
requirements and transparently provide information to
applicants throughout the process.
Reduce discretion in processing union registration
applications by developing clear and concrete standards
for approval and denial.
Ensure the DIFE public database on factory safety and
remediation efforts has complete and up-to-date
information. Ensure full disclosure of RMG employment
database systems--including the BGMEA's--for proper
investigation into potential misuse against workers.
Ensure RMG workers have access to an anonymous complaints
hotline.
BGMEA should:
Ensure that the workers' representatives have power equal
to the BGMEA and participating brands on the RMG
Sustainability Council Board of Directors.
Ensure any complaints mechanism, including the complaints
hotline managed by the RMG Sustainability Council,
maintains the anonymity of the individual filing a
complaint.
Ensure RMG Sustainability Council inspectors are
independent and free of influence from factory owners.
Hold factory owners and management accountable for credible
allegations of worker abuse and violations of labor
rights.
FOR THE APPAREL BRANDS AND RETAILERS
Apparel Brands and Retailers sourcing from Bangladesh should:
Prioritize labor rights in contracts and in interactions
with management of supplying factories and ensure that
all factories involved in the supply chain respect
labor rights, in particular the rights to freedom of
association and collective bargaining.
Ensure that pricing and sourcing contracts with RMG
factories incorporate cost of labor and safety
compliance--including cost of the minimum wage
increase, overtime payments, and all legal benefits--to
eliminate any incentive for unsafe conditions and
worker abuse.
Ensure that local initiatives maintain the high standards
established by the international factory safety
initiatives, including breaking contracts with
suppliers that are non-compliant with safety and labor
rights standards.
Include freedom of association and protection against anti-
union discrimination in factory audit and inspection
regimes.
Collectively develop and implement a policy of zero-
tolerance on violence and harassment, and for suppliers
who consistently engage in anti-union activity.
Support the establishment of an ILO Commission of Inquiry
in Bangladesh.
Ensure that the RMG Sustainability Council and Nirapon
maintain the high standards established by the Accord
and the Alliance respectively.