A stitch too late

It has taken more than a thousand deaths for global retail majors such as H&M and Zara to agree to a legally-binding accord on worker safety.

Around 1,127 people paid with their lives for the sub-human working conditions in Bangladesh’s garment factories after their decrepit workplace, the multi-storey Rana Plaza in the Greater Dhaka Area, collapsed on April 24. Several reports said workers had been forced to continue working in the building even after cracks were noticed in its façade.

Fixing responsibility

The retail giants sourcing from Bangladeshi factories were shamed into taking responsibility for worker safety following severe criticism not only from activists but also their own consumers, millions of whom signed online petitions.

The retailers have agreed not just to ensure that the factories meet minimum fire and building safety standards but also pay for them.

Although the magnitude of the tragedy was unprecedented, it certainly was not the first in the country’s poorly regulated garment manufacturing industry.

In November 2012, a fire at a garment factory in Dhaka killed 112. Another fire this month took at least eight lives. As many as 200 Bangladeshi garment workers are estimated to have died in fire accidents since 2006.

Retailers had in the past refused to take responsibility or sign safety agreement on the grounds that they did not own the factories. They claimed they had “informed” workers of their rights as a part of corporate social responsibility. However, in a country where law enforcement is lax and little political will to strengthen workers’ rights, such measures are hardly sufficient.

This is why the agreement now signed by the retailers is seen as important. “In the absence of effective government regulation, the only people the factory owners listen to are their clients, the international brands sourcing garments from the factories,” says Phil Robertson, Deputy Director (Asia), Human Rights Watch. “The fire and safety agreement contains mandatory, binding provisions that would ensure that real inspection of factories takes place and remediation of problems are done quickly and effectively… the factory owners need to be compelled to comply.”

Union rights

Some retailers such as GAP and Walmart, however, continue to resist any binding terms, claiming they were taking measures to improve safety at the factories. GAP did not respond to an emailed request for comment.

An India-based human rights activist pointed out that companies shirk responsibility in the supply chain, but they have to ensure safety down to the last worker. “They are, after all, sourcing their garments from these factories and making profit, right?” he asked.

Even though the Bangladesh Government has promised to look into several issues, including safety, minimum wages and the right to form unions, pointing to the Government’s complete failure in regulating safety and worker rights at the factories, Robertson says the right to form unions would give workers crucial bargaining power.

“Human Rights Watch firmly believes that had there been a union representing any of the workers in the five factories in Rana Plaza, the workers would have been able to resist the supervisors’ demands to work in a factory with visible cracks in the walls. The right to form a union is a basic human right that the Bangladesh Government and employers have denied garment workers for far too long,” he said.

India under shadow

The situation isn’t all that different in India, too, point out industry insiders. “Far too many people are often cramped into small spaces. To maintain or increase profits, contractors do not rent bigger spaces, even as they hire more people, making the situation dangerous when there is an emergency. Further, even if the buildings have fire exits, most remain locked or blocked by goods,” a textile designer who has been in the industry for over three decades says, on conditions of anonymity.

He adds that garment factories or exporters often do not keep too many people on the rolls, preferring to give out work on contract. This takes away the workers’ bargaining rights as they cannot form unions.

Robertson agrees. “Many of the same problems exist in the garment sector in India and Pakistan too, including blocking formation of trade unions and firing workers trying to form a union, paying Government regulators to look the other way on fire safety and factory working conditions, and failing to adequately implement the labour law.”

The pressure to remain profitable and cheap is strong in India, much to the detriment of workers’ safety. “Many exporters are now outsourcing work to Bangladesh as the costs are much lower there,” adds the textile designer.

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