Get a move on safety
GOING by remarks made by members of the European Union (EU) delegation, Bangladesh has made some improvements towards ensuring the right to form unions in the garments industry, but much remains to be done. Principally, workplace safety remains high on the radar for European buyers and given the loss of more than 1,100 lives at Rana Plaza, it ought to be a prime area of concern for us also. Some action to that effect has been taking place at government level with the recruitment of building inspectors. Yet the pace of recruitment and their induction into service has not been up to satisfactory levels.
The fact that the government is signatory to a tripartite agreement involving the EU and the International Labour Organisation means that it must fulfill a number of conditions that include workplace safety. Safety comes from a number of issues that remain unaddressed to a certain degree with regards to slow implementation of minimum wage board and compensation and rehabilitation for victims of the Rana Plaza disaster. It is only in our best interest that we speed up to meet our end of the bargain. There is no room for smugness when it comes to safety. Measures taken today would allow for some insurance against recurrences on the scale of Rana and Tazreen in future. It would also ensure rebuilding of our image as a country where workers' rights and wellbeing are looked after by a responsible industry under government watch.
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