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Join hands for positive changes

ILO's Bangladesh chief says reforms can only come from joint efforts of management and workers

Refayet Ullah Mirdha
The relationship between factory management and workers has improved tremendously since the Rana Plaza building collapse on April 24 last year, according to an official of International Labour Organisation.
"The registration of 134 trade unions in the last 15 months, compared to only three in the last three years, indicates that the relationship has started improving," Srinivasa Reddy, the ILO country director for Bangladesh, said in an interview with The Daily Star recently.
He said the relationship between the government, owners, and workers should be used as a partnership, as Bangladesh has a lot of opportunities in the garment business worldwide.
Following the Rana Plaza building collapse, the entire sector is going through broad reforms; many modifications have been made by the Srinivasa Reddy
government, international communities and owners, Reddy said.
"I see a great opportunity and bigger business for Bangladesh in near future. I also see good progress in factory inspection by Buet (Bangla- desh University of Engineering and Technology), Accord and Alliance."
A total of 900 factories, or 25 percent of the total active units, have so far been inspected, according to ILO data.
"Owners have also started factory renovations, for which one million out of around four million workers are getting a safer workplace. Gradually, with completion of the inspection by the yearend, all the four million workers will have safer workplace," Reddy said.
Regarding the inspections, he said flaws may be found in some factories, but remediation is a kind of investment for future business.
Referring to a survey by McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm and trusted adviser to leading global businesses, governments and institutions, Reddy said Bangladesh's high growth in the apparel sector will continue for positive reforms. The McKinsey report said Bangladesh will be able to export garment items worth $42 billion by the end of2020.
"Had there been a proper collective bargaining system in the country's garment sector, the Rana Plaza tragedy might not have taken place as the union leaders would have protected the workers and stopped them from entering a risky workplace."
On the issue of compensation packages for the victims of Rana Plaza, Reddy said payment will be ensured under Convention 121 of the ILO, so that the workers get more.
It is mandatory for the 29 retailers and brands that used to source garment items from the five factories housed in the Rana Plaza building to contribute to the trust fund for the victims, he said.
So far, 15 retailers and brands deposited a total of $15 million in the trust fund. IndustriALL Global Union, a federation of trade unions, formed the $40 million trust fund for the victims. ILO is the fund's neutral chair.
A central database of workers and factories is also needed now as the industry has been growing for the last three decades, Reddy said.
"Had there been a central database for workers, compensation disbursement would not have been so complicated."
The most difficult job in the payment of compensation is collecting information on the victims to pay the right person. In the absence of a database, in some cases, more than one person by one name is claiming money from the authori-