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The country’s overall progress on human rights and business in terms of the United Nations Guiding Principles is still below the elementary level and needs integration with the labour rules, observes the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) in its study.
The observation of the premier think-tank came in its research -- “Building the RMG sector in adherence to the
United Nations Guiding Principles (UNGPs)” -- virtually launched on Saturday.
Under the UNGPs, states must protect against human rights abuse while business enterprises respect human rights throughout their operations and take up internationally recognised initiatives to honour human rights.
“Bangladesh’s overall progress in terms of the UN guiding principles is still below the elementary level, mainly at a negligible level. Among the eight sub-indices, neither of them reached the matured state,” Khondaker Golam Moazzem said in his keynote presentation.
Basic facilities for workers are yet to be available across the board in all factories. Disparity in human and labour standards in terms of size, membership and location of factories is well-noticed, he added.
In terms of institutionalisation of these categories, Bangladesh lags behind, and for making progress, the country has to include these issues in the labour rules, suggested the keynote speaker.
If Bangladesh can bring these issues under a regulatory binding, the RMG sector will follow it, and progress should thereby be strengthened, according to the economist.
In his speech, Md Mojibul Haque, chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Labour and Employment, said: “It is very important to take steps for reducing the existing gap between the owners and the workers.”
“More seminars and symposiums should be organised in order to address the issue and raise awareness among individuals on both isles.”
Survey Findings
Of the surveyed factories, 79.8 per cent showed negligible improvement in stakeholders’ engagement, 18.9 per cent in elementary stage and only 1.3 per cent improving.
Prioritisation of risks and identification of human rights risks is improving at 4.7 per cent factories followed by integration and mitigation measures 2 per cent and stakeholder engagement 1.3 per cent.
Large factories tend to perform better in human rights than their medium-sized peers, while medium-sized factories perform better than small peers.
Meanwhile, location is one of the important factors according to which the practice and standard of human rights vary. Factories in Dhaka and Gazipur districts have better performance in most human rights aspects than those in Chattogram and Narayanganj.
Enterprises under the membership of BGMEA are found in a better state than those under the membership of BKMEA.
Workers’ perception about rights
As per the survey findings, about 74 per cent workers recalled that they had seen posters inside or outside the factory that had some sort of statement on human rights while 75.5 per cent factories have posters.
About 91 per cent of workers say the poster contains issues related to child labour. Workplace harassment, sexual harassment, living wage and maternity benefit were seen in the posters by more than 50 per cent of the workers.
Layoff and retrenchment and collective bargain were seen by just 8.7 per cent and 16 per cent respectively.
“There are a good number of green and compliance factories. Now, Bangladesh needs factories that will comply with rules and regulations fully,” said Babul Akhter, president of Bangladesh Garments and Industrial Workers Federation.
In Bangladesh, owners talk about trade unionism but they are fearful about the union, he added.
“The garment factory owners should be more aware of the labour rights and wellbeing,” said Md Ehsan-E-Elahi, secretary to the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
He re-asserted the need for a coordinated effort-based mechanism.
The labour rules are currently being upgraded and a long-term action plan for the improvement of labour laws and labour-related practices not only in the RMG sector but also in other sectors is being developed, added the official.
Factory owner’s perception about rights
As per the findings, about 79 per cent factories believe that improving human rights will increase the fixed and operational costs of the factory, while 94 per cent factories think that improving human rights will increase their purchase orders.
Only below 25 per cent factories of all sizes feel that they will see a lowering profit when it comes to pay for the improvement of human rights issues.
BGMEA president Faruque Hassan put some vital issues on the table, including—adhering to the SDGs, developing a unified code of conduct to avoid the audit fatigue, conducting a comprehensive research in consultation with local and global standards, and bringing a positive change through apparel diplomacy and thorough research.
Recommendations
Gender mainstreaming should be the top-most priority in improving human and labour rights issues in the RMG sector, thereby adhering to the UNGPs, CPD recommended.
Given the overwhelming structure of labour composition in the garment sector, human and labour rights issues should be designed in such a way that gender mainstreaming is ensured.
The institutional process to deal with these issues should give priority to gender issues and it should be preferred with a higher share of female staff.
