Factory exits: difficult to find (The Daily Star, February 13, 2014)
Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, a platform of 26 US-based clothing retailers and brands
got an upsetting finding that around half of the garment workers cannot leave their factory buildings quickly in case of an emergency and had not been trained in fire safety. The Alliance conducted the baseline survey among more than 3,200 workers in 28 garment factories between November and December last year. The survey also found 65 percent of the respondents prefer to work on lower floors for safety reasons. The survey pointed out the need for a comprehensive and consistent health and safety training curriculum that can be implemented in factories.
US to establish labour attaché in Dhaka (The Daily Star, February 13, 2014)
The US Department of Labour will establish a full-time Labour Attaché for its embassy in Dhaka to ensure greater engagement on workers' rights and workplace safety in Bangladesh. The staff of the Bureau of International Labour Affairs will be in Dhaka later this month for detailed discussions, said Eric Biel, acting associate deputy undersecretary for International Labour Affairs at the US Department of Labour.
Over 300 apparel factories sued for non-compliance (Dhaka Tribune, February 12, 2014)
The government has filed cases with Labour Courts against more than 300 apparel factories which were not in compliance with fire and building safety measures. The inspection found that these factories were keeping fire exits locked during working hours; did not have clear fire exits; skipped appointment letters and were not paying salaries to its employees, regularly. According to labour ministry officials, the factories were sued on the basis of findings by recent inspections of 3460 factories by the ministry. The inspection was conducted over a seven-month period after the Rana Plaza collapse.
75pc RMG units fail to apply new wage, claim leaders (Financial Express, February 11, 2014)
Leaders of the workers' unions of the readymade garment (RMG) sector have claimed that about 75 per cent of the apparel factories have failed to implement the new wage structure. They also alleged that almost all the factories are tampering with the grades of the workers to deprive them of their rightful wages.
Country's 250 schools will get free internet connections by GP (Financial Express, February 11, 2014)
Some 250 schools in the country are going to get free internet connection following an initiative of the telecom operator Grameenphone. Students of the selected schools will benefit from the multi-purpose community learning centre—“Gonokendra”, that would be set up in every school, according to the telecom operator. With the slogan "Internet for All," the top telecom operator is doing the CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) activities for acquainting students with the internet.
FDI hits record high in 2013 (The Daily Star, February 11, 2014)
Bangladesh recorded the highest ever foreign direct investment in 2013 exceeding official expectation despite gloomy global economic climate and volatile domestic politics. The country received around $1.61 billion in FDI in the first 11 months last year, overwhelmingly surpassing the full-year record of 2012 at $1.30 billion. According to Bangladesh Bank, the net FDI inflows were recorded at $673 million from July through November, which was $664 million in the same period a year earlier.
US: Bangladesh must do more to regain trade perk (Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel, February 11, 2014)
Bangladesh needs to do much more on improving labor standards to win back duty-free trade benefits suspended after the global textile industry's worst disaster. According to U.S. officials, the disaster put a grim spotlight on low wages and unsafe conditions of Bangladesh’s lucrative apparel business that exports nearly $5 billion annually. Washington suspended the benefits last June, two months after the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory building in Dhaka that killed 1,129 people. However, lawmakers, questioned whether GSP provides much leverage, as it covers less than 1 percent of Bangladeshi exports, not including garments.
ILO delegation prepares plan for RMG workers’ rights (Dhaka Tribune, February 10, 2014)
A delegation from the International Labour Organisation (ILO), now in Dhaka, has started its work on preparing plans for capacity building of the employers, mid-level managers, supervisors, trade union leaders and workers on occupational safety, health and workers’ rights issues. The eight member delegation includes officials from Geneva, Bangkok and New Delhi and Italy. On January 15, the government issued orders sanctioning 679 new staff positions in the Directorate including 392 new inspector positions. With this upgrade, the number of labour and factory inspectors will increase to a total of 575 from the current 183 positions. The ILO considers this to be a significant step towards improving safety and workers’ rights in Bangladesh garment industry.
Dhaka to send missions to explore new export markets (Dhaka Tribune, February 9, 2014)
The government has decided to explore the untapped markets in the region of North Africa, Latin Africa, middle-East and East Asia. In a bid to promote the country’s overall exports, the government has decided to send high-level delegations to those four regions in 2014 under its market and export diversification project. In the 2013-14 fiscal, from July to December period, amount of export to the African region stood US $102m, Asian region $1581m, American region $3,556m and Middle East region $300m.
Owners Surrender in Deadly Bangladesh Factory Fire (ABC News, February 9, 2014)
The owners of a garment factory in Bangladesh surrendered to authorities on Sunday to face homicide charges for a 2012 fire at the plant that killed 112 workers. The November 2012 fire was one of several deadly disasters that have exposed harsh and unsafe working conditions in Bangladesh's lucrative garment industry. The factory had no emergency exits and its location in a narrow alley prevented firefighters from responding quickly to the blaze. The investigation found that when the fire broke out, workers found the gates locked from outside as the fire engulfed the sprawling building. It's the first time Bangladesh has sought to prosecute factory owners in its garment industry, which is the world's second largest after China.
GU Protects Bangladesh Workers (The Hoya, February 7, 2014)
Georgetown University will now require all trademark licensees that source, produce or purchase products in Bangladesh to abide by an international, legally binding agreement to help protect workers. The Accord on Fire and Building Safety was founded in May 2013 following the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory in April 2013 in Savar and a fire at the Tazreen Fashions factory in November 2012 in Dhaka that led to the deaths of 1,129 and 112 workers, respectively. To date, five other universities have signed on to the accord: New York University, the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, Duke University and Pennsylvania State University.
Bangladesh to get $1.2 bln IDB loan for oil imports? (Reuters, February 6, 2014)
Bangladesh is to get $1.2 billion in loans this year from the Islamic Development Bank to help finance its oil imports, at cheaper rates than last year. The IDB will provide the loan at 4.50 percent, lower than 4.65 percent last year. Bangladesh's oil imports are likely to rise to 5.7 million tonnes in 2014 from nearly 5.5 million last year, according to the energy ministry.
No comments:
Post a Comment