The US ambassador has stated “America will not buy shirts stained with the blood of Bangladeshi workers.”
His statement was a necessary reminder of the urgent need to improve safety in the industry, following the horrifying deaths at Tazreen and Rana Plaza. He rightly also expressed the hope that the RMG sector can transform itself into a industry associated with good working conditions rather than negligence.
BGMEA is reported to be employing only 10 inspectors to inspect 2,500 member factories by December. While this work needs to be conducted carefully by qualified personnel, BGMEA should have trained or hired more inspectors to speed up the task.
Similarly, while wage issues have constantly caused discontent, BGMEA has been slow in submitting its proposal on minimum wage for garment workers to the wage board.
It would be wrong to suggest that BGMEA members are not concerned about such issues. Bangladesh would not be a leading apparel exporter if many owners did not have world class factories with good working conditions and relationships with buyers.
Too often however, the association publicly can seem complacent and overly defensive.
At a time when new funding is potentially available to fund steps, such as factory relocations, which are required to transform the industry, BGMEA should be leading more from the front, rather than responding to other stakeholders’ initiatives. To win confidence, it must show it has the vision and commitment to transform the industry.