Twenty-five senior US congressmen have asked Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to be tougher on protecting workers’ rights and preventing a recurrence of factory accidents.
They made the request in a letter issued on May 15, apparently in the wake of the April 24 Savar tragedy that left 1,127 people dead and thousand injured.
“We believe there is simply no substitute for tough, comprehensive, uncompromising government support for legislation and fully resourced law enforcement and administrative action – including the right to organise and form unions in the export processing zones – that both empowers workers and prevents more accidents from happening,” the letter says.
Steny H Hoyer, Joseph Crowley, Nancy Pelosi and Sander M Levin were among the congressmen who signed the letter.
“As members of congress deeply concerned with the well-being of the people of Bangladesh, we urge you to put the highest priority on aggressively enacting and enforcing comprehensive reforms that address these concerns and join in a broad-based effort to ensure that workers in Bangladesh are assured basic safety and internationally recognised rights in the workplace,” the letter adds.
A former Bangladesh ambassador to the US, Humayun Kabir, told the Dhaka Tribune that the letter should be taken seriously.
“The government has taken steps for comprehensive legal coverage for labour rights, but if there is any scope for improvement, it should be done too,” he said.
Kabir expressed concern over Bangladesh’s having lapsed in credibility as “it promises many things during the time of crisis but it seldom follows those up to fix the things. In many cases, foreign countries do not take us in confidence due to hollow promises.”
The government must take the issue seriously and do more to enforce laws strictly, he said.
The former diplomat pointed out that it was not possible for the government alone to improve labour conditions, and he advocated a tripartite partnership between the government, owners and workers to improve conditions.
He also said it was important to convey the actions taken to foreign friends, media, development partners, buyers and all the other stakeholders. “The government can use those who have credibility among them,” he said.
