It is vital to build a better future for the country’s RMG workers.
With thousands facing layoffs following ongoing factory safety inspections, the government has a duty to facilitate new, compliant buildings to which workers can move.
Reports suggest that in total, 50,000 out of the RMG industry’s 4 million workers have lost their jobs due to cancelled orders in the last year. Their number will be added to by workers whose factories are closed following government safety inspections and those conducted by the two brand-led stakeholder safety initiatives, the Accord and Alliance.
These inspections are absolutely vital to prevent future disasters. Their multi-stakeholder scope can help build the confidence and support which is necessary to secure long–term investment in the RMG industry in Bangladesh.
However, care must still be taken to mitigate factors which could give rise to cancellations of orders and lost jobs. Unless tangible safety and productivity improvements are continually made, more buyers may be tempted to move their business, or forced to do so by factory closures, to factories in other exporting countries, which are more expensive, but may be perceived as less risky.
The government must provide land and support for new EPZs with properly designed buildings, so that factories which are closed by inspectors can relocate to visibly safer buildings. This will help not just the owners and workers affected, but the industry itself by improving its image and securing new investment.
