The Wall Street Journal
By Kate O’Keeffe
July 6, 2013
A United Nations program credited with making some improvements to working conditions in Cambodia’s garment industry could soon open up shop in Bangladesh, where the industry’s worst-ever disaster killed over 1,100 in April.
Better Work, a program run by the International Labour Organization and the International Finance Corporation, could start mobilizing operations in Bangladesh within weeks of the conclusion of this month’s parliamentary session there, provided the government succeeds in reforming its labor laws, said Amy Luinstra, program manager for Better Work at the IFC.
The highly touted program monitors factories, publishes reports on its findings and offers training for factories and workers so that they are up to speed on safety and fair-labor standards. Although the group has faced some criticism in Cambodia, it has also drawn praise from some activists, and its monitoring reports in Cambodia have offered detailed accounts of the problems in some factories that can be used by labor groups to push for more reform.
In one such report in April, for instance, the Cambodia program found “a worrisome decline” in compliance with occupational safety and health guidelines, including a sizable drop in compliance with standards to keep pathways free of obstructions–an important metric in light of recent deaths from fires and other disasters in Bangladeshi garment factories. It also found numerous factories engaged in discrimination, one factory with underage labor and several that interfered with freedom of association.
A venture in Bangladesh would look similar to other Better Work programs around the world except for its size, which would have to be enormous given the scale of the industry there, said Ms. Luinstra. Bangladesh is one of the biggest exporters of clothing in the world.
For Better Work to start operations in Bangladesh, the country would have to agree to increase freedom of association for trade unions, said Ms. Luinstra. Without stronger protections for unions, the Better Work program’s effectiveness could be compromised, she said.
It is unions on the ground at factories that are best-placed to resolve some workplace issues, program administrators think.
Unions have long had a weak presence in Bangladesh. There are about 37 factory-level unions representing some 5,400 garment factories in the country, said Alonzo Suson, program director in Bangladesh for the Solidarity Center, a nongovernmental organization affiliated with the AFL-CIO. Six months ago there were about seven, he said.
Union leaders say that laws limiting the number of unions each factory can have and requiring a high minimum number of workers for a union to be certified have limited their ability to gain traction.
“The Bangladesh government has always been engaged with us, but undoubtedly they’re feeling more pressure now because of Rana Plaza,” said Ms. Luinstra, referring to the garment-factory building on the outskirts of Dhaka that collapsed this year, killing more than 1,100 people.
Representatives from the Better Work program have been in talks with the Bangladesh government for a year and a half to try to pave the way for the program’s launch, and isn’t certain the program will get up and running this year.
Khandoker Mostan Hossain, a senior official with the Bangladesh Ministry of Labor and Employment, said the government was committed to implementing the Better Work program and was working with the ILO to create the right conditions.
“We hope this will be one of the ways in which the conditions in our factories can reach international standards,” he said. “As part of the government’s commitment, the labor law is being amended to make it easier for workers to bargain collectively and to form unions.” Mr. Mostan Hossain said he expected the amended labor law to be passed in the current session of parliament this month.
The United Nation’s Better Work program began in 2001 in Cambodia, where it is known as Better Factories Cambodia. Since then, Better Work programs have spread to Haiti, Indonesia, Jordan, Lesotho, Nicaragua and Vietnam.
In Cambodia, Better Factories has improved working conditions and helped ensure workers are paid at least the minimum wage. Unions have also flourished under the program’s tenure, with Cambodian factories some of the most densely unionized in the world.
But union leaders and activists say the program has been less effective since the 2005 expiration of an international import quota system, which gave Better Factories leverage over garment producers—if the factories didn’t improve conditions for workers, they wouldn’t get extra access to the U.S. market.
And Cambodia’s union scene isn’t as rosy as the numbers would suggest. Some activists say that 80% of factory workers are unionized but that many unions are beholden to political interests or factory bosses, reducing their commitment to advocate for workers.
Better Work has been focused on improving the transparency of its reporting on factory conditions to increase its effectiveness. But that won’t be easy given the program is a voluntary one, said David Welsh, Solidarity Center’s Cambodia director.
“The more the ILO tries to become transparent, the harder it will be for it to stay in the country,” he said.
Syed Zain Al-Mahmood contributed to this article.
By Kate O’Keeffe
July 6, 2013
A United Nations program credited with making some improvements to working conditions in Cambodia’s garment industry could soon open up shop in Bangladesh, where the industry’s worst-ever disaster killed over 1,100 in April.
Better Work, a program run by the International Labour Organization and the International Finance Corporation, could start mobilizing operations in Bangladesh within weeks of the conclusion of this month’s parliamentary session there, provided the government succeeds in reforming its labor laws, said Amy Luinstra, program manager for Better Work at the IFC.
The highly touted program monitors factories, publishes reports on its findings and offers training for factories and workers so that they are up to speed on safety and fair-labor standards. Although the group has faced some criticism in Cambodia, it has also drawn praise from some activists, and its monitoring reports in Cambodia have offered detailed accounts of the problems in some factories that can be used by labor groups to push for more reform.
In one such report in April, for instance, the Cambodia program found “a worrisome decline” in compliance with occupational safety and health guidelines, including a sizable drop in compliance with standards to keep pathways free of obstructions–an important metric in light of recent deaths from fires and other disasters in Bangladeshi garment factories. It also found numerous factories engaged in discrimination, one factory with underage labor and several that interfered with freedom of association.
A venture in Bangladesh would look similar to other Better Work programs around the world except for its size, which would have to be enormous given the scale of the industry there, said Ms. Luinstra. Bangladesh is one of the biggest exporters of clothing in the world.
For Better Work to start operations in Bangladesh, the country would have to agree to increase freedom of association for trade unions, said Ms. Luinstra. Without stronger protections for unions, the Better Work program’s effectiveness could be compromised, she said.
It is unions on the ground at factories that are best-placed to resolve some workplace issues, program administrators think.
Unions have long had a weak presence in Bangladesh. There are about 37 factory-level unions representing some 5,400 garment factories in the country, said Alonzo Suson, program director in Bangladesh for the Solidarity Center, a nongovernmental organization affiliated with the AFL-CIO. Six months ago there were about seven, he said.
Union leaders say that laws limiting the number of unions each factory can have and requiring a high minimum number of workers for a union to be certified have limited their ability to gain traction.
“The Bangladesh government has always been engaged with us, but undoubtedly they’re feeling more pressure now because of Rana Plaza,” said Ms. Luinstra, referring to the garment-factory building on the outskirts of Dhaka that collapsed this year, killing more than 1,100 people.
Representatives from the Better Work program have been in talks with the Bangladesh government for a year and a half to try to pave the way for the program’s launch, and isn’t certain the program will get up and running this year.
Khandoker Mostan Hossain, a senior official with the Bangladesh Ministry of Labor and Employment, said the government was committed to implementing the Better Work program and was working with the ILO to create the right conditions.
“We hope this will be one of the ways in which the conditions in our factories can reach international standards,” he said. “As part of the government’s commitment, the labor law is being amended to make it easier for workers to bargain collectively and to form unions.” Mr. Mostan Hossain said he expected the amended labor law to be passed in the current session of parliament this month.
The United Nation’s Better Work program began in 2001 in Cambodia, where it is known as Better Factories Cambodia. Since then, Better Work programs have spread to Haiti, Indonesia, Jordan, Lesotho, Nicaragua and Vietnam.
In Cambodia, Better Factories has improved working conditions and helped ensure workers are paid at least the minimum wage. Unions have also flourished under the program’s tenure, with Cambodian factories some of the most densely unionized in the world.
But union leaders and activists say the program has been less effective since the 2005 expiration of an international import quota system, which gave Better Factories leverage over garment producers—if the factories didn’t improve conditions for workers, they wouldn’t get extra access to the U.S. market.
And Cambodia’s union scene isn’t as rosy as the numbers would suggest. Some activists say that 80% of factory workers are unionized but that many unions are beholden to political interests or factory bosses, reducing their commitment to advocate for workers.
Better Work has been focused on improving the transparency of its reporting on factory conditions to increase its effectiveness. But that won’t be easy given the program is a voluntary one, said David Welsh, Solidarity Center’s Cambodia director.
“The more the ILO tries to become transparent, the harder it will be for it to stay in the country,” he said.
Syed Zain Al-Mahmood contributed to this article.
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