Editorial
Fair deal for all
A wind of change awaited
IT is not merely sympathy but also a sense of ownership, responsibility and accountability on a world scale that is being drawn by us in the aftermath of the Rana Plaza disaster. The terrible human cost exacted through building collapse in Savar preceded by Tazrin and Spectrum fires has stirred the world's conscience. How that translates into tangible corrective action is put under the radar screen.
We note that the UN and the USA have expressed serious concern over the dire state of insecurity, our garment workers, most of them women, have to work in. What's more, they have nudged the international buyers and clothing brands to work with Bangladesh government and all stakeholders to improve working conditions for the country's garment workers. The central emphasis ought to be on collective but definable obligations of the buyers, sellers, apex bodies, governments, consumers, and above all, the working classes who, too, should have a voice in shaping the deal.
The buying brands in particular have been used to low prices and yet good quality products from Bangladesh. The cheap prices passed for competitiveness. In this exploitative process, garment exporters and buying brands benefited whilst the workers lost out.
Rather than withdrawal of access to our apparel products, the buying countries as well as their brands should offer fair prices to our exports and apply leverage in an affirmative manner thereby to ensure that our garment sector rids itself of the vulnerability to recurrent disasters.
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