Employers' undue influence in RSC puts RMG workers' safety at risk

Global rights campaigners have raised concerns that excessive employer influence over operations of RMG Sustainability Council (RSC), the factory safety body, is weakening its effectiveness and endangering workers.

The RSC was set up in 2020 to take over the responsibility from the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, which had been working to improve workplace safety in the country's readymade garment (RMG) sector. This initiative was launched following the 2013 Rana Plaza building collapse, which killed over 1,100 workers and injured thousands more.

The rights groups -- Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC), Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) and Maquila Solidarity Network (MSN) -- also called for restructuring the RSC governance to eliminate employer influence over the inspection process and maintain the integrity of the safety programme.

On February 6, in a memorandum to global apparel brands that participate in the garment industry's most respected workplace safety programme, the rights groups have shared the latest research findings and alleged that factory owners' influence over the programme's operations in Bangladesh is weakening its enforcement and endangering workers.

According to the research findings, strong employer influence has resulted in the weakening of the programme's mechanism used to enforce factory owners' safety obligations.

The global rights organisations say the RSC has consistently failed to enforce the withdrawal of utilisation declarations (UDs), a form of customs licence controlled by trade bodies -- BGMEA and BKMEA -- and thus allowing grossly dangerous factories to continue exports goods even to brands that are signatories to the Accord. These factories have been removed from the safety programme for failing to make mandated safety renovation.

There are at least 30 factories for which BGMEA/BKMEA failed to withdraw UDs for more than six months from the issuance of the Stage 3 termination decision, said the memorandum.

According to available complete data, the withdrawals of UDs took more than 13 months on an average -- 1,400 per cent longer than the agreed timeline, it said.

Data for apparel shipments leaving Bangladesh demonstrate the RSC's failure to hold BGMEA/BKMEA accountable for delayed UD withdrawals, the rights campaigners said.

Records show that of the 57 factories terminated under the RSC until October 2024, at least 44 (77 per cent) kept sending shipments to customers around the world more than 60 days after their date of termination, they alleged.

They also pointed out delays in the implementation of a crucial programme to avert boiler explosions which have historically been a cause of injury and death for garment workers.

"These problems do not lie with the personnel of the RSC, but with employers abusing their power and exercising undue influence in the programme," read the memorandum.

The RSC was created after the Accord came under attack from 'recalcitrant' owners supported by the Sheikh Hasina government, it said, adding that in the context of the recent sweeping change in Bangladesh's government, it is time to review the governance structures of the Accord programme in the country.

"Restructured governance can restore the RSC's independence and allow it to do its job unimpeded, protecting the safety of garment workers and supporting the efforts of current and future governments in Bangladesh to strengthen the nation's regulatory institutions," it noted.

"It is ultimately the responsibility of every apparel brand to ensure that the workers who make its clothes do so under safe conditions. The Accord has been extremely effective in enabling brands to fulfil that responsibility in Bangladesh, but it cannot continue to do so without reform of the RSC."

The rights groups urged the apparel brands to support the necessary changes to the RSC; to honour their Accord obligations, including paying fair prices to suppliers and to reward the resulting safety progress in Bangladesh by sustaining and expanding their production in the country.

A Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) statement said there is heightened international interest in binding agreements and grievance mechanisms as means for brands to abide by human rights due diligence legislation, as was also a topic at this week's OECD Forum on Due Diligence in the garment and footwear sector.

"A reset of the RSC governance structure is necessary to keep the grievance mechanism safe from any employer interference, also in light of mandatory due diligence requirements, and to ensure its alignment with the Accord's commitment to the eventual transition to governmental regulatory oversight," said Ineke Zeldenrust of CCC in the statement.

When contacted, Zobaidur Rahman, Head of engagement and logistic at the RSC, declined to make any comment, saying that they just came to know about the report.

They would share their opinions after analysing the findings, he added.

munni_fe@yahoo.com