Bangladesh battles charges over child labour in garment factories
\nPublished: Wednesday, 19 September, 2014, 02:05 AM Doha Time
\nGulf Times, Qatar<\/p>\n
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DHAKA: Bangladesh is engaging a lobbying firm to counter a US-based rights group\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s move to cancel the generalised system of preferences (GSP) – that favours Bangladeshi garment export – on grounds that the country does not allow labour rights in export processing zones.
\nA high-level team of government officials and industry representatives will be in Washington to help counter the move, for which a number of position papers have been prepared and rushed to the embassy in time for the hearing before the United States Trade Representatives (USTR) on October 4.
\nThe rights group, American Federation of Labour and Congress of Industrial Organisations (AFL-CIO), has been lobbying for cancellation of GSP facilities for many years.
\nThough GSP facilities do not offer a lot of benefits to Bangladesh, its cancellation would confirm AFL-CIO\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s claims that labour rights are violated in Bangladesh, The Daily Star said yesterday.
\nThe Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (Bepza) says the campaign is based on falsehoods.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The complaint of absence of workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 rights in the EPZs is not true as about 177 elected workers representation & welfare committees (WRWCs) are actively working in the EPZs of Bangladesh,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said a position paper prepared by Bepza.
\nQuestioning the rights body\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s methodology for investigation, it said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Bepza does not have any idea regarding intelligence activities and harassment of EPZ workers and representatives of the WRWCs by any law enforcing agencies.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nBepza claims that the first phase of implementation of the EPZ Workers Association and Industrial Relations Act 2004 has been successfully completed, and implementation of the second phase of the Act is going on.
\nThe Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporters Association (BFFEA) in its paper claims the industry does not have a single child worker at its processing units across the country.
\nThe association is also \u00e2\u20ac\u0153not aware\u00e2\u20ac\u009d of any incidents of repression on workers in the industry, and it has never faced any workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 agitation, it stated.
\nIn its petition, AFL-CIO made four complaints – violation of domestic and internationally recognised workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 rights in EPZs; violation of domestic labour laws and internationally recognised labour standards in readymade garments industry; similar violations in shrimp and fish processing industries; and harassment and violence by government security forces against trade unions, workers and labour rights groups. \u00e2\u20ac\u201c IANS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bangladesh battles charges over child labour in garment factories Published: Wednesday, 19 September, 2014, 02:05 AM Doha Time Gulf Times, Qatar DHAKA: Bangladesh is engaging a lobbying firm to counter a US-based rights group\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s move to cancel the generalised system of preferences (GSP) – that favours Bangladeshi garment export – on grounds that the country […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n