Bangladesh factory oversight deal risks worker safety, say unions
Court approves a plan to transfer the team working under a global pact to a group led by the country’s top manufacturer association
Dhaka — The end of an international arrangement aimed at ensuring the wellbeing of Bangladeshi garment workers is likely to undermine safety by making factory owners responsible for maintaining standards, trade union leaders said on Tuesday. The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh was set up by European fashion brands to improve factory safety in Bangladesh after a garment factory complex collapsed in 2013 killing more than 1,100 people. Staff inspect factories to check on safety in the world’s second-largest exporter of ready-made garments. The five-year pact was originally due to expire in May 2018 but a longer transition period was agreed. Attempts by the accord’s members to extend its authority to operate were challenged in court by some factory owners, while the government set up its own body to take over its work. On Sunday, a court approved a plan to transfer the factory oversight team that works under the pact and its duties to a group led by the top garment man...
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