Senators Push Obama to Enforce Implementation of Safer Working Conditions in Bangladesh
Nine senators urged President Obama to advocate for safer working conditions in Bangladesh by suspending trade preferences, following last month’s Rana Plaza garment factory collapse, according to a press release (here). Senators including Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Ben Cardin, D-Md., said the accident that killed 1,100 workers and left hundreds of others permanently disabled was entirely “avoidable” if documented safety and workers rights violations from recent years were not left “unheeded.” “More than 1,100 lives could have been saved if the public and private sectors stepped up,” Brown said. “It’s time our government takes a strong stand and works with the Bangladesh government and the private sector to prevent future tragedies.”
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The U.S. government should be responsible for taking action, since the U.S. market “accounts for 30 percent of Bangladesh’s apparel exports,” said Cardin. He said that more decisive steps need to be taken now, since 23 years of pressuring Bangladesh to improve working conditions have resulted in little progress. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said the U.S. should withhold any trade preferences on products from Bangladesh until workplaces are safer and “workers are making more than a pittance” and can “speak out against fundamentally abusive work practices.”