US Senator Robert Menendez has threatened garment owners that he would not support the restoration of Bangladesh’s GSP facilities unless “harassment and intimidation” of garment union organisers and members are stopped.
Menendez is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and a member of the Senate Committee on Finance.
On Mar 24, he wrote a letter to the BGMEA President Atiqul Islam, urging him to take “immediate and substantial steps” to end the “harassment and intimidation” of union organisers and members by the garment factory owners.“Union organisers and leaders in BGMEA factories are still subject to intimidation and termination,” he wrote.
He said he “cannot support the renewal or expansion of Bangladesh’s GSP benefits as long as union organisers and members are subjected to harassment, intimidation, and violence from BGMEA factory owners and managers”.
Islam could not be reached for comment as he is out of the country.
Acting President Nasir Uddin Ahmed Chowdhury said he was not aware of the letter. But he said that it’s (union organisers’ harassment) “propaganda” to block restoration of the GSP.
He said ready-made garments never enjoyed the duty-free market access. “So the renewal of GSP for other products that used to receive the facility would depend on the understanding of the two governments”.
The US suspended the trade preferences for Bangladeshi products in June last year as Bangladesh “failed to improve labour conditions, especially in the garment sector”.
Before the suspension, Menendez urged the United States Trade Representative to suspend GSP benefits to Bangladesh “because of the dire state of workers’ rights and safety”.
“As you are well aware, GSP benefits were suspended shortly after our Committee’s hearing, and an Action Plan was created that laid out several requirements for renewal,” he wrote in his letter.
In February, Menendez held a hearing on workers’ rights in Bangladesh and released a report on the topic last November.
In the hearing the BGMEA chief gave a written testimony.
“In your written testimony, you mentioned that the BGMEA is forming a new department to deal with workers’ rights, recruiting a labour consultant, and preparing a plan to educate factory owners and workers on the labour law,” read the letter.
“I welcome these initial steps, but more can and should be done,” he wrote.
In the letter he cited instances of harassment and intimidation. “Just last month, four union organisers, including two women, were reportedly severely injured by two dozen attackers as they tried to organise workers in a large garment factory.
“Two of the organisers were hospitalised for several days. Incidents like these are completely unacceptable and the BGMEA is obligated to play a stronger role in preventing them”.
He “strongly” urged the BGMEA president “to exercise your leadership to end these grave injustices and protect workers’ rights and safety”.-bdnews24.com
