The Bangladeshi government will collaborate with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on a plan to improve workers’ rights and safety, reported Bloomberg News on Sunday, after the death toll from a factory building collapse last month rose to 620 people this week.
The European Union may take trade action against Bangladesh in an attempt to force the country to take workplace safety more seriously, following last week’s factory building collapse which killed more than 400 workers and left thousands injured in Dhaka’s worst-ever industrial disaster.
The warning is the latest sign that governments and retailers are turning up the heat on Bangladesh over the high-risk workplace environment created by the country’s ultra-low wages and lack of safety regulations.
Public officials from Bangladesh’s education ministry will soon have their activities tracked while at work, reported Reuters on Tuesday, after Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid installed close-circuit television cameras in all key offices to catch any form of bribery in his ministry.
As costs have risen in China, long the world’s shop floor, it is slowly losing work to countries like Bangladesh, Vietnam and Cambodia —
at least for cheaper, labor-intensive goods like casual clothes, toys and simple electronics
that do not necessarily require literate workers and can tolerate unreliable transportation systems and electrical grids.
Since 1996, the country of Bangladesh has experienced between 5% and 6% economic growth although government-controlled enterprises have been inefficient and ineffective. In addition, many experts are surprised by the growth in that natural gas resources have been exploited, power supplies have been lacking, and needed economic reform has been put on hold. Unfortunately, Bangladesh is an overpopulated country and one that is very poor. Because of issues of overpopulation, inefficient government, and an impoverished land, Bangladesh faces many uncertainties.
