Alliance to share workers wages

The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety has decided to give workers half their first two months’ wages in the event of a hazardous ready-made garment factory belonging to any its suppliers being closed for repairs.

The Alliance represents a group of North American apparel brands and retailers including Gap, JC Penney, Kohl`s, Target, VF Corp and Wal-Mart.

Alliance chairman Ellen O'Kane Tauscher made the announcement at a press held in a Dhaka hotel on Thursday.

Leaders of Bangladesh’s garment factory owners’ association appreciated the Alliance gesture.

Alliance was formed to promote labour rights and workplace safety in Bangladesh’s innumerable garment factories after the devastating Rana Plaza collapse that claimed over 1,200 lives.

Tauscher said: “If any of the supplier factories remains closed to improve workplace safety, the Alliance will provide the workers of the factory concerned half of their salaries of the first two months. The factory authorities will provide the remaining half.”

She said the Alliance had initially decided to withdraw its investments from Bangladesh following the Rana Plaza accident.

Photo: asaduzzaman pramanik/ bdnews24.com

Photo: asaduzzaman pramanik/ bdnews24.com

“But we later felt that it won’t be a solution. So, we decided to continue our investment in the country for at least another five years.”

Tauscher said the Alliance would spend $50 million to train workers and improve workplace safety in garment factories during that period.

The Alliance has been working on enhancing fire and structural safety in the country`s 700 garment factories to prevent any repeat of Rana Plaza. It has so far inspected 400 factories, four of which have been branded risky.

To raise awareness about workers’ safety, the Alliance hopes to give training to at least one million workers and factory officials by July this year.