The decision to extend monitoring to non-occupational safety and health issues has led to growing tensions between the RMG Sustainability Council and the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
The BGMEA clarified its stance in a statement on Sunday and advised its member factories not to reply to any correspondence, letters or circulars from the RSC concerning the non-OSH complaints procedure.
After Abdul Haque, Managing Director of RSC, recently wrote to the RMG factories to announce that it will extend its complaints mechanism beyond OSH to cover a wide variety of workplace-related issues, particularly labour rights, in two phases, the odds skyrocketed.
Unfair employment contracts and separation, salaries, benefits and leave, freedom of association and collective bargaining, child labour, forced labour and discrimination will all be covered by the RSC’s enhanced Comprehensive Complaints Mechanism.
Abdul Haque added that the board meeting on 20th October authorised the plan to expand the mechanism and that 1,185 manufacturers and 58 international brands would be involved in the first phase, which would begin on 16th November and run for six months.
In the meantime, the BGMEA stated on Sunday that the non-OSH complaint procedure was presently being reviewed and that BGMEA Management was in close contact with the RSC to elucidate its stance through productive discussion.
‘A final position on this issue would be communicated upon discussion in the upcoming RSC Board Meeting,’ the statement added, urging the members to not to respond to any communications, letters, or circulars from the RSC related to the non-OSH complaints mechanism till then.
The BGMEA emphasised that any system affecting factory operations must be designed through appropriate interaction with industry stakeholders, stating that the directive was required to guarantee a coordinated approach in accordance with its rules.
Monitoring structural, fire and electrical safety throughout the RMG sector was the initial responsibility of the RSC, which was founded in 2020 as the replacement for the Accord on Fire and Building Safety. International brands, national and international trade unions, and regional business associations are all equally represented on the RSC’s governing board.
According to the RSC’s letter to the RMG plants, the expansion was approved by the board’s tripartite structure and came after a successful pilot on non-OSH concerns. But a number of prominent figures in the industry rejected the assertion.
The President of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association and a board member of the RSC, Mohammad Hatem, claimed that despite spending several hours at the board meeting, no such agreement was made. He maintained that topics like pay and labour union disputes are outside the purview of the RSC and shouldn’t be included without the industry’s approval.
Additionally, industry representatives expressed uncertainty about whether the RSC would increase its monitoring role because companies were already struggling as a result of low purchase prices offered by international purchasers and they claimed that doing so would add financial and administrative responsibilities.
