Garment Industry (Working Conditions)

Alan Duncan Excerpts

Wednesday 30th April 2014 Westminster Hall

[The Minister of State, Department for International Development (Mr Alan Duncan)]

I congratulate the hon. Member for Birmingham, Ladywood (Shabana Mahmood)on securing this very important debate and I thank her for doing so. I acknowledge and admire her conviction and concern on this issue and agree in particular about what she said about the enforcement regime.

The ready-made garment sector is in many ways a huge success story for Bangladesh: it is worth over £13 billion and it provides jobs for more than four million people, of whom over 70% are women. The garment industry supports a further 25 million people across the country. The problem, however, is that the growth in this sector has outpaced the development of the standards that underpin it. Like others around the world, we were all shocked by the appalling loss of life in the tragedy at Savar last year, where more than 1,100 people were killed and a further 2,500 were injured.

In the immediate aftermath, the Department for International Development helped to provide trained volunteers and equipment to help rescue those who were trapped. Many of the injured were taken to the DFID-funded centre for the rehabilitation of the paralysed, which is just 1 km down the road, for treatment and rehabilitation. The collapse was a wake-up call, not only for the garment industry, but for all of us who buy clothes that may be made in Bangladesh. It threw the spotlight on building and fire safety and on the wider working conditions and rights of Bangladeshi garment workers.

I visited Bangladesh at the beginning of April, which was my second visit since the collapse, and I met survivors who have received help from the UK to recover from their injuries and retrain for new jobs. It was moving and inspiring to hear how the survivors have sought to maintain their dignity and re-establish their livelihoods despite receiving such severe injuries and psychological trauma.

We can all learn from their stories. The two that most stuck in my mind were first that of someone called Yusuf, who was paralysed after he ran into the building to help others to escape. The compensation that he has received means that his family has a secure future. I also met Amzad for the second time. He is a double amputee who is being trained at the centre to use prosthetic legs.

I also met the Government, factory owners and the Accord on Fire and Building Safety. I am pleased to say that, one year on from the Rana Plaza tragedy, genuine progress has been made in addressing the many challenges facing the industry, through commitments made by manufacturers, brands, development partners and, as is essential, the Government of Bangladesh. A new labour law has been introduced that allows for greater freedom of association and increased occupational health and safety for workers. Encouragingly—this goes to the nub of what the hon. Lady was referring to—more than one thousand structural, fire and electrical safety inspections have been carried out in the last year. However, a further 2,500 registered garment factories need to have structural, fire and safety inspections and those factories that are not registered need to be identified.

Let me outline the action that the UK Government have taken during the past year to help improve standards in the garment sector. Along with Canada and the Netherlands, the UK is providing £4.8 million to an International Labour Organisation programme to improve working conditions in the sector, which will conduct about 1,500 structural, fire and electrical safety inspections. We have also supported the development of a website and an inspection database for the new Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments. That is exactly the sort of objective that the hon. Lady outlined: to get a common standard across the whole sector so that the good do not pass on lower standards to the bad. We are supporting the development of an efficient, credible and transparent cadre of labour inspectors through training and technical support. The inspectors will ensure compliance with the new labour law and include occupational health and safety and working conditions in their remit. Training for the inspectors begins next month.

When I was in Bangladesh earlier this month, I launched three new projects that will help staff at all levels in garment factories to work together to improve the working environment by addressing issues such as fire safety, absenteeism and working hours. The projects will provide training for middle managers in labour standards and, critically, improve the health care provided to factory workers—in essence, by having a nurse in every factory. DFID is also helping to launch a new programme that will focus on building industrial relations inside factories—on the spot—so that management and workers are better able to prevent, identify and solve problems in the work place.

On compensation, as the hon. Lady said, Primark—which first of all got attacked in the press—has in fact been an absolute market leader and exemplar in how it has paid out long-term compensation to workers and their families. I am aware that some other companies have made smaller additional contributions. I use this opportunity today to ask other UK companies to step up and contribute to help the Rana Plaza workers.

At the heart of the issue is the idea that companies must take responsibility for all the workers in their supply chain. The best brands do the best things, and British companies can be a force for good by enforcing improvements in their supply chain. I urge all brands, companies and retailers to think about their sourcing practices and to introduce more transparency into supply chains. Those standards have to go all the way from the till at which a garment is sold right back to the sewing machine where it is made.

The garment industry is having a positive impact on social change and women’s empowerment, by providing women with opportunities to work outside the home, to earn their own money, to help support their family and to have an alternative to early marriage. The empowerment of women must be allowed to continue and flourish within the garment sector. We want to see continued growth, rather than boycotting or abandonment, so that the sector can continue to flourish as an important part of the economy, thus increasing the number of safer and better jobs for women in particular.

The UK will continue to support work towards the goal of building a healthy, safe and sustainable garment sector in Bangladesh that benefits everyone. The priority now, assisted by today’s debate, which was initiated by the hon. Lady, is to maintain momentum and use this first-year anniversary to push for continuing further progress.

Question put and agreed to.