American Retailers Must Listen to the Women of Bangladesh, says Rep. George Miller
Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) spoke on the House floor this morning about his recent trip to Bangladesh. Miller traveled to Bangladesh to personally inspect conditions in the world's second largest garment industry that is experiencing a high rate of fatalities and injuries and to meet with workers, victims, and industry and government officials.
Miller was the first member of Congress to visit Bangladesh since more than 1,100 workers died and more than 2,500 were injured in the April 24th Rana Plaza building collapse that housed five garment factories, making it one of the worst industrial tragedies in world history.
You can read about his trip in the committee's travel blog.
Remarks as prepared:
Mr. Speaker, I recently returned from a trip to Bangladesh, where more than 1,100 garment workers died and 2,000 injured in the Rana Plaza collapse on April 24th.
I learned a great deal about what must be done to improve safety conditions in the garment industry there.
Bangladesh is the second largest garment producing nation, employing 4 million skilled and industrious workers, mostly women, with a minimum wage of $37 per month.
I learned that many factories continue to operate in unsafe residential or multi-story commercial buildings even after Rana Plaza.
I learned more about poor conditions created by a myriad of middlemen hired by retailers that pit one factory against the next, squeezing out a few pennies per garment.
And I learned that Bangladesh garment workers subsidize these low prices with their lives.
I visited the hospital where scores of women missing arms and legs or suffering from brain damage from the Rana Plaza collapse are receiving care.
I met a woman near Rana Plaza still looking for her son even though the unidentifiable or unclaimed workers have been buried in a mass grave.
And Rana Plaza was not an isolated case.
I visited with seven courageous women injured in the Tazreen Fashions factory fire that killed 112 workers last November.
Tazreen produced garments for Wal-Mart and many other American brands.
Listen to what these women told me:
Rehana jumped from the 4th floor window and was knocked unconscious. She broke her leg. Doctors told her she will need to be on crutches for the rest of her life.
Reba was the breadwinner in her home. She jumped from the 3rd floor. She cannot work because of the pain. Her husband is sick. She has two sons, one of whom just qualified to get into the military college. She doesn’t know how she can afford it. And, until I prodded the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers Export Association, Reba had not received a promised stipend for those injured – 6 months later.
Rowshanara jumped from the 3rd floor and still has severe pain in her back and legs. She was visibly in pain after sitting too long with us. She is single and gets by on loans. She has two teenage children in school and doesn’t want to force them to go to work, but she worries how she’ll get by.
Deepa worked on the 3rd floor. She saw the fire and tried to escape to the 2nd floor. The factory manager padlocked the door and told everyone to keep working. Workers were crying and searching for a way out. A mechanic yelled to come to the east side of the building where he had created an exit. She jumped from the 3rd floor and fell unconscious. She broke her left leg. She was four months pregnant and lost her baby.
Sumi decided to jump from the 3rd floor rather than perish in the factory because she wanted her family to be able to identify her body. She broke her leg and arm and could not move. Her family borrowed money to pay for medical bills before the Association funds arrived. Two weeks before Rana Plaza, she came to the U.S. to urge retailers and brands to join the enforceable and binding Accord on Fire and Building Safety.
Nazma said she would have died had she waited 10 more minutes to jump. She saw the manager locking the gate to the second set of stairs and grabbed him by the collar to stop him, but he ignored her. She cut her arms trying to get through a window to reach a bamboo scaffolding. She broke her backbone. She can’t carry anything or do household work. She has three children. Her stipend went for medical care and her children’s education. Her 14-year-old son had to leave school to go to work.
I’m grateful that these women had the courage to tell me their stories.
There is widespread agreement that if Tazreen and Rana Plaza workers had had the right to refuse unsafe work, they would be alive today.
But for too long, the Bangladesh government has blocked new unions.
Only now, facing the potential loss of trade preferences, the government has opened the door a crack.
Twenty-seven new unions have been registered recently, reversing a trend where only one new union per year was registered. And there are 5000 factories.
I met the leaders of some of these newly formed factory unions. They are young and serious.
But only time will tell if the government lives up to its promise of union rights.
In addition, the Obama Administration will soon conclude its review of Bangladesh’s trade benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences, or GSP.
It is my view that GSP benefits should be suspended now until Bangladesh meets specific benchmarks, including: strengthening labor laws consistent with internationally recognized standards; ensuring timely union registrations; and, ending repression of labor rights organizations.
If the benchmarks are not met, then permanent withdrawal is in order.
Finally, the industry that created these horrible conditions must change too.
Wal-Mart, GAP and other American companies must sign the enforceable fire and building safety accord to put a floor under this race to the bottom.
I have one message for these American holdouts after my trip: listen to the women of Bangladesh.