Multinational enterprises (MNEs), brands and buyers should play an active role in ensuring human rights, health and occupational safety for workers in the garment industry by adhering to the principles of international business responsibility, speakers at a roundtable said on Thursday.
They also emphasised the active role of trade unions in facilitating communication with brands and buyers.
Trade unions can leverage human rights due diligence instruments to hold the brands and buyers accountable for their business operations in the country's ready-made garment sector, they added.
Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS) organised the roundtable titled 'Advancing Human Rights Due Diligence in Bangladesh's RMG sector: Responsibilities on MNEs and Scope of Trade Union' in the city.
Chaired by BILS vice chairman Anwar Hossain, the event was presided over by its advisory council member Badal Khan. Labour leaders and representatives from the government, BGMEA and BKMEA attended the event. Aurangzeb Akand, Assistant Professor of Criminology and Police Science Department of Maulana Bhasani University of Science and Technology, presented the findings of a study.
The study focused on the basic understanding of the Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) concept and its applicability in the context of the RMG industry in Bangladesh, particularly from the perspective of trade unions.
It Identified HRDD as a management tool that allows enterprises to uphold their responsibility to respect human rights in their business operation according to the UNGP, ILO MNE Declaration, OECD MNE Guidelines and EU CSDDD.
The study outlined the major responsibilities of brands and buyers to respect and protect the human rights of workers and their suppliers in Bangladesh, with an analytical presentation of the effective remedy mechanism in line with the recognized HRDD instruments.
The study emphasized how social partners, particularly trade unions in the RMG industry, can utilize HRDD instruments to advocate for accountability among brands and buyers regarding their business operations in the sector.
Labor leaders stressed the need to simplify the process of implementing human rights by integrating the code of conduct and called for effective enforcement of labor laws.
Counsellor at the Danish Embassy Ole Justin, ILO Country Programme Manager Mohammad Anis, BILS Executive Director Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmed, H&M Program Manager Pradeep Gabriel, Country Manager of ETI Abeel Bin Amin, Ashfiq Ahmed of Fairware Foundation, Abhijit Mutsuddi of RMG Sustainable Council and labour leaders Rajekuzzaman Ratan, Naemul Ahsan Jewell, Shahidullah Badal, China Rahman, AA Faiz Hossain and Nurul Islam spoke at the roundtable.
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