Business
African Business Leaders Join Global Counterparts To Promote Need For ‘Plan B’
Sudanese billionaire, Mo Ibrahim and Nigeria’s Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala joined other global business leaders including Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, to push the need for businesses to always have a plan B, a year after over 1,100 Bangladeshi garment workers lost their lives when, despite prior warnings, the building in which they were working collapsed.
Over 2,500 more were injured in the disaster, some crippled for life. The victims of the Rana Plaza factory collapse, most of them young women, were part of a global supply chain that brings affordable garments to markets around the world. This was not the first event of its kind in Bangladesh, and Bangladesh is not the only country where industrial disasters have occurred.
World business leaders are united under the Umbrella, B Team, a non-profit initiative formed by a global group of leaders to create a future where the purpose of business is to be a driving force for social, environmental and economic benefit. “As members of The B Team, we recognize that these incidents violate basic human rights, they are avoidable and they must stop,” a statement by the group read.
The statement also said, “We know that change is possible. More than a century ago, industrial disasters in Great Britain and the United States became the focus of national campaigns that led to improved working conditions and greater societal concern for worker safety. Problems such as blocked exits, locked doors and inadequate inspections of factory conditions were addressed generations ago in these parts of the world.”
In response to the Rana Plaza disaster, two separate initiatives involving global apparel brands have taken shape over the past year: The Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Safety” and the ‘Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety’. Both are a critical part of wider efforts by governments, international organizations, domestic manufacturers and local civil society organizations to ensure such accidents do not happen again.
These initiatives, as well as the Rana Plaza Arrangement, which is the only coordinated and systematic approach to ensure all the victims, their families and dependents will receive entitlements to cover their losses, are clear steps in the right direction, but more is needed.
The statement also said, “Ultimately, we believe business should be a driving force for wellbeing.” Furthermore, the statement indicated, “That is why we have committed to listen to the needs of employees throughout our businesses and supply chains and to make sure they are treated with dignity.” This means building an enabling environment for employee development, in line with international human rights and labor standards, with workers receiving a fair value in wages for their work.
While immediate action by companies is absolutely necessary, their efforts alone cannot achieve a sufficient response. Another Rana Plaza could happen any day and workers around the world remain at risk. Current attempts to address worker safety are too dependent on audit-led approaches. These are incremental at best, and unlikely to bring about the systemic changes needed. To ensure decent work for all, concerted action is required at multiple levels. The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights provide an overarching authoritative framework for ensuring businesses everywhere are respectful of human rights.
“The lessons of Rana Plaza go beyond the textiles and garment sector, and beyond Bangladesh. The globalization of economic forces will lead to further investments in far corners of the world where work practices are different and regulations are weak or not enforced. States must do more to protect workers but companies, both local and global, have a responsibility to respect human rights and conduct rigorous human rights due diligence to ensure that the lives and security of those working in their supply chains are safe and protected. And when, as in the case of Rana Plaza, there is failure to protect and respect human rights in the workplace then governments and companies must ensure effective remedies, including adequate compensatory payments” says Professor John Ruggie, Former UN Special Representative on Business and Human Rights.
Businesses and their shareholders must play a bigger role in improving factory infrastructure and paying fair wages to workers – recognzing their right to form unions and bargain collectively. They must also put the right safeguards in place throughout their operations and provide training and support to principal suppliers and to all subcontractors to help them meet international standards. This will require long-term business commitments to Bangladesh that will enable shared approaches to addressing these challenges.
And where protection gaps exist, business, unions, civil society, and governments must come together to address abuses by developing adequate remedies that reach all garment factories in Bangladesh without undermining existing legal frameworks and protection mechanisms.
If such levers can be used, we can move much closer to a system that puts inclusive prosperity and long-term sustainability before short-term profits. No worker should ever have to fear for her or his life while on the job. Our inaction has given tacit consent to a system that leaves far too many workers vulnerable in the face of unacceptable risks.
We must move faster to bring about these changes. It will require bold action, courageous leadership and new business models. We all have a role to play. Rana Plaza must not fade in our memory, or become just another tragedy among many – but remain a clarion call for global collective action to protect human rights regardless of the financial cost.
Source: Ventures Africa