Labor Standards in Post-Rana Plaza Bangladesh: Public Regulation, Private Governance and the Struggle for Worker Safety

• In Event: 2140 - Addressing Labor Rights through the Private, Public, and Non-Profit Sectors

Abstract

In this paper, we assess the landscape of labor reform efforts in post-Rana Plaza Bangladesh. Drawing on fieldwork conducted in 2015 and 2017, we analyze how public and private efforts are interacting to advance (or retard) the
goal of improving worker health and safety and strengthening core labor standards in Bangladesh's apparel industry. Our analysis underscores the unevenness of the post-Rana Plaza
reforms. Specifically, we identify a key difference in the area of building safety, where significant progress is being made,
thanks largely to the efforts of two private sector factory inspection programs, the Accord and Alliance, and the broader goal of compliance with core labor standards, where there is
much less cause for optimism. We argue that ongoing suppression of workers’ rights, particularly freedom of association, compromises the long-term prospects for maintaining the gains in worker safety that have been made in the five years since Rana Plaza.

Author

• Jennifer L. Bair, University of Virginia