BSCI for social dialogue to boost RMG

Business Social compliance Initiative (BSCI) continues to build dialogue between all stakeholders to promote labour improvement in the garment and textile sector in Bangladesh, one of the top sourcing markets for its companies. As part of this, BSCI partnered the recently-held 3rd Global Social Responsibility Conference in Dhaka, which united various stakeholders from business associations and international organisations to discuss ways to reinforce the sector.

Under the theme of “Shareholder Value Versus Social Responsibility”, BSCI representative Daniel Seidl highlighted the need for a change in mindset towards increasing entrepreneurial responsibility involving all actors in the supply chain. During the conference, panel discussions centred on pressing labour challenges, including fire safety. Representatives from IndustriAll talked about compensation issues of Rana Plaza victims. Currently around 40% of the total signatories of the Accord consist of BSCI participants.

BSCI also facilitates multi-stakeholder Round Table meetings such as the one held in October 2014, at which BSCI welcomed in Dhaka stakeholders including the government of Bangladesh, business associations, trade unions, factory owners, buyers, NGOs and the media to discuss “Social Dialogue Leverages Corporate Social Responsibility”. A hot topic was the need for factory owners to place greater value on human capital, and invest in vocational training. BSCI will continue to offer managers from factories where its participants source, tailored training in areas where working conditions are threatened by gaps in capacity, throughout 2015. These include health and safety management, compensation and working time, and fire safety, which is a specific aspect of this. BSCI is planning a follow-up Round Table to address the root causes of systemic labour issues during 2015. Updates will be provided on our events page.