A number of companies have instead opted to sign agreements that aren’t legally binding, which gives them a way out, Guillaume Charbonneau, head of the Global Affairs and Workplace Issues Department at United Steelworkers , said.
Victims of the Rana Plaza garments factory tragedy take part in a protest on its 10th anniversary at the site where the building once stood in Savar on the outskirts of Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh.Activists in Canada are also pushing a bill introduced in March 2022 by two federal New Democrats that would make companies more accountable for human rights abuses and environmental harms abroad.
Faruque Hasan, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, hopes more Canadian clothing companies buy from the South Asian nation, which is already Canada’sHe said many Canadian companies were worried after the Rana Plaza disaster, but added that the Bangladeshi industry is a lot more mature, and it can even compete with China when it comes to prices.
In November, the United Steel Workers filed a complaint with the Canadian government over allegations that Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd. refused to pay a living wage to thousands of workers in Bangladeshi factories that make clothes the retailer sells under its Denver Hayes, Dakota, WindRiver and Helly Hansen labels.Hasan said Bangladesh has done its duty by listening to company recommendations and improving safety.