Labour rights critical to growth, sustainability of RMG: Peter Haas

US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas on Thursday said strong labour laws and their implementation are vital to bilateral relationships, sustainable and inclusive development, and supporting a stable and predictable operating environment for US companies operating in Bangladesh.

The US looks forward to deepening its work with the private sector and other stakeholders in Bangladesh to advance internationally recognised labour rights in the RMG industry and beyond, he said at an event marking Bangladesh Cotton Day 2023, UNB reports.

"The recent minimum wage review for the ready-made garment sector has demonstrated the clear need for an objective, inclusive, and evidence-based national wage policy that addresses the severe economic challenges faced by garment workers," he said.

"As we look at the readymade garment sector, one of our mission's priorities here in Bangladesh is a sustainable and broadly shared prosperity realised through improved labour standards," he said.

"This brings me to labour rights, which are critical to the continued growth and sustainability of the readymade garment sector in Bangladesh," the US envoy added.

Haas reminded that on 16 November, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the new US Presidential Memorandum on "Advancing Worker Empowerment, Rights, and High Labor Standards Globally".

Haas said this new global labour strategy calls on all US government agencies to intensify engagements with governments, labour organisations, trade unions, civil society, and the private sector to promote and protect the rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

Bangladesh is a major market for US cotton, and this annual Cotton Day event is a fantastic way to bring together everyone who uses US cotton from the spinning mills all the way to the final retail outlets, said the ambassador.

This year, Bangladesh removed the requirement for US cotton to be fumigated on arrival. The removal of the cotton fumigation requirement is one of the biggest economic trade successes the embassy achieved in 2023.

In 2022, US cotton exports reached almost $470 million, which represented 15% of total US exports to Bangladesh.

"While exports are down this year for a variety of factors, we are still seeing inroads for US cotton in Bangladesh, as the percentage of the US market share is growing," said the US envoy.

Through the US Cotton Trust Protocol, he said, his country can offer a transparent supply of sustainable cotton, which is being demanded by brands around the world.

Meanwhile, US NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby on Wednesday said Moscow's claims of Washington's interference in Bangladesh's domestic political affairs was "classic Russian propaganda".

At a media briefing in Washington, he said it is "absolutely false, and the Russians know it's false".

Kirby said they want the same thing the Bangladeshi people want, and that is free and fair elections.

"And that's what the ambassador [Peter Haas] was – and his team was and will continue to work with all sectors of Bangladeshi society, including civil society, engagement with opposition parties and individuals as well as the sitting government, to work hard to make sure that the democratic aspirations of the Bangladeshi people are respected. That's what we're doing," he said.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, during a weekly briefing in Moscow on 22 November, said Russia has spoken repeatedly about the attempts by the US and its allies to influence the internal political process in Bangladesh, ostensibly under the banner of ensuring "transparency and inclusiveness" in the upcoming parliamentary election.

In particular, the American Ambassador "promised" the representative of the opposition information support in the event that the authorities use force against participants in "peaceful demonstrations".

These assurances were purportedly made on behalf of the embassies of the United States, Britain, Australia, and several other countries, according to a Facebook post shared by the Russian Embassy in Dhaka.