MP Rushanara Ali has called on Britain’s high street fashion chains to take responsibility for workers’ safety in Bangladesh.
The Bethnal Green & Bow MP’s call comes in the wake of last month’s collapse of an eight-storey clothing factory complex in Dhaka, when hundreds garment workers were killed—all employed for firms supplying high street shops in the West such as Primark and others.
“Western companies have a responsibility to work with governments to improve conditions and prevent further deadly accidents,” said the MP, who is Shadow Minister for International Development.
“The collapse of the building raises serious concerns about the hazardous conditions and poor safety standards in Bangladesh.”
Rushanara, whose own constituency has one of Britain’s biggest Bangladesh communities, many working in the East End’s once-thriving garment trade, met the Bangladesh Foreign Minister who was visiting the UK last month. They held talks on workers’ conditions in the Bangladesh garment industry which accounts for 80 per cent of the country’s economy.
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