WASHINGTON: A dozen US lawmakers pressed President Barack Obama’s administration on Thursday to complete a long-running review that could lead to suspension of trade benefits for Bangladesh after a deadly factory blaze there last month.
“We are seriously concerned about the deterioration of working conditions and worker rights in Bangladesh,” the congressional Democrats said in a letter to US Trade Representative Ron Kirk.
“The latest apparel industry fire, with over 100 workers killed, in the Tazreen garment factory is the latest in a series of events and practices constituting this decline,” the lawmakers told the reporters.
A Bangladeshi panel investigating the November 24 fire at the Tazreen Fashion Factory that killed 112 workers concluded it was the result of both sabotage and negligence.
A US trade official said Kirk’s office had been concerned about the worker-rights situation in Bangladesh for some time and had conveyed those concerns to the Bangladeshi government on numerous occasions.
The Tazreen fire had “intensified our concerns,” the official said.
Reuters
