The Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Government of Germany, will be holding the first Round Table on the Textiles Industry, and BMZ Minister Gerd Müller has invited participation of representatives of textile companies, trade unions and civil society, a press release from the Ministry said.
The Round Table has been called as it is now one year since the collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory in Bangladesh that killed over 1,130 people and injuring 2,000 others, some of them seriously. In a joint press release issued by the Ministry of BMZ and the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Ministers Gerd Müller and Andrea Nahles have called on the textiles industry to commit to a common set of social and environmental standards in the countries where their goods are produced. "We shouldn't just expect good working conditions to be in place within our own country. People's personal health and safety at work should be guaranteed everywhere in the world. In Germany, we foster good working conditions through the minimum wage and the social partnership that exists between employers' and workers' representatives. Both nationally and internationally, we are helping companies to meet their global responsibilities," said Minister Nahles. "The instruments already exist, not least the ILO Decent Work Agenda. But as the sad incident at Rana Plaza showed, it still needs to be more stringently applied both by governments and industry. That is what I am pressing for," she added. "We can no longer accept the often inhuman conditions in which people employed in the textiles industry live and work in Asia and Africa. Germany can and must take a leading role in efforts to improve working conditions," said Minister Müller.
Through its development cooperation, Germany is supporting Bangladesh with the introduction and observance of social and environmental standards in the textiles industry. Measures include information and education campaigns, training courses and government labour inspectors to conduct checks in the factories, the statement said.
