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Violating Labour Rights : The abuse of international labour standards in Bangladesh's garment sector

Rivero Friström, Malena LU (2010) MRSK30 20101
Human Rights Studies
Centre for Theology and Religious Studies
Abstract
The contemporary labour practices within the readymade garment industry in Bangladesh represent sweatshop-related working conditions. The garment workers suffer from appalling working conditions that have not existed in the global North for a couple of hundred years. The export of garments is Bangladesh’s main source of income. In order to ensure that the country remains competitive in the global market, the Government offer TNCs the cheapest labour force within the industry, as well as flexibility with labour laws. This results in existing national labour laws not being in line with internationally accepted labour standards.
The main purpose of this paper is to explore the reason behind Bangladesh’s inability to apply the international... (More)
The contemporary labour practices within the readymade garment industry in Bangladesh represent sweatshop-related working conditions. The garment workers suffer from appalling working conditions that have not existed in the global North for a couple of hundred years. The export of garments is Bangladesh’s main source of income. In order to ensure that the country remains competitive in the global market, the Government offer TNCs the cheapest labour force within the industry, as well as flexibility with labour laws. This results in existing national labour laws not being in line with internationally accepted labour standards.
The main purpose of this paper is to explore the reason behind Bangladesh’s inability to apply the international legal framework of labour standards within the garment industry, as well as to examine if existing international frameworks safeguarding workers’ rights are sufficient enough. This is realised by examining the roles that the ILO plays verses the concept of corporate social responsibility, as well as through a thorough investigation of the practices and regulations of the world of trade.
This paper argues that the international frameworks do not have the power needed for the protection of workers’ rights to be completely realised, and that the international trading system creates difficulties for Bangladesh to uphold the garment workers’ rights single handedly. (Less)
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author
Rivero Friström, Malena LU
supervisor
organization
course
MRSK30 20101
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
RMG-sector, Bangladesh, ILO, international labour standards, TNC, code of conduct, CSR, MNE Declaration
language
English
id
1653595
date added to LUP
2010-09-24 16:27:45
date last changed
2014-09-04 08:27:54
@misc{1653595,
  abstract     = {{The contemporary labour practices within the readymade garment industry in Bangladesh represent sweatshop-related working conditions. The garment workers suffer from appalling working conditions that have not existed in the global North for a couple of hundred years. The export of garments is Bangladesh’s main source of income. In order to ensure that the country remains competitive in the global market, the Government offer TNCs the cheapest labour force within the industry, as well as flexibility with labour laws. This results in existing national labour laws not being in line with internationally accepted labour standards.
The main purpose of this paper is to explore the reason behind Bangladesh’s inability to apply the international legal framework of labour standards within the garment industry, as well as to examine if existing international frameworks safeguarding workers’ rights are sufficient enough. This is realised by examining the roles that the ILO plays verses the concept of corporate social responsibility, as well as through a thorough investigation of the practices and regulations of the world of trade.
This paper argues that the international frameworks do not have the power needed for the protection of workers’ rights to be completely realised, and that the international trading system creates difficulties for Bangladesh to uphold the garment workers’ rights single handedly.}},
  author       = {{Rivero Friström, Malena}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Violating Labour Rights : The abuse of international labour standards in Bangladesh's garment sector}},
  year         = {{2010}},
}