US Ambassador in Dhaka Marcia Bernicat on Saturday said workers should be given a strong and powerful voice so that they can say ‘no’ to work in a factory having a cracked wall as it is a matter of workplace safety.
“It’s critically important for workers to have a strong and powerful voice to be able to say ‘we won’t work in that building with a cracked wall’ and be heard and respected,” she said addressing a function in the city.
Three years ago the Rana Plaza building collapsed, crushing workers underneath and drawing the world’s attention to the safety concerns in Bangladesh.
In just one day, Bangladesh lost more than 1,100 lives with hundreds of others being injured and scarred for life. Recalling the human cost of that day, Bernicat said she had a chance to meet some of the survivors of the tragedy and heard from them about the challenges they still face on a day-to-day basis. “We can never make those who survived such a tragedy whole again. But we can do our best to avoid such a tragedy happen again.” The US diplomat said the United States has done everything it can to ensure Bangladesh workers are protected by strong occupational safety and health standards. “We’ve provided $1.5 million to the International Labor Organization to improve fire and building safety in Bangladesh,” she added.
