European Parliament adopts resolution on textile factory fires

As a reaction to the recent fires in garment factories in Bangladesh and Pakistan last November and September, each resulting in the deaths of more than 100 workers, the European Parliament (EP) adopted a resolution on recent casualties in textile factory fires, notably in Bangladesh on 17 January 2013. The resolution calls on governments to effectively implement ILO Core Labour Standards and highlights ILO health and safety conventions, in particular No. 187 and No. 155. The ILO Office strongly welcomes this resolution.

The ILO was invited by the EP South Asia delegation to share recent ILO involvement in these countries. In Bangladesh, the ILO organized a tripartite meeting in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour which resulted in a tripartite statement of commitment to develop a national action plan on fire safety. The representatives of the European External Action Service and the European Commission indicated that the EU is willing to support the national action plan, once agreed.

In Pakistan, the ILO was involved in a multi-stakeholder consultation in the Sindh Province at which key recommendations for a Joint Action Plan on safety and health at the workplace were put forward. Equally, a tripartite statement of commitment was adopted to advocate for and to promote international labour standards on health and safety.