This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22513861

The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Bangladesh factory rescue operation draws to close Bangladesh textile factories shut amid unrest
(about 9 hours later)
The search for bodies in the wreckage of a Bangladesh garment factory that collapsed almost three weeks ago is drawing to a close, officials say. Bangladesh's main textile association says many textile factories in an area near the capital, Dhaka, have shut due to worker unrest sparked by the collapse of the Rana Plaza.
Soldiers and salvage workers have recovered 1,127 bodies from the site of the Rana Plaza building near Dhaka. Owners made the decision on safety grounds, said the association's president, Mohammad Atiqul Islam.
The government says it will lift trade union restrictions amid pressure to improve workers' conditions.
At least 1,127 bodies have been recovered from the Rana Plaza building.
Officials say the rescue operation is drawing to a close, with the military expected to hand over the site to the district administration on Tuesday.
"The possibility of getting more bodies is thin," said Brigadier General Mohammad Siddiqul Alam Shikder."The possibility of getting more bodies is thin," said Brigadier General Mohammad Siddiqul Alam Shikder.
The government also promised to lift trade union restrictions amid pressure to improve garment industry conditions. The Rana Plaza in Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka, housed a number of textile factories, some of which were supplying Western retailers.
The military will hand over the site to the district administration on Tuesday, army spokesman Shahinul Islam said. Its collapse is the latest in a series of deadly incidents focusing global attention on safety standards in Bangladesh's textile industry.
A female garment worker, Reshma, was the last survivor to be pulled from the wreckage, 17 days after the building collapsed. 'Beatings and harassment'
The Rana Plaza building collapse is the latest in a series of deadly incidents focusing global attention on safety standards in Bangladesh's garment industry. One report said as many as 300 factories had closed in the Ashulia industrial area near Dhaka.
Union rights "Owners decided to close their factories on safety grounds after workers went on a rampage almost every day after the collapse of Rana Plaza," Mohammad Atiqul Islam, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said on Monday.
On Monday, the government agreed to allow garment workers to form trade unions without permission from factory owners as part of growing concessions for industry reform. Workers in 80% of the factories in Ashulia staged a walkout demanding a salary increase, as well as the execution of the owner of the Rana Plaza, local police chief Badrul Ala said.
Police say tensions have been further inflamed by the discovery of a body of a female worker in Ashulia on Sunday.
Thousands of workers took to the streets and vandalised vehicles and shops before being dispersed by police, a police officer told the Associated Press news agency.
On Monday, the government agreed to allow garment workers to form trade unions without permission from factory owners.
The government amended the 2006 Labour Act lifting restrictions on forming trade unions in most industries, spokesman Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said.The government amended the 2006 Labour Act lifting restrictions on forming trade unions in most industries, spokesman Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said.
"The government is doing it for the welfare of the workers," Mr Bhuiyan told reporters."The government is doing it for the welfare of the workers," Mr Bhuiyan told reporters.
This comes a day after the government created a new panel of union representatives and factory workers to raise the minimum wage for garment workers.This comes a day after the government created a new panel of union representatives and factory workers to raise the minimum wage for garment workers.
However, trade union leaders have responded cautiously to the changes.However, trade union leaders have responded cautiously to the changes.
"The issue is not really about making a new law or amending the old one,'' Kalpana Akter of the Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity told Associated Press news agency."The issue is not really about making a new law or amending the old one,'' Kalpana Akter of the Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity told Associated Press news agency.
"In the past whenever workers tried to form associations they were subjected to beatings and harassment.''"In the past whenever workers tried to form associations they were subjected to beatings and harassment.''
The textile industry's main body, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, also said on Monday it would close hundreds of garment factories "indefinitely" in an industrial suburb of Dhaka after continued unrest by workers. 'Epidemic of disasters'
Safety concerns Bangladesh has one of the largest garment industries in the world.
Bangladesh has one of the largest garment industries in the world, and some of the clothes produced in the Rana Plaza building were made for Western retailers. Last Wednesday, 18 garment factories were shut down for safety reasons, amid growing concerns about industrial safety across the country.
Last Wednesday, the country announced the shutdown of 18 garment factories for safety reasons, amid growing concerns over the issue of industrial safety across the country. Four major Western retailers, H&M, C&A, Britain's Primark Stores and the owner of the Zara chain, Inditex, said on Monday they will back an International Labour Organisation-led agreement on fire and building safety that has been under negotiation since the factory collapsed on 24 April.
A fire in a garment factory building in another part of the capital last week killed eight people, including its owner, a senior police officer and a local politician. The contract would require them to conduct safety inspections, pay for repairs and stop doing business with any factory that refuses to make necessary safety improvements.
The cause of the blaze is not yet known, but it began during the night, after the factories had closed for the day, and sent out smoke and gas that suffocated victims as they ran down stairs, officials said. "This agreement is exactly what is needed to finally bring an end to the epidemic of fire and building disasters that have taken so many lives in the garment industry in Bangladesh,'' the executive director of the Worker Rights Consortium, Scott Nova, said.