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Gap, Wal-Mart among Bangladesh fire safety holdouts

Tue, 14 May 2013 15:48:00 +0000

Wal-Mart and the Gap have yet to join retailers like H&M and Zara in signing a legally binding fire and building safety agreement to ensure safer working conditions in Bangladesh's garment factories. The accord calls for companies to help pay for transparent, independent factory safety inspections, and for a greater role for workers and unions in ensuring factory safety.

As Reuters reports:

H&M signs factory safety plan in Bangladesh

Mon, 13 May 2013 15:55:00 +0000

As rescue workers ended their search for victims of the Rana Plaza disaster, H&M -- the largest global buyer of garments from Bangladesh -- announced on Monday that it will sign a legally binding fire and building safety agreement to ensure safer working conditions in its factories in the country.

Labor activists have applauded the move, calling H&M's participation in the PVH-Tchibo plan "crucial." Scott Nova, executive director of the Worker Rights Consortium, a Washington-based factory monitoring group, told the New York Times: “They are the single largest producer of apparel in Bangladesh, ahead even of Wal-Mart. This accord now has tremendous momentum.”

The plan mandates rigorous monitoring and building inspections, and requires retailers to help finance fire and safety improvements in the factories they work with, according to the Times:

As Bangladesh factory death toll tops 900, another disaster

Thu, 09 May 2013 15:55:00 +0000

On Thursday, as the death toll from last month's factory collapse in Dhaka topped 900, yet another disaster further marred Bangladesh's industrial district. After midnight Wednesday, a fire in a clothing factory killed eight workers. Were it not for the lateness of the hour, many more people may have been caught in the flames. Foreign Policy noted:

The latest accident comes after authorities forced 18 factories to shut down temporarily in order to comply with safety standards. (Six were apparently up and running again by Thursday.) The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Department of State, and Department of Labor, meanwhile, convened a conference call with 70 retailers and manufacturers that do business in Bangladesh to discuss coordinating efforts to improve working conditions. None of the companies said they planned to scale back production in the South Asian country.

The April 24 collapse of the Rana Plaza complex in Dhaka was the world's worst industrial accident since the 1984 Bhopal disaster in India.

Meanwhile, as HuffPo reported, Benetton has finally admitted its connection to last month's tragedy:

Gap Inc. targeted by post-Bangladesh corporate reform campaign

Wed, 08 May 2013 14:06:00 +0000

Gap Inc. was not among the retailers found to be subcontracting to Rana Plaza, the collapsed factory in Savar, Bangladesh, that resulted in the deaths of 800 people and the injury of 2,500 others; but the company's larger-than-life retail presence and current lack of transparency around its manufacturing standards have made it a target for a massive, labor-led corporate reform campaign.

The International Labor Rights Forum and United Students Against Sweatshops have launched Gap Deathtraps, a campaign to pressure the clothing giant to abandon its policy of self-regulation and sign the legally binding Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Agreement to ensure safer factory conditions.

According to the campaign website:

How shoppers can help prevent Bangladesh-type disasters

Fri, 03 May 2013 11:45:00 +0000

While rescue workers continue to dig through the rubble of Rana Plaza, the collapsed Bangladeshi garment factory responsible for the deaths of 433 people (and counting), Americans are faced yet again with the stark reality of consumer culpability in these disasters.

Major clothing retailers like Wal-Mart, Joe Fresh, JCPenney and the Children's Place were each found to have subcontracted manufacturing to the crumbling factory in Savar, where workers were making an average of $38 a month and coerced to report to work even after the walls of the building were literally falling apart. In November, fire ravaged another garment factory near the capital city of Dhaka, leaving 112 dead. Again, pieces of clothing from Sears, the Walt Disney Co. and other major retailers were found among the scorched remains.

In the aftermath of such tragic, and preventable, losses of life, many consumers are left asking themselves what role they can play in discouraging disasters like this from happening again. And, fortunately, there are answers. The collective power of workers is a real thing, and the collective power of consumers is, too.

Wal-Mart wouldn’t pay for Bangladeshi factory safety improvements

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 18:20:00 +0000

At a meeting in April 2011, more than a dozen retailers including Wal-Mart, Gap, Target and JC Penney met in Dhaka to discuss safety at their supplier Bangladeshi garment factories. Bloomberg News revealed minutes from this meeting Wednesday, which show that Wal-Mart nixed a plan that would require retailers to pay their suppliers enough to cover safety improvements.

Last month, a fire in a factory used by Wal-Mart killed 112 workers. There were no fire exits. Despite the fact that more than 700 Bangladeshi garment workers have died since 2005, Wal-Mart and Gap refused last year to pay higher costs for safety. Bloomberg cited comments from a document produced by Wal-mart’s director of ethical sourcing and a Gap official for the Dhaka meeting. It stated:

"Specifically to the issue of any corrections on electrical and fire safety, we are talking about 4,500 factories, and in most cases very extensive and costly modifications would need to be undertaken to some factories. It is not financially feasible for the brands to make such investments.”