Ecouterre » Tazreen Fashions

Gap, Walmart’s Concerns About Bangladesh Accord Liability Are “Irrational”

Jasmin Malik Chua — Wed, 22 May 2013 19:00:22 +0000

Photo by Khurshed Rinku for Associated Press

On Friday, it’ll be a month since a devastating building collapse claimed the lives of 1,127 garment workers outside the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka. The Rana Plaza disaster will go down in history as a watershed moment for labor rights. In its aftermath, more than 40 of the world’s leading apparel companies—including Benetton, H&M, Topshop, and Zara—have agreed to hold themselves legally accountable for the safety and wellbeing of the people who make their products. Still, a number of retailers have declined to sign the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, which trade unions and labor-rights groups have dubbed superior to non-binding, corporate-controlled codes of conduct. Two naysayers in particular stand out: Walmart and Gap, both significant producers in the beleaguered South Asian nation.

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More Brands, Retailers Commit to Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety

Jasmin Malik Chua — Wed, 15 May 2013 12:00:08 +0000

Holy domino effect! Following examples set by H&M, Inditex, Primark, and C&A on Monday, a number of North American and European clothing brands have agreed to sign a legally enforceable, first-of-its-kind contract that holds them accountable for safety and labor conditions in the factories they employ in Bangladesh. Below, a list of companies that have committed to the Accord on Fire & Building Safety, according to the Clean Clothes Campaign. Among the more conspicuous absentees? Gap and Walmart, both major producers in Bangladesh.

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Bangladesh to Allow Garment Workers to Unionize, Raise Minimum Wage

Jasmin Malik Chua — Tue, 14 May 2013 12:00:56 +0000

Photo by Andrew Biraj for Reuters

Bangladesh’s government agreed on Monday to allow the South Asian nation’s 4 million garment workers to form trade unions without seeking permission from factory workers, a milestone victory for labor-rights campaigners who have been lobbying for widespread reforms to the industry following a devastating building collapse that killed more than 1,100 people three weeks ago. The decision came a day after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s administration announced a plan to raise the minimum wage for garment workers, who are paid as little as $38 per month—a quarter of China’s current minimum wage—to sew clothing for brands and retailers in North America and Europe.

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H&M, Zara Commit to Signing Bangladesh Fire and Safety Agreement

Jasmin Malik Chua — Mon, 13 May 2013 12:00:50 +0000

Photos by Farad Hossain for Associated Press

Four of the world’s largest retailers have consented to a legally binding, first-of-its-kind contract that requires Western businesses to help finance improvements in the factories they use in Bangladesh. Three weeks after a building collapse outside Dhaka killed more than 1,100 workers, H&M, the biggest purchaser of garments from the South Asian country, and Inditex, which owns fast-fashion juggernaut Zara, agreed within minutes of each other on Monday to sign the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh. Britain’s Primark and C&A in the Netherlands followed their lead hours later, approving a stakeholder-drafted plan that calls for independent building inspections, public disclosure of audit results, mandatory building renovations to address hazards, and union access to factories to educate workers on their rights and their safety.

PREVIOUSLY ON ECOUTERRE: International Support for Improving Bangladesh Safety Surpasses 1 Million

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Death Toll In Bangladesh Factory Collapse Rises Above 650

Jasmin Malik Chua — Tue, 07 May 2013 12:00:15 +0000

Bangladeshi authorities have confirmed more than 657 deaths after the eight-story Rana Plaza collapsed just outside the South Asian nation’s capital of Dhaka on April 24. Murder complaints from families of the deceased have been filed against the building’s owner, Mohammad Sohel Rana, who was arrested after a four-day manhunt as he tried flee across the border to India. Similar charges also face the owner of one of the garment factories housed inside the facility and a municipal engineer who allegedly cleared its faulty construction without proper inspection. They and six others in police custody could face the death penalty if found guilty of murder or mass manslaughter.

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Is Our Addiction to Fast Fashion Just Another Form of Terrorism?

Amy DuFault — Fri, 03 May 2013 17:00:09 +0000

Photo by Khurshed Rinku for Reuters

As the death toll in the Rana Plaza building collapse outside the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka climbs past 400, the kinship between our purchasing decisions and the loss of life is becoming harder to ignore. This has been the deadliest industrial disaster to hit the beleaguered South Asian nation, resulting in three times the number of fatalities as the devastating Tazreen Fashions fire a mere five months ago. Despite all the hair-rending and chest-thumping back in November, very little has changed about our so-called “race to the bottom” for cheaper, trendier clothes. History keeps repeating itself, all for a $9.99 dress that makes us feel better about ourselves and our place in life. Make that $9.99 plus 446 human lives in this past month alone. Take that, world.

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Boycotting Brands Linked to Bangaldesh Building Collapse Not the Answer

Ilana Winterstein, Labour Behind the Label — Wed, 01 May 2013 12:00:15 +0000

Photo by Steve Parsons for PA Wire

The recent events in Bangladesh have filled the media with horrific pictures of human tragedy: mothers mourning their lost children, rescue workers covered in dust unearthing more bodies, death and grief mounting under piles of rubble and boxes of unworn clothes. Amongst a growing inbox of heart-wrenching testimony and photos from workers and rescuers on the scene, there is one image in particular that is seared into my mind. That of a man, dust covered and dead, hugging a woman who lies limp in his arms. I cannot help but wonder, again and again, at what point did he reach over to hug, protect, and comfort her? When did they realise they were both going to die? What were their final words to each other? Did they even know each other or did the terror of a collapsing building bring them together?

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Condolences Alone Will Not Help the Garment Workers of Bangladesh

Anna McMullen, Labour Behind the Label — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 18:00:12 +0000

Photos by Andrew Biraj for Reuters

The world is still reeling from heartbreaking scenes in Bangladesh, where over 380 people died when a building collapsed last Wednesday, containing factories producing clothing for our high-street shops. The news covered live scenes of people digging with their hands in the rubble to drag bodies out, voices trapped inside asking for water and saying they couldn’t breathe, weeping families who have lost loved ones. But the sad fact is that this isn’t an isolated incident. More than 700 workers have died in factory collapses and fires in this very small region outside the capital city of Dhaka in the past decade alone.

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Fire Breaks Out at Collapsed Bangladesh Factory Site, Owner Arrested

Jasmin Malik Chua — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 17:00:27 +0000

Photo by A.M. Ahad for Associated Press

Mohammed Sohel Rana, the fugitive owner of the eight-story building that collapsed and killed at least 385 people last week near the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka, was arrested Sunday by a commando force as he tried to flee to India. Meanwhile, a fire broke out at the site of the former Rana Plaza facility, which housed five garment factories, along with a bank and a shopping mall. THe blaze, which fire officials told reporters was likely the result of sparks from cutting equipment used by rescuers, complicates attempts to find any more survivors from the South Asian country’s worst industrial accident to date. About 2,500 people have been rescued from the wreckage, but hundreds of garment workers, mostly young women between the ages of 18 and 20, are still unaccounted for.

PREVIOUSLY ON ECOUTERRE: What Circumstances Led to the Bangladesh Factory Collapse?

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Several Arrests Made as Bangladesh Factory Death Toll Soars to 348

Jasmin Malik Chua — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 16:00:32 +0000

Photos by A. M. Ahad and Andrew Biraj for Reuters

Bangladeshi authorities have arrested at least seven people, including two factory owners and two engineers, three days after this week’s deadly Rana Plaza building collapse outside the capital of Dhaka, according to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the state-run news agency. Although the whereabouts of Mohammed Sohel Rana, the building’s owner, are still unknown, BSS reports that Rana’s wife and cousin have been detained to pressure him to surrender. Since the eight-story building imploded into a mass of concrete and mortar on Wednesday, the death toll has risen to at least 348. Although 29 people were pulled from the rubble Saturday morning, rescue workers admitted to reporters that the voices are getting weaker.

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PREVIOUSLY ON ECOUTERRE: Death Toll in Bangladesh Factory Collapses Exceeds 300, Riots Ensue

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How Can We Make Sure Our Clothes Weren’t Produced in a Sweatshop?

Amanda Judge, The Andean Collection — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 19:00:17 +0000

Photo by A. M. Ahad for Associated Press

The structural collapse of the Rana Plaza in Bangladesh, which has claimed the lives of over 300 people, is a horrific tragedy that raises essential questions about ensuring safe working conditions abroad and the value of fair trade. I have seen the working conditions in a number of developing countries across Asia and Central and South America firsthand. Suffice it to say, they are often subpar. In developing countries, often governments either do not have appropriate safety regulations in place, or if they do, those regulations are rarely enforced. This lack of government oversight is why it is absolutely crucial for mainstream manufacturing to take a fair-trade approach to production.

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Death Toll in Bangladesh Factory Collapses Exceeds 300, Riots Ensue

Jasmin Malik Chua — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 14:13:58 +0000

Photo by A.M.Ahad for Associated Press

As thousands of Bangladeshis swarmed the streets of Dhaka to express their anguish on Friday, setting fire to vehicles and wrestling with police, the death toll in the Rana Plaza building collapse broke the 300 mark. Army spokesman Shahinur Islam told Reuters that the death toll had reached 304, while and H. T. Imam, an adviser to the prime minister, said it could surpass 350. “Our prime target is to rescue the rest of the survivors alive, as we are running against time,” a military spokesman told reporters more than two days after the incident. Still, amid the death and destruction, a sliver of hope: Rescuers were still pulling people alive from the debris—72 since daybreak and another 41 overnight—including two women who gave birth under the rubble.

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VIDEO: Death Toll at Bangladesh Factory Collapse Rises to 228 People

Jasmin Malik Chua — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:00:29 +0000

Photo by Andrew Biraj for Reuters

The death toll in the Bangladesh garment-factory collapse on Wednesday has risen to at least 228 people, per the latest numbers from Reuters. Survivors from the disaster told described a “deafening bang” and tremors before the eight-floor Rana Plaza building fell out from under them. An unspecified number of victims still remain trapped, authorities say. “We can’t be certain of getting them all out alive,” Mizanur Rahman, a rescue worker with the fire brigade, told the wire service. “We are losing a bit of hope.” As the government declared a national day of mourning, with flags flown at half-mast at all official buildings, Dhaka’s district police chief Habibur Rahman said the number of dead could rise even further. Eighty percent of the people who worked there were young women aged between 18 and 20, according to the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights.

PREVIOUSLY ON ECOUTERRE: Bangladesh Garment-Factory Collapse Kills Nearly 100 People, Injures a Thousand

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Bangladesh Garment-Factory Collapse Kills Nearly 100 People

Jasmin Malik Chua — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 16:00:52 +0000

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Walmart Refuses to Compensate Bangladesh Fire Victims

Jasmin Malik Chua — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 18:00:09 +0000

Looks like there are limits to Walmart’s largesse. After announcing its $1.6 million contribution towards the establishment of an Environmental Health and Safety Academy in Bangladesh, the world’s largest retailer has so far declined to join other companies in voluntarily compensating victims of a devastating fire that killed 112 garment workers outside the capital of Dhaka in November. The company, allegedly Tazreen Fashions’ largest buyer, also failed to attend a meeting hosted by the IndustriAll Union in Geneva Monday, where companies that contracted the facility, including C&A in the Netherlands, KiK in Germany, and El Corte Inglés of Spain, discussed compensation payments for the injured and families of the deceased.

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Walmart Launches Environmental Health and Safety Academy in Bangladesh

Jasmin Malik Chua — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 20:00:29 +0000

Is Walmart’s latest act of contrition a case of too little too late? Five months after labor groups linked the world’s No. 1 retailer with a devastating fire claimed the lives of at least 112 garment workers in Bangladesh, Walmart is donating $1.6 million to the Institute for Sustainable Communities to establish an Environmental Health and Safety Academy in the South Asian nation. Operated by the Vermont-based nonprofit in conjunction with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and Walmart’s own staff, the facility will provide apparel manufacturers in Bangladesh with “high-quality, affordable and comprehensive” training on fire safety and environment, health and workplace safety, according to the big-box store.

PREVIOUSLY ON ECOUTERRE: Walmart Adopts “Zero-Tolerance” Policy for Illegal Subcontractors

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Fire Guts Bangladesh Garment Factory, 7 Killed, 10 Injured

Jasmin Malik Chua — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 13:00:34 +0000

A fire swept through a small garment factory in Bangladesh on Saturday, claiming the lives of seven employees—all women—and injuring 10, according to firefighters and witnesses. The blaze occurred barely two months after the the South Asian country’s worst industrial accident, which killed at least 112 apparel workers and injured 150 in a similar inferno. “Everything inside the factory has been gutted,” a Reuters photographer said.

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Walmart Adopts “Zero-Tolerance” Policy for Illegal Subcontractors

Jasmin Malik Chua — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 13:00:55 +0000

At least one positive thing emerged from the Tazreen Fashions tragedy in Bangladesh. After a devastating fire claimed the lives of at least 112 garment workers in November, Walmart is tightening its grip on its supply chain. In a 10-page letter sent Tuesday to suppliers of Walmart and Sam’s Club stores in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, the world’s No. 1 retailer says it will adopt a “zero tolerance” policy on subcontracting without authorization, effective March 1. The stricter regulation will replace Walmart’s previous “three strikes” rule.

PREVIOUSLY ON ECOUTERRE: Walmart Fires Supplier That Contracted Bangladesh Garment Factory

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Walmart Wouldn’t Pay for Bangladesh Factory Safety Improvements

Jasmin Malik Chua — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 13:00:24 +0000

Walmart play a lead role in blocking a proposal to have global retailers help their Bangladesh suppliers improve their electrical and fire safety, according to the minutes of a meeting that have emerged in the wake of a factory fire that killed at least 112 garment workers in Dhaka last month. More than a dozen retailers, including Walmart, Gap, Target, and JCPenney convened in the Bangladesh capital in April 2011 to discuss a contractually enforceable memorandum that would require them to pay their factories more to cover the cost of upgrading their manufacturing facilities. Walmart, however, opposed the idea, noting that it wasn’t “financially feasible” for brands to invest in the expensive modifications some factories would require.

PREVIOUSLY ON ECOUTERRE: Walmart Fires Supplier That Contracted Bangladesh Garment Factory

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Labor Secretary on Bangladesh Fire: “Things Can’t Return to Biz as Usual”

Jasmin Malik Chua — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 13:00:14 +0000

U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis has extended her condolences to the people of Bangladesh after a deadly garment-factory blaze killed 112 workers in Dhaka late November. In a news release published Thursday, Solis compared the South Asian country’s worst industrial accident to a pivotal moment in U.S. history: The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, which claimed the lives of 146 people—mostly young women—in New York City in March 1911. “That fire was our call to action,” she said. “It galvanized support for stronger worker protections and institutions to enforce them, from workplace health and safety to workers’ right to organize and bargain collectively.”

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Sabotage Blamed for Bangladesh Factory Fire; More Brands Implicated

Jasmin Malik Chua — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 19:00:48 +0000

A deadly garment-factory blaze that killed at least 112 workers in Bangladesh was the work of saboteurs, said government officials on Wednesday as protestors took to the streets of the Dhaka suburb for the third day. Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, the South Asian country’s interior minister, said that a preliminary inquiry indicated that the Tazreen Fashions fire—Bangladesh’s worst industrial disaster—was the result of arson. Police have arrested two people who were caught on closed-circuit TV footage trying to set fire to stockpiles of material in another factory, as well as three factory managers suspected of locking exit doors to prevent workers from leaving.

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Bangladesh Garment-Factory Fire Claims 112 Lives Because of Safety Issues

Lori Zimmer — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 21:00:17 +0000

At least 112 people were killed late Saturday when a fire tore through a multilevel garment factory outside Dhaka, Bangladesh, in the country’s worst-ever industrial blaze. In a chilling parallel to a similar incident that claimed 300 lives in Pakistan in September, most of the victims were trapped inside Tazreen Fashions because few exits were available, according to fire officials. “The factory had three staircases, and all of them were down through the ground floor so the workers could not come out when the fire engulfed the building,” Mohammad Mahbub, the operations director for fire department, told the Associated Press. “Had there been at least one emergency exit through outside the factory, the casualties would have been much lower.”

PREVIOUSLY ON ECOUTERRE: Garment-Factory Fire in Pakistan Kills 300 Trapped Behind Locked Doors

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Ecouterre » Tazreen Fashions

Gap, Walmart’s Concerns About Bangladesh Accord Liability Are “Irrational”

More Brands, Retailers Commit to Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety

PREVIOUSLY ON ECOUTERRE: H&M, Zara Commit to Signing Bangladesh Fire and Safety Agreement

Bangladesh to Allow Garment Workers to Unionize, Raise Minimum Wage

H&M, Zara Commit to Signing Bangladesh Fire and Safety Agreement

PREVIOUSLY ON ECOUTERRE: International Support for Improving Bangladesh Safety Surpasses 1 Million

Death Toll In Bangladesh Factory Collapse Rises Above 650

PREVIOUSLY ON ECOUTERRE: Read Our Complete Coverage of the Rana Plaza Tragedy

Is Our Addiction to Fast Fashion Just Another Form of Terrorism?

Boycotting Brands Linked to Bangaldesh Building Collapse Not the Answer

Condolences Alone Will Not Help the Garment Workers of Bangladesh

Fire Breaks Out at Collapsed Bangladesh Factory Site, Owner Arrested

PREVIOUSLY ON ECOUTERRE: What Circumstances Led to the Bangladesh Factory Collapse?

Several Arrests Made as Bangladesh Factory Death Toll Soars to 348

PREVIOUSLY ON ECOUTERRE: Death Toll in Bangladesh Factory Collapses Exceeds 300, Riots Ensue

How Can We Make Sure Our Clothes Weren’t Produced in a Sweatshop?

PREVIOUSLY ON ECOUTERRE: Death Toll in Bangladesh Factory Collapses Exceeds 300, Riots Ensue

Death Toll in Bangladesh Factory Collapses Exceeds 300, Riots Ensue

PREVIOUSLY ON ECOUTERRE: Death Toll at Bangladesh Factory Collapse Rises to 228 People (Video) Read the rest of Death Toll in Bangladesh Factory Collapses Exceeds 300, Riots Ensue © Ecouterre, 2013. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us

VIDEO: Death Toll at Bangladesh Factory Collapse Rises to 228 People

PREVIOUSLY ON ECOUTERRE: Bangladesh Garment-Factory Collapse Kills Nearly 100 People, Injures a Thousand

Bangladesh Garment-Factory Collapse Kills Nearly 100 People

Walmart Refuses to Compensate Bangladesh Fire Victims

PREVIOUSLY ON ECOUTERRE: Walmart Launches Environmental Health and Safety Academy in Bangladesh

Walmart Launches Environmental Health and Safety Academy in Bangladesh

PREVIOUSLY ON ECOUTERRE: Walmart Adopts “Zero-Tolerance” Policy for Illegal Subcontractors

Fire Guts Bangladesh Garment Factory, 7 Killed, 10 Injured

Walmart Adopts “Zero-Tolerance” Policy for Illegal Subcontractors

PREVIOUSLY ON ECOUTERRE: Walmart Fires Supplier That Contracted Bangladesh Garment Factory

Top 7 WTF Fashion Stories of 2012 (Vote for the Most Deplorable!)

Walmart Wouldn’t Pay for Bangladesh Factory Safety Improvements

PREVIOUSLY ON ECOUTERRE: Walmart Fires Supplier That Contracted Bangladesh Garment Factory

Labor Secretary on Bangladesh Fire: “Things Can’t Return to Biz as Usual”

Sabotage Blamed for Bangladesh Factory Fire; More Brands Implicated

PREVIOUSLY ON ECOUTERRE: Bangladesh Garment-Factory Fire Claims 112 Lives Because of Safety Issues

Bangladesh Garment-Factory Fire Claims 112 Lives Because of Safety Issues

PREVIOUSLY ON ECOUTERRE: Garment-Factory Fire in Pakistan Kills 300 Trapped Behind Locked Doors

PREVIOUSLY ON ECOUTERRE: Death Toll at Bangladesh Factory Collapse Rises to 228 People (Video)

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