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.

SKIRTING THE PROBLEM

Walmart, the world’s No. 1 retailer, announced this month that it would be launching its own self-regulated initiative, while Gap, the third-largest apparel company after H&M and Zara, has cited concerns about liability related to legal enforcement of the agreement’s provisions. In fact, Gap has proposed that the penalty for most cases of noncompliance simply be expulsion from the program, in effect rendering a company’s participation in the agreement meaningless.

Walmart announced that it would be launching its own self-regulated initiative, while Gap has cited concerns about liability.

James Brudney and Catherine Fisk, law professors at Fordham Law School and University of California Irvine Law School, respectively, call the companies’ fears over their financial and moral commitments “irrational.”

“The only ‘liability’ that derives from the accord is the enforceable obligation to abide by its terms,” they wrote in the Los Angeles Times on Friday. “The global brands and retailers that have signed recognize the agreement must be legally enforceable so that all stakeholders will be accountable and will share the responsibilities associated with protecting workers’ lives through factory inspections, worker and management training, public reporting and remediation of hazards. These brands and retailers are all sophisticated and successful industry players. It is difficult to imagine that they would have agreed to sign if the arbitration provision raised unwarranted liability concerns.”

Retailers like Gap and Walmart sign legally enforceable agreements all the time, including with the factories that make their garments, according to Brudney and Fisk. “What is different here is the purpose of the agreement: The accord would help protect workers’ rights and workers’ lives rather than simply facilitate the buying and selling of apparel for corporate profit,” they said. “It would be unfortunate if that difference is what is keeping Gap, Walmart, and others from signing this crucial initiative.”

Although the financial commitments demanded by the accord are not trivial, the costs are “reasonable and quantifiable.” As for the moral agreement, there can be no debate. “If a firm profits by choosing to produce its garments in a country where wages are kept low by cost-cutting that imperils the lives of workers, the firm bears some responsibility for bringing those conditions into line with the most basic of human-rights standards,” they said. “The time has come for American industry leaders Gap and Walmart to do the same.”

+ Los Angeles Times

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.

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

Read the rest of Death Toll In Bangladesh Factory Collapse Rises Above 650

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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.

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

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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?

Read the rest of Boycotting Brands Linked to Bangaldesh Building Collapse Not the Answer

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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.

Photos by Andrew Biraj for Reuters

HISTORY REPEATING

Savar, where the building collapse took place, is a swampland which has seen mass growth in recent years, with hundreds of factories thrown up in a short space of time, and limited building regulation or health and safety measures. This same region saw the horrific Tazreen factory fire in November last year, where 112 workers burned alive in a building with no fire exits.

Brands so far have expressed shock and condolence for the families of workers who have died. But condolences aren’t what Bangladesh needs now.

In 2005, a similar factory building collapse, Spectrum, killed over 100 workers. Not to mention numerous small-scale incidents that don’t hit global news headlines. Fires and workplace disasters have been taking lives every month in factories in Bangladesh for as long as these factories have existed.

Brands so far have expressed shock and condolence for the families of workers who have died. But condolences aren’t what Bangladesh needs now. Families of victims need a proper response which with make sure they are compensated fully, and Bangladesh’s workers need to know they will not put at fatal risk every time they enter work places to produce our T-shirts.

KEEP READING: MAKING AMENDS >

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?

Photo by Palash Khan for Associated Press

DAY SIX

Rana was seized by the elite Rapid Action Battalion in the western Bangladesh border town of Benapole, bringing an end to a four-day manhunt that began when Rana Plaza imploded on Wednesday. Rana was brought back by helicopter to Dhaka, where he faced charges of negligence, faulty construction, and causing unlawful death.

Rana was brought back by helicopter to Dhaka, where he faced charges of negligence, faulty construction, and causing unlawful death.

Seven other people have been arrested in connection to the disaster, including four factory owners, two engineers, and Rana’s father, Abdul Khalek. Police are looking for a fifth factory owner, David Mayor, who they say is a Spanish citizen.

As Rana was led into court dressed in a helmet and a bulletproof jacket, witnesses said Bangladeshi lawyers and protesters chanted “hang him, hang him.” The court ordered Rana to be held for 15 days “on remand” for interrogation.

Photo by A.M. Ahad for Associated Press

ACCEPTING BLAME

On Monday, the Clean Clothes Campaign, an alliance of organizations in 15 European countries dedicated to improving working conditions in the global garment and sportswear industries, blasted Western brands and retailers for their failure to prevent such heavy loss of life just five months after the deadly Tazreen Fashions factory fire that killed at least 112 workers.

The Clean Clothes Campaign estimates a total compensation amount that is likely to exceed $30 million.

“Brands must now come forward, ensure emergency steps are taken and pay without delay into a compensation fund for the victims and their families.” the group said in a statement, estimating that a total compensation amount that is likely to exceed $30 million, in addition to the cost of emergency treatment. “They must also commit to prevent future disasters.”

Six brands have confirmed current or recent production: Bon Marché and Primark in the United Kingdom, El Corte Inglés and Mango in Spain, Joe Fresh from Canada’s Loblaw’s chain, and most recently, Italy’s Benetton, which previously denied its role until the Associated Press published pictures of garments with its labels in the rubble earlier today.

Benetton wrote on Twitter that it had completed and shipped out a “one-time order” from one of the plaza’s factories several weeks before the collapse. “Since then, this subcontractor has been removed from our supplier list,” it added.

Photo by Kevin Frayer for the Associated Press

CALL TO ACTION

Labor activists who combed through the debris also found labels, cutting orders, and other documentation linking a number of other brands to the plaza’s garment factories, including Cato Fashions, The Children’s Place, JCPenney, and Walmart in the United States, and Carrefour in France. So far, all have either denied production, failed to respond, or are in the process of “investigating” if they were involved.

“Workers need a structural solution, not a quick-fix,” says Ineke Zeldenrust from the Clean Clothes Campaign.

“Brands can no longer justify any further delay in signing the Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Agreement,” says Ineke Zeldenrust from the Clean Clothes Campaign, referring to a legally binding, first-of-its-kind contract developed by Bangladeshi and global unions and labor-rights organizations to govern health-and-safety inspections at thousands of facilities in Bangladesh. “Since Tazreen, where 112 people died, brands have come up with insufficient proposals such as safety videos (H&M) or a safety academy (Walmart). How much safety does a video provide, when floors collapse or emergency exits do not exist? Workers need a structural solution, not a quick-fix. The lack of action demonstrated by brands amounts to criminal negligence.”

CALL ON GAP, WALMART, AND H&M TO SIGN THE BANGLADESH FIRE AND BUILDING SAFETY AGREEMENT >

[Via Reuters]

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.

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

DAY FOUR

“We are still getting response from survivors though they are becoming weaker slowly,” Ali Ahmed Khan, the head of the fire services, told the Associated Press. He noted that rescue workers have now reached the ground floor of the debris through 25 narrow holes they have drilled. “The building is very vulnerable. Any time the floors could collapse. We are performing an impossible task, but we are glad that we are able to rescue so many survivors.”

Witnesses describe an air thick with the smell of “death and cheap perfume.”

Witnesses describe an air thick with the smell of “death and cheap perfume,” as workers frantically spray decomposing bodies, kept at a makeshift morgue at the nearby Adharchandra High School before being handed over to families, with air-fresheners to mask the rotting stench. Many people continue to mill around, waving photos of missing loved ones.

Military spokesman Shahinul Islam said 2,429 survivors, out of the roughly 3,122 garment workers the factories in the building employed, have been accounted for.

Police say they ordered an evacuation of Rana Plaza on Tuesday after cracks appeared in the structure. Shops and a bank branch on the lower floors were immediately closed, but the owners of the garment factories on the upper floors told employees to return to work on Wednesday morning or they wouldn’t be paid.

KEEP READING: WHO’S TO BLAME? >

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.

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

Read the rest of How Can We Make Sure Our Clothes Weren’t Produced in a Sweatshop?

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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.

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

Photo by Andrew Biraj for Reuters

DAY THREE

But fears remain that hundreds of people are still trapped in the wreckage of concrete and steel—once an eight-story facility that housed a bank, a shopping mall, and offices, and five garment factories that employed some 2,500 workers—in the commercial suburb of Savar.

The collapse occurred Wednesday morning, a day after cracks appeared in the structure and the building managers were warned not to allow workers inside. Shops and a bank branch on the lower floors were immediately closed, but the owners of the garment factories on the upper floors told employees to return to work on Wednesday morning or they wouldn’t be paid.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said she had ordered the arrest of the owners of the building.

An industry official has said that 3,122 people, most of them female garment workers between the ages of 18 and 20, were in the Rana Plaza building when it imploded. Around 2,350 people have been rescued, with half of them injured or in critical condition.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said she had ordered the arrest of the owners of the building and of the five factories that occupied it. Dhaka District police chief Habibur Rahman identified the owner of the Rana Plaza building as Mohammed Sohel Rana, a leader of the Bangaldesh Awami League’s youth front. But Rana has “vanished into thin air,” according to Imam, the prime minister’s adviser.

“People are asking for his head, which is quite natural. This time we are not going to spare anybody,” Imam said.

Demonstrators on Friday carried black flags, some starting fires and others using clubs to break the windshields of passing trucks. Hundreds of workers mobbed the head office of the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association at Karwan Bazar in Dhaka, demanding the arrest of the factory owners and calling for the death penalty for Rana.

Photo by Andrew Biraj for Reuters

FINGER POINTING

The disaster is only the latest in a string of industrial accidents that plagues Bangaldesh’s garment industry, which employs more than 4 million people, most of them women. The Rana Plaza incident occurred only five months after a fire at the Tazreen Fashions factory killed at least 112 garment workers in the worst industrial disaster the country had ever seen.

While the U.S. State Department said Thursday it wasn’t able to provide details about whether American companies were connected to operations in the collapsed building, labor activists who entered the site have found invoices, cutting orders, and labels linking several major U.S. and European retailers to the firms that occupied the plaza.

The disaster is only the latest in a string of industrial accidents that plagues Bangaldesh’s garment industry.

British retailer Primark, which has 257 stores across Europe, confirmed that one of its suppliers occupied the second floor of the building, adding it was “shocked and deeply saddened by the appalling incident” and will be working with other retailers to review the South Asian country’s approach to factory standards.

Loblaw, a Canadian retailer that markets the apparel brand Joe Fresh, said one factory made a small number of Joe Fresh items for the company. “Loblaw is committed to finding solutions to this situation by expanding the scope of our requirements to ensure the physical safety of workers producing our products,” the company said in a statement. “We want to improve and we want to find a solution that helps stop these incidents from happening.”

Other textile businesses in the building, according to documents obtained by reporters, included Phantom Apparel, New Wave Style, New Wave Bottoms, and New Wave Brothers, which produce clothing for U.S. and European brands such as The Children’s Place, Cato, Dress Barn, Spain’s Mango, and Italy’s Benetton. A Benetton spokesman denied that any of the factories were suppliers to the company, however, while Mango claimed it had only an unfulfilled sample order with Phantom Apparel at the plaza.

Ether Tex, another of the factories in the building, named on its website Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, as one of its customers. Walmart released a statement to say it’s currently investigating the situation.

On Friday, labor groups also distributed photos of garments with labels from JCPenney and Spanish retailer El Corte Inglés, from the site of the collapse.

[Via Reuters and CNN]

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

WHAT HAPPENED

Ali Ahmed Khan, head of the National Fire Service, told reporters that a preliminary investigation found that Rana Plaza violated building codes by constructing the four upper floors illegally without permits. “There was a structural fault, as well,” he added, indicating that the building’s foundation was “substandard.”

Bangladesh’s news media noted that inspection teams had discovered cracks in the structure of Rana Plaza on Tuesday.

Bangladesh’s news media also noted that inspection teams had discovered cracks in the structure of Rana Plaza on Tuesday. Shops and a bank branch on the lower floors were immediately closed, but the owners of the garment factories on the upper floors told employees to return to work on Wednesday morning or they wouldn’t be paid.

Scott Nova, executive director of the Workers’ Rights Consortium, told CNN that disasters keep happening because retailers compel factories to lower prices, which results in substandard safety conditions.

The average minimum wage is 14 cents an hour, and senior sewing operators make about 24 cents, he said. “These are the lowest wages in the world, and the factories with the worst health and safety conditions,” Nova added. “Yet the big companies love the cheap wages, the long hours, because they are all about the costs.”

Photo by Worker Rights Consortium

WHO’S INVOLVED

British retailer Primark, which has 257 stores across Europe, confirmed that one of its suppliers occupied the second floor of the building, adding it was “shocked and deeply saddened by the appalling incident” and will be working with other retailers to review the South Asian country’s approach to factory standards.

Major brands that appeared to have sourced from the building include Walmart, Bennetton, Mango, Joe Fresh, The Children’s Place, Cato, Dress Barn, and Texman.

PWT Group, the Danish company that owns the Texman brand, said it used a factory in the building for several years. “We check the working conditions at the factory, but we are not construction engineers. We cannot be held responsible for how they build their factories,” PWT director Ole Koch said.

Loblaw, a Canadian retailer that markets the apparel brand Joe Fresh, said one factory made a small number of Joe Fresh items for the company. Loblaw, in a statement on the Joe Fresh Facebook page, said it was working with its vendor in Bangladesh to determine what caused the tragedy and how to best help the employees and their families. “Our audits align with those of industry around the world; however in light of the recent tragedies in Bangladesh we recognize that these measures do not address the issue of building construction or integrity,” it wrote. “Loblaw is committed to finding solutions to this situation by expanding the scope of our requirements to ensure the physical safety of workers producing our products. We want to improve and we want to find a solution that helps stop these incidents from happening.”

Other textile businesses in the building, according to documents obtained by reporters, included Phantom Apparel, New Wave Style, New Wave Bottoms, and New Wave Brothers, which produce clothing for U.S. and European brands such as The Children’s Place, Cato, Dress Barn, Spain’s Mango, and Italy’s Benetton. Although a Benetton spokesman denied that any of the factories were suppliers to the company, Mango said it had an unfulfilled sample order with Phantom Apparel at the plaza.

Ether Tex, another factory in the building, named on its website Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, as one of its customers. Walmart said in a statement that it’s currently investigating the situation.

[Via Reuters and Associated Press]

Read the rest of Bangladesh Garment-Factory Collapse Kills Nearly 100 People

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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.

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

EXCUSES, EXCUSES

Besides Walmart, other no-shows included Sears/Kmart, Disney, Dickies, the Edinburgh Woollen Mill (U.K.), Teddy Smith (France), Karl Reiker (Germany), Li & Fung (Hong Kong), and Piazza Italia (Italy), although the last two have agreed to participate in the compensation package.

Besides Walmart, other no-shows included Sears/Kmart, Disney, Dickies, the Edinburgh Woollen Mill, and Karl Reiker.

The compensation plan, developed by IndustriAll and its Bangladesh affiliates and supported by international labor-rights groups such as the Clean Clothes Campaign and the Worker Rights Consortium, is based on a formula used in other recent fires, including the December 2010 fire at That’s It Sportswear, a factory that produced clothing for Gap and other U.S. brands. Final details of the plan will be worked out in a subsequent meeting to be held in Dhaka.

“We have agreed on confirming the concrete amounts that each of these brands will contribute by the end of this month” Jyrki Raina, general secretary of IndustriAll, says in a statement. “The families and the injured have already waited far too long.”

BLAME GAME

Walmart has previously dodged responsibility by denouncing—and then subsequently firing—one of its suppliers for using the Tazreen facility without its knowledge or approval. Because the retailer didn’t directly employ the workers at Tazreen, it’s not legally obligated to make reparations.

Because Walmart didn’t directly employ the workers at Tazreen, it’s not legally obligated to make reparations.

But despite Walmart’s repeated vows of improving safety standards, labor activists say the company presents a significant obstacle to any real change in the South Asian nation, which is plagued with weak worker protections and even laxer government oversight. Walmart played a key role in blocking a proposal to have global corporations underwrite safety improvements at their Bangladeshi factories, according to the minutes of an April 2011 meeting and the testimony of several attendees.

Walmart has also refused to cave to pressure from labor groups to sign a legally binding, first-of-its-kind contract governing fire-safety inspections at thousands of facilities in Bangladesh. Signatories would agree to publicly report fire hazards at factories, ban subcontracting to high-risk facilities, finance renovations and fire-safety training, and make audit results public. They would also be liable when a factory fire occurs. So far, only PVH Corp., which owns the Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger brands, and Tchibo, a German coffee retailer that also sells clothes, have agreed to participate, but only on the condition that other brands sign on, as well.

+ Press Release

+ Clean Clothes Campaign

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

SAFETY SCHOOL

“We urgently need to create long-term change in Bangladesh,” says George Hamilton, president of ISC, in a statement. “Today the immediate need may be fire safety—but we can’t tackle these challenges one at a time. From fire safety, to toxic chemicals, to greenhouse gas emissions—we need to stress comprehensive, systemic change in how factories understand and address interrelated environment, health, and safety issues over the long term.”

The Academy will focus on the ready-made garment sector, with an emphasis on improving fire safety, water management, and gender equity.

Locally owned and run, the EHS Academy will initially focus on the ready-made garment sector, with an emphasis on improving fire safety, water management, and gender equity in the workplace, as well as creating professional opportunities for Bangladeshi women, Hamilton adds.

But Walmart’s critics argue that the company needs to be held to a higher level of accountability. The retailer’s current actions show a “great deal of pressure in the wake of public scrutiny,” Scott Nova, executive director at Workers’ Rights Consortium, told reporters in January. “[But] the upfront commitment from brands and retailers is essential if we are going to see real change.” Walmart also needs to disclose a list of all its suppliers, plus the results of its factory inspections, so they can be monitored by independent groups, he added.

Nova’s group is among a consortium of labor organizations urging manufacturers and brands to sign a legally binding, first-of-its-kind contract governing fire-safety inspections at thousands of Bangladeshi factories. Signatories would agree to publicly report fire hazards at factories, ban subcontracting to high-risk facilities, finance renovations and fire-safety training, and make audit results public. They would also be liable when a factory fire occurs. So far, only PVH Corp., which owns the Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger brands, and Tchibo, a German coffee retailer that also sells clothes, have signed on, but only on the condition that other brands sign on, as well.

+ Press Release

+ Walmart

]]> http://www.ecouterre.com/walmart-launches-environmental-health-and-safety-academy-in-bangladesh/feed/ 0 http://www.ecouterre.com/walmart-adopts-zero-tolerance-policy-for-illegal-subcontractors/ http://www.ecouterre.com/walmart-adopts-zero-tolerance-policy-for-illegal-subcontractors/#comments Thu, 24 Jan 2013 13:00:55 +0000 Jasmin Malik Chua http://www.ecouterre.com/?p=76466
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, [...]]]>

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

ONE STRIKE

The big-box store also says it plans to make public a list of factories that haven’t been given the green light to manufacture goods for Walmart. Another change? Starting June 1, suppliers must station an employee in countries where they subcontract, rather than rely on third-party agents to ensure compliance.

Walmart says it plans to publish a list of factories that haven’t been authorized to manufacture goods for the retailer.

“We want the right accountability and ownership to be in the hands of the suppliers,” Rajan Kamalanathan, Walmart’s vice president of ethical sourcing, told the Associated Press. “We are placing our orders in good faith.”

Kamalanathan added that Walmart executives are considering a fund or line of credit for factories who want to improve factory safety, although nothing has been decided yet.

NOT ENOUGH

Not everyone is buying the retailer’s mea-culpa tour, however. Scott Nova, executive director at Workers’ Rights Consortium, told reporters that the company needs to pay its suppliers more so they can cover the costs of repairs and improvements. Walmart’s moves show a “great deal of pressure in the wake of public scrutiny,” he said. “[But] the upfront commitment from brands and retailers is essential if we are going to see real change.” Walmart also needs to disclose a list of all its suppliers, as well as the results of its factory inspections, so they can be monitored by independent groups, he added.

Walmart says it has no plans to sign a first-of-its-kind contract governing fire-safety inspections at thousands of Bangladeshi factories.

Nova’s group is among a consortium of labor organizations trying to get retailers and brands to sign a legally binding, first-of-its-kind contract governing fire-safety inspections at thousands of Bangladeshi factories. Signatories would agree to publicly report fire hazards at factories, pay factory owners more so they can afford repairs, and provide a minimum of $500,000 over two years for safety improvements. They would also be liable when there’s a factory fire. So far, only PVH Corp., which owns the Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger brands, and Tchibo, a German coffee retailer that also sells clothes, have signed on, but only on the condition that other brands sign on, as well.

Walmart says it has no plans to sign the contract, even though it’s second only to H&M in the number of clothing orders it places in the South Asian nation. (H&M isn’t budging, either.)

But fire-safety is a paramount concern for a country with infamously poor oversight. Building fires have led to the deaths of more than 600 garment workers in Bangladesh since 2005, according to research by the International Labor Rights Forum. Of the fires that took place, 80 percent was the result of faulty wiring.

[Via Associated Press]

]]> http://www.ecouterre.com/walmart-adopts-zero-tolerance-policy-for-illegal-subcontractors/feed/ 0 http://www.ecouterre.com/walmart-pledges-to-add-50b-in-american-made-products/ http://www.ecouterre.com/walmart-pledges-to-add-50b-in-american-made-products/#comments Tue, 15 Jan 2013 19:00:11 +0000 Lori Zimmer http://www.ecouterre.com/?p=75970
Has American manufacturing found a champion in the unlikeliest of quarters? Walmart, the world’s No. 1 retailer, has announced several major initiatives, including a plan to increase domestic sourcing of the products it sells. Speaking at the National Retail Federation’s annual BIG Show on Tuesday, Bill Simon, the company’s CEO, pledged to buy an additional [...]]]>

Has American manufacturing found a champion in the unlikeliest of quarters? Walmart, the world’s No. 1 retailer, has announced several major initiatives, including a plan to increase domestic sourcing of the products it sells. Speaking at the National Retail Federation’s annual BIG Show on Tuesday, Bill Simon, the company’s CEO, pledged to buy an additional $50 billion in U.S.-made products over the next 10 years. Both Walmart and its Sam’s Club subsidiary will grow U.S. production on two fronts, according to Simon: by increasing what they buy here (in categories such as sporting goods, apparel, storage products, games, and paper products) and by shifting the production of items like textiles, furniture, and higher-end appliances onshore.

SEA CHANGE?

Walmart’s change in tack will surprise many of its detractors, who have pilloried the chain store for its foreign-product-sourcing, predatory business policies, lackluster environmental record, and unjust labor practices. After a factory fire killed at least 112 garment workers in Bangladesh in December, labor-rights campaigners accused Walmart of playing a lead role in blocking a proposal to have global retailers help their suppliers improve their electrical and fire safety.

Walmart’s detractors have pilloried the chain store for its foreign-product-sourcing, predatory business policies, and unjust labor practices.

Could the so-called “evil empire” really pull a 180? “At the heart of our national political conversation today is one issue: creating jobs to grow the economy,” said Simon. “We are meeting with our suppliers on domestic manufacturing and are making a strong commitment to move this forward.”

The Walmart chief also claimed that, contrary to popular conception, roughly two-thirds of the company’s spending involves items that are made, sourced, or grown in the United States. The retailer, he added, has appointed a senior team within the company to lead the effort to raise that number.

“We can do so much more by working in partnership—as an industry and with governments,” said Simon. “I’ve talked with a number of governors, including the incoming chair of the National Governors Association, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin, about how governors and retailers and manufacturers can drive this issue together. Governors from both sides of the aisle are enthusiastic about getting their constituents back to work.”

+ Press Release

+ Walmart

]]> http://www.ecouterre.com/walmart-pledges-to-add-50b-in-american-made-products/feed/ 4 http://www.ecouterre.com/walmart-wouldnt-pay-for-bangladesh-factory-safety-improvements/ http://www.ecouterre.com/walmart-wouldnt-pay-for-bangladesh-factory-safety-improvements/#comments Fri, 07 Dec 2012 13:00:24 +0000 Jasmin Malik Chua http://www.ecouterre.com/?p=74461
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 [...]]]>

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

THE PLOT SICKENS

Sridevi Kalavakolanu, a Walmart director of ethical sourcing, and her counterpart at Gap told attendees their companies weren’t willing to pay for the safety improvements. “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,” they stated in a document, which was later incorporated into the minutes. “It is not financially feasible for the brands to make such investments.”

A Walmart representative said the company wasn’t willing to pay more to cover safety improvements at its Bangladesh factories.

Walmart spokesman Kevin Gardner told the New York Times that the company official’s remarks in Bangladesh were taken out of context. “Walmart has been advocating for improved fire safety with the Bangladeshi government, with industry groups and with suppliers,” he said, adding that the retailer—the world’s largest—has helped develop programs to increase fire safety.

But some labor-rights campaigners aren’t so convinced. “Walmart’s efforts to evade accountability make a mockery of its pretensions to be committed to protecting the rights of workers in its supply chain,” Scott Nova, the executive director of the Workers Rights Consortium, told The Nation on Thursday. “No company that is unwilling to pay [factories] enough to make it possible for them to operate safely can claim to be interested in any way in the rights or safety of workers.”

Although Walmart insists that Tazreen Fashions, the site of Bangladesh’s worst industrial accident, was no longer authorized to produce merchandise for the retailer, documents photographed by a Bangladeshi labor organizer after the fire revealed that five of the factory’s 14 production lines were dedicated to producing apparel for Walmart as late as mid-September.

Walmart’s Gardner said that accredited third-party auditors regularly inspected the facility on the company’s behalf. A May 2011 audit produced an “orange” rating, indicating “higher-risk violations.” A follow-up inspection that August downgraded Tazreen to a “yellow” rating, meaning “medium-risk violations.”

Two days after the fire, the retailer announced that a supplier had “subcontracted work to this factory without authorization and in direct violation of [its] policies.” Walmart also said it had severed its relationship with that supplier, although it declined to name it.

[Via New York Times and Bloomberg News]

]]> http://www.ecouterre.com/walmart-wouldnt-pay-for-bangladesh-factory-safety-improvements/feed/ 0 http://www.ecouterre.com/sabotage-blamed-for-bangladesh-factory-fire-more-brands-implicated/ http://www.ecouterre.com/sabotage-blamed-for-bangladesh-factory-fire-more-brands-implicated/#comments Wed, 28 Nov 2012 19:00:48 +0000 Jasmin Malik Chua http://www.ecouterre.com/?p=74016
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 [...]]]>

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.

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

WHO’S TO BLAME?

The blaze has thrown a spotlight on Western brands and retailers that source clothes from Bangladesh, where wages can be as low as $37 a month for garment workers. As the world’s second-largest clothes exporter after China, garments make up 80 percent of Bangladesh’s $24 billion annual exports. Labor rights groups have repeatedly called upon U.S. and U.K. clothing firms to sign on to a workplace-safety program in the country, where standards are notoriously lax.

Brands that used the factory included Walmart’s Faded Glory, Disney, Sears, Li & Fung, and Enyce.

Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, said that a supplier had subcontracted Tazreen without its knowledge or authorization. One of the most senior figures in Bangladesh’s garment industry, however, isn’t completely sold on the company’s claim.

“I won’t believe Walmart entirely if they say they did not know of this at all. That is because even if I am subcontracted for a Walmart deal, those subcontracted factories still need to be certified by Walmart,” Annisul Huq, former president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, told Reuters following a meeting of association members on Tuesday. “You can skirt rules for one or two odd times if it is for a very small quantity, but no decent quantity of work can be done without the client’s knowledge and permission.”

Several retailers, including Gap and Nike, swiftly denied any relationship with the facility. An Associated Press reporter searching through the wreckage of the factory on Wednesday found garments and documents linking the factory to Walmart’s Faded Glory label, along with items from Disney, Sears, Enyce (owned by hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs), and other Western brands.

Also listed on register books was Li & Fung, a Hong Kong-based buying house that is among the biggest suppliers of garment products from Bangladesh. The company published a statement on its website on Monday pledging to pay relatives of each victim $1,200.

[Via Associated Press and NBC News]

]]> http://www.ecouterre.com/sabotage-blamed-for-bangladesh-factory-fire-more-brands-implicated/feed/ 0 http://www.ecouterre.com/walmart-fires-supplier-that-contracted-bangladesh-garment-factory/ http://www.ecouterre.com/walmart-fires-supplier-that-contracted-bangladesh-garment-factory/#comments Tue, 27 Nov 2012 18:00:00 +0000 Jasmin Malik Chua http://www.ecouterre.com/?p=73885
Walmart has fired the supplier that subcontracted work to a Bangladesh garment factory where at least 112 people died in a deadly fire on Saturday. The world’s largest retailer said that Tazreen Fashions was no longer authorized to produce merchandise for the company, but the supplier, which the company declined to identify, continued to fan [...]]]>

Walmart has fired the supplier that subcontracted work to a Bangladesh garment factory where at least 112 people died in a deadly fire on Saturday. The world’s largest retailer said that Tazreen Fashions was no longer authorized to produce merchandise for the company, but the supplier, which the company declined to identify, continued to fan out work there “in direct violation of [its] policies” anyway, according to Walmart spokesman Kevin Gardner in a statement on Tuesday. “Today, we have terminated the relationship with that supplier,” he said. Despite the company’s eagerness to distance itself from the country’s worst industrial disaster in history, however, labor activists claim that Walmart is no less culpable.

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

DEADLY BLAZE

“Walmart is supporting, is incentivizing, an industry strategy in Bangladesh: extreme low wages, non-existent regulation, brutal suppression of any attempt by workers to act collectively to improve wages and conditions,” Scott Nova, executive of the Workers Rights Consortium, a Washington, D.C.-based labor-rights monitoring group, told The Nation on Monday. “This factory is a product of that strategy that Walmart invites, supports, and perpetuates.”

Bangladesh’s garment industry, which is second only to China in terms of clothing exports, has a notoriously spotty fire-safety record. Since 2006, more than 500 Bangladeshi garment workers have perished in fires resulting from unsafe buildings, according to the Clean Clothes Campaign, an alliance of organizations in 15 European countries dedicated to improving working conditions in the global garment and sportswear industries.

Bangladesh’s garment industry, which is second only to China in terms of clothing exports, has a notoriously spotty fire-safety record.

Export data further indicates that Walmart is the second-largest buyer of garments from Bangladesh after H&M. In its 2012 Global Responsibility Report, the company said that “fire safety continues to be a key focus for brands and retailers sourcing from Bangladesh.” It also claimed to visit supplier factories, identifying those at “high risk for fire-safety hazards” and ending relationships with 49 factories in Bangladesh because of fire-safety issues in 2011.

A document posted on Tazreen Fashions’ website indicated that an “ethical sourcing” official for Walmart had flagged the factory in May 2011 for unspecified “violations and/or conditions which were deemed to be high risk.” It was downgraded to “medium risk” that August. Although the factory was due an inspection within a year, it remains unclear if it was ever conducted.

Labor-rights groups, including the Clean Clothes Campaign and the International Labor Rights Forum have struggled to develop a fire-safety program to prevent future deaths in Bangladesh’s garment industry. In March, PVH Corp., which owns Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, and IZOD, signed an agreement that includes independent inspections, public reporting, mandatory repairs and renovations, a central role for workers and unions in both oversight and implementation, supplier contracts with sufficient financing and adequate pricing, and a binding contract to make these commitments enforceable. Tchibo, a German retailer, signed on in September.

Other brands implicated in factory fires in the past, including Abercrombie & Fitch, Gap, H&M, JCPenney, Kohl’s, Target, have also been invited to join the agreement, with mixed response.

“Unfortunately, Gap withdrew last month from fire-safety discussions and instead announced [its] own non-binding program, which lacks central elements of the fire-safety program signed by PVH and Tchibo,” said Judy Gearhart, executive director of International Labor Rights Forum. “We hope the tragic fire at Tazreen will serve as an urgent call to action for all major brands that rely on Bangladesh’s low wages to make a profit. Their voluntary and confidential monitoring programs have failed; now it is time to come together and make a contractual commitment to workers and to involve workers and their organizations in the solution.”

[Via Bloomberg Businessweek]

]]> http://www.ecouterre.com/walmart-fires-supplier-that-contracted-bangladesh-garment-factory/feed/ 2 http://www.ecouterre.com/garment-factory-fire-in-bangladesh-kills-112-because-of-unaddressed-safety-issues/ http://www.ecouterre.com/garment-factory-fire-in-bangladesh-kills-112-because-of-unaddressed-safety-issues/#comments Mon, 26 Nov 2012 21:00:17 +0000 Lori Zimmer http://www.ecouterre.com/?p=73799
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 [...]]]>

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

DEJA VU

By Sunday morning, firefighters had recovered 100 bodies, many charred beyond recognition. Another 12 people injured after leaping from the building to escape the flames later died at hospital, Mahbub said. Scores more had to be treated for burns and smoke inhalation.

By Sunday morning, firefighters had recovered 100 bodies, many charred beyond recognition.

Although authorities are still unsure what started the fire, investigators suspect that a short circuit in the yarn-storage area on the ground floor was responsible. (Faulty wiring is the cause for over 80 percent of all factory fires in Bangladesh, according to the Clean Clothes Campaign.) Whatever the reason, the incident throws the country’s infamously poor fire safety record, along with the international brands who work with them, back in the spotlight.

“These brands have known for years that many of the factories they choose to work with are death traps. Their failure to take action amounts to criminal negligence,” said Ineke Zeldenrust, international coordinator for the Clean Clothes Campaign, in a statement.

The labor advocacy group named C&A, Carrefour, KIK, and Walmart among Tazreen’s clients at the time of the accident.

ACTION NEEDED

Walmart said that while Tazreen Fashions wasn’t one of its authorized vendors, a supplier continued to subcontract there anymore. In its 2012 Global Responsibility Report, Walmart said that “fire safety continues to be a key focus for brands and retailers sourcing from Bangladesh.” It also noted that it ended relationships with 49 factories in Bangladesh in 2011 because of fire-safety issues.

Walmart said that while Tazreen Fashions wasn’t one of its authorized vendors, a supplier continued to subcontract there anymore.

“The fact that this occurred is extremely troubling to us, and we will continue to work across the apparel industry to improve fire-safety education and training in Bangladesh,” the big-box retailer said in a statement.

But lip service isn’t enough. All garment-industry stakeholders—brands, employers, and the government of Bangladesh—need to move on from “mere hand-wringing” towards meaningful and concrete action to prevent future loss of life, said Zeldenrust. “As we yet again mourn the loss of scores of garment workers in Bangladesh, we demand that brands step up their game,” she added. “Tragedy after tragedy underlines our belief that simple, cosmetic changes to existing programs simply aren’t enough. Action needs to be taken to address the root causes of these fires.”

[Via New York Times and Associated Press]

]]> http://www.ecouterre.com/garment-factory-fire-in-bangladesh-kills-112-because-of-unaddressed-safety-issues/feed/ 1 http://www.ecouterre.com/forever-21-abercrombie-fitch-fueling-modern-day-slavery-through-negligence/ http://www.ecouterre.com/forever-21-abercrombie-fitch-fueling-modern-day-slavery-through-negligence/#comments Fri, 23 Nov 2012 13:00:46 +0000 Morgana Matus http://www.ecouterre.com/?p=73415
Photo by Shutterstock Abercrombie & Fitch, Carter’s, Forever 21, Quiksilver, and Walmart are among the brands fueling modern-day slavery through negligence, according to a new report from Not for Sale, a California-based nonprofit working to abolish human trafficking and forced labor across the globe. Funded in whole by a grant from the U.S. Department of [...]]]>

Photo by Shutterstock

Abercrombie & Fitch, Carter’s, Forever 21, Quiksilver, and Walmart are among the brands fueling modern-day slavery through negligence, according to a new report from Not for Sale, a California-based nonprofit working to abolish human trafficking and forced labor across the globe. Funded in whole by a grant from the U.S. Department of State, Apparel Industry Trends: From Farm to Factory uses publicly available and self-reported data to rank 300 apparel brands, including the above-mentioned companies, on their efforts to address child and forced labor in their supply chains. Finding out if your purchase has links to human-rights abuses isn’t an easy thing to do: Modern-day slavery, a reality faced by 300 million people worldwide, is used throughout an increasingly complex and opaque system that produces many of the clothing products sold in the United States.

Photo by Shutterstock

EMANCIPATION

The silver lining? As U.S. sales for fair-trade-certified products rose 75 percent in 2011, a growing number of people want to know the impact behind their purchases. To arm shoppers with knowledge about companies’ labor standards and production practices, Not for Sale makes it rankings available both online and through the Free2Work smartphone app. “To create true breakthrough in the fight against slavery, we need systemic change,” says David Batstone, president and co-founder of Not For Sale. “Free2Work and the Apparel Industry Trends report equip everyone to advocate for that change and make it a part of their everyday life.”

Not for Sale makes it rankings available both online and through the Free2Work smartphone app.

Apparel Industry Trends debuted earlier this month in Ankara, Turkey, at “Human Trafficking & Global Supply Chains,” a United Nations General Assembly expert group meeting that included corporate, government, labor union, and non-governmental organization leaders from across the globe. As the first comprehensive report on forced and child labor in international supply chains, the paper breaks down the corporate-social responsibility practices of 50 apparel companies, using an A-to-F grading system to assess their commitments to traceability and transparency, monitoring and training, and workers’ rights.

Because each ranking refers to the health of individual pieces of a company rather than the system as a whole, however, Not for Sale cautions consumers to evaluate them within this broader context. Gap, for instance, scores an “A” in policies against child and forced labor but a “D” in its support of workers’ rights. Similarly, Adidas receives an overall “B” grade, even though campaigning is currently underway over its alleged refusal to pay over a million dollars in wages owed to Indonesian workers.

Still, the report provides a snapshot of companies that are ahead of the curve in their use of best practices and those that are lagging behind. “A” companies like Maggie’s Organics, Patagonia, and Timberland perform well in multiple categories, while Abercrombie & Fitch, Aeropostale, Carter’s Forever 21, Lacoste, Skechers, and Walmart receive consistent “D”s and “F”s across the board.

+ Free2Work

+ Not For Sale

]]> http://www.ecouterre.com/forever-21-abercrombie-fitch-fueling-modern-day-slavery-through-negligence/feed/ 1 http://www.ecouterre.com/threatened-black-friday-strike-at-walmart-could-be-a-game-changer/ http://www.ecouterre.com/threatened-black-friday-strike-at-walmart-could-be-a-game-changer/#comments Mon, 19 Nov 2012 13:00:27 +0000 Jasmin Malik Chua http://www.ecouterre.com/?p=73330
A walkout by Walmart workers on America’s biggest shopping event of the year could be a “game-changer” on many levels, according to labor experts from Cornell University’s ILR School. Organized by Making Change at Walmart and Organization United for Respect, and backed by United Food and Commercial Workers, which represents more than a million food-industry [...]]]>

A walkout by Walmart workers on America’s biggest shopping event of the year could be a “game-changer” on many levels, according to labor experts from Cornell University’s ILR School. Organized by Making Change at Walmart and Organization United for Respect, and backed by United Food and Commercial Workers, which represents more than a million food-industry workers, the nation-wide wave of strikes and protests leading up to Black Friday could have significant implications for the big-box retailer’s stock. “It’s going to be huge. It’s going to be all over the world,” says Kate Bronfenbrenner, ILR’s director of labor education research. “For the first time, Walmart is flummoxed—what are they going to do? Fire every single worker and shut down stores?”

STRIKE

But the world’s largest store, which employs nearly 1.4 million workers in the United States, isn’t backing down without a fight. In a complaint filed with the National Labor Relations Board on Thursday, Walmart said the UFCW is trying to force the store into collective bargaining even though it isn’t the official union for Walmart’s employees. “We are taking this action now because we cannot allow the UFCW to continue to intentionally seek to create an environment that could directly and adversely impact our customers and associates,” David Tovar, a spokesman for the company, says. “If they do, they will be held accountable.”

Bronfenbrenner says the Black Friday strike could be the largest-scale labor action ever.

In a letter to UFCW’s general council sent on Friday, Walmart said the workers’ ongoing actions violate the National Labor Relations Act, which requires pickets longer than 30 days to file a representation petition. The first strike occurred in Los Angeles in October, then spread to 28 stores in 12 states. A thousand store protests are planned in Chicago, Dallas, Miami, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Milwaukee, Los Angeles, Minnesota, and Washington, D.C., according to organizers.

“If [the store employees] are scheduled to work, we expect them to show up and do their job. If they don’t, depending on the circumstances, there could be consequences,” Tovar adds.

But regardless of the outcome, the campaign for better wages, benefits, and working conditions is likely to continue, says Margolies, an associate in The Worker Institute in New York City. “This strategy of direct pressure on large corporations to win improved pay and working conditions without a union contract has been successful for farm workers, domestic workers, and those working in warehouses and suppliers to Walmart,” he says.

Bronfenbrenner says the Black Friday strike could be the largest-scale labor action ever. “This is global pressure for Walmart to start changing its practices toward workers worldwide,” she says. “Unions are supporting any concerted activity at Walmart, regardless of whether the majority of their workers support the union at that workplace.”

+ Press Release

+ Cornell University

]]> http://www.ecouterre.com/threatened-black-friday-strike-at-walmart-could-be-a-game-changer/feed/ 1 http://www.ecouterre.com/walmart-on-fast-track-to-incorporating-eco-friendly-better-cotton/ http://www.ecouterre.com/walmart-on-fast-track-to-incorporating-eco-friendly-better-cotton/#comments Tue, 03 Apr 2012 19:00:50 +0000 Lori Zimmer http://www.ecouterre.com/?p=59885
Walmart may be among the top purchasers of organic cotton, but the mega-box chain isn’t above supporting an industry-wide initiative to growing “better cotton” from the ground up. The world’s largest retailer joins Adidas, H&M, IKEA, and Levi’s as a member of the Better Cotton Initiative’s Fast Track program, which seeks to accelerate sustainable cotton [...]]]>

Walmart may be among the top purchasers of organic cotton, but the mega-box chain isn’t above supporting an industry-wide initiative to growing “better cotton” from the ground up. The world’s largest retailer joins Adidas, H&M, IKEA, and Levi’s as a member of the Better Cotton Initiative’s Fast Track program, which seeks to accelerate sustainable cotton production by encouraging its supply and demand. As part of its commitment, Walmart will be awarding $650,000 in grant money to help farmers reduce their reliance on pesticides, promote efficient water use, and foster better working conditions.

GREENER COTTON

Even if you view its motives with skepticism (or vexation), Walmart’s involvement in the initiative cannot be overstated. The company plans to leverage Fast Track resources to identify opportunities to procure cotton from more socially and environmentally sustainable sources, particularly those that benefit women’s development. Despite making up the bulk of the workforce, women remain a highly marginalized demographic in the industry, according to BCI.

Walmart plans to identify opportunities to procure cotton from more socially and environmentally sustainable sources.

“Cotton is a vital commodity for Walmart’s home textile business,” says Ashish Bharara, vice president of strategic sourcing in the division of home and hardlines. “Through our participation in the Better Cotton Fast Track program, Walmart will help reduce the environmental impact of cotton production and improve the lives of farmers in our key cotton-sourcing regions.

Another triumph for sustainability in textiles: Olam, the largest private cotton-ginner in the world, also announced its membership in the program this past week.

+ Better Cotton Fast Track Program

+ Walmart

]]> http://www.ecouterre.com/walmart-on-fast-track-to-incorporating-eco-friendly-better-cotton/feed/ 0 http://www.ecouterre.com/fur-coats-for-cubs-high-fashions-gray-market-its-all-walmarts-fault/ http://www.ecouterre.com/fur-coats-for-cubs-high-fashions-gray-market-its-all-walmarts-fault/#comments Sun, 20 Nov 2011 13:00:31 +0000 Jasmin Malik Chua http://www.ecouterre.com/?p=49264
Don’t know what to do with Gran’s old fur coat? Donate it to Buffalo Exchange’s “Coats for Cubs” program, which turns used furs into bedding for orphaned and injured wildlife. (Buffalo Exchange) Just because we’re in a recession doesn’t mean people stop wanting to look their best. Secondhand designer fashion is allegedly a booming $12.5 [...]]]>

Don’t know what to do with Gran’s old fur coat? Donate it to Buffalo Exchange’s “Coats for Cubs” program, which turns used furs into bedding for orphaned and injured wildlife. (Buffalo Exchange)

Just because we’re in a recession doesn’t mean people stop wanting to look their best. Secondhand designer fashion is allegedly a booming $12.5 billion dollar annual industry. (Business Insider)

It’s true that they don’t make things like they used to, but if your stuff is falling apart at the seams, you have only Walmart to blame. (Grist)

What’s a “fibershed”? Textile artist Rebecca Burgess describes the hidden narrative between our bodies and the living environment. (Fashion Projects)

QUOTABLE QUOTE

“I have always believed that as human beings, we are all born designers.”

—Natalie “Alabama” Chanin, writing in Ecosalon.

---

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]]> http://www.ecouterre.com/fur-coats-for-cubs-high-fashions-gray-market-its-all-walmarts-fault/feed/ 0 http://www.ecouterre.com/fifth-victim-comes-forward-at-target-walmart-macys-rape-factory-in-jordan/ http://www.ecouterre.com/fifth-victim-comes-forward-at-target-walmart-macys-rape-factory-in-jordan/#comments Thu, 15 Sep 2011 18:00:14 +0000 Brit Liggett http://www.ecouterre.com/?p=44698
You might consider missing out on Missoni for Target a tragedy, but trust us, that’s just the hyperbole talking. For the female garment workers in Jordan, however, the nightmare of cranking out cut-price clothing to sate American appetites is very real. After the Institute of Global Labour and Human Rights reported allegations of serial rape, [...]]]>

You might consider missing out on Missoni for Target a tragedy, but trust us, that’s just the hyperbole talking. For the female garment workers in Jordan, however, the nightmare of cranking out cut-price clothing to sate American appetites is very real. After the Institute of Global Labour and Human Rights reported allegations of serial rape, abuse, and torture at Classic Factory—which makes clothing for U.S. companies such as Target, Walmart, Hanes, Macy’s, and Sears, and Land’s End—the fifth woman in two years has come forward to claim she was raped by a manager. “He said, if you try to do anything now, I’ll kill you right here,” the Bangladeshi national says in her testimony. “Then he put his hands on me…he violated me. I want his judgment and that he go to jail, with that I’d be happy. So he can’t do this to another woman again.”

Cheap but at what cost?

FASHION’S SEEDY UNDERBELLY

The American retailers have all refused to take action, according to the human-rights watchdog group, and the Jordanian government admits no wrongdoing. “The Jordanian government investigation of Classic has been severely flawed by incompetency, a lack of resources and trained investigators, and a deliberate campaign by Classic management to hold the foreign women guest workers in a state of terror and repression,” says Charles Kernaghan, director of the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, which has banded with Change.org to demand immediate suspension of the managers involved.

“This is not a serious investigation, but a whitewash,” says Charles Kernaghan of the Institute of Global Labour and Human Rights.

“Investigators have failed to secure basic documentation related to the rape accusations, have refused to allow victims to be interviewed in safe circumstances by women’s advocates, and have kept independent human rights groups out of the investigation,” he adds. “This is not a serious investigation, but a whitewash.”

Although global media coverage is only now gathering momentum, the government has known about the violations as early as 2007, says Kernaghan. In October, 2,400 Sri Lankan and Indian migrant workers went on strike to demand the expulsion of Anil Santha, a manager and alleged rapist. Sanal Kumar, who owns Classic Factory, removed Santha, only to reinstate him a month after the workers returned.

Fast fashion has little consequence to our wallets, but the conditions they encourage on the production side make all the difference between a life lived in dignity and one of depravity. It’s time for us—both the retailer and the consumer—to admit our roles in spawning these atrocities. “My request is that it doesn‘t matter who it is, but please bring some relief to what we suffer…Please help us,” says a rape victim known only as “Latha.” “Help save the lives and innocent dreams of these workers. Please do something to have Anil removed so that the lives and hopes of other innocent girls are not destroyed further.”

+ Petition at Change.org

+ Institute of Global Labor and Human Rights

]]> http://www.ecouterre.com/fifth-victim-comes-forward-at-target-walmart-macys-rape-factory-in-jordan/feed/ 0 http://www.ecouterre.com/walmart-target-hanes-macys-linked-to-jordan-rape-factory/ http://www.ecouterre.com/walmart-target-hanes-macys-linked-to-jordan-rape-factory/#comments Mon, 08 Aug 2011 18:00:50 +0000 Jasmin Malik Chua http://www.ecouterre.com/?p=41949
Photo by carool Some of the biggest names in American retail have been linked to a Jordanian garment factory that allegedly rapes, tortures, and abuses its female workers, according to a report by the Institute of Global Labour and Human Rights, formerly known as the National Labor Committee. In a petition on Change.org, the human-rights [...]]]>

Photo by carool

Some of the biggest names in American retail have been linked to a Jordanian garment factory that allegedly rapes, tortures, and abuses its female workers, according to a report by the Institute of Global Labour and Human Rights, formerly known as the National Labor Committee. In a petition on Change.org, the human-rights organization accuses supervisors at Classic Factory, which supplies clothing to Walmart, Target, Macy’s, Kohl’s, Hanes, and Land’s End, of sexually assaulting dozens of migrant workers from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, most of whom are virtually imprisoned in dilapidated surroundings. “We only went to Jordan to earn money to help our families,” says a young woman who goes by the name “Nazma” to protect her identity. “We had no idea that factory managers would rape so many of us young girls.”

Read the rest of Walmart, Target, Hanes, Macy’s Linked to Jordan “Rape Factory”

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