Big brands rejected Bangladesh factory safety plan

[cali]

As Bangladesh reels from the deaths of hundreds of garment workers in a building collapse, the refusal of global retailers to pay for strict nationwide factory inspections is bringing renewed scrutiny to an industry that has profited from a country notorious for its hazardous workplaces and subsistence level wages.

After a factory fire killed 112 garment workers in November, clothing brands and retailers continued to reject a union-sponsored proposal to improve safety throughout Bangladesh's $20 billion garment industry. Instead, companies expanded a patchwork system of private audits and training that labor groups say improves very little in a country where official inspections are lax and factory owners have close relations with the government.

In the meantime, the number of deaths and injuries has mounted. In the five months since last year's deadly blaze at Tazreen Fashions Ltd., there were 40 other fires in Bangladeshi factories, killing nine workers and injuring more than 660, according to a labor organization tied to the AFL-CIO umbrella group of American unions.

Wednesday's collapse of the Rana Plaza building that killed more than 300 people is the worst disaster to hit Bangladesh's fast-growing and politically powerful garment industry. For those working to overhaul conditions for workers who are paid as little as $38 a month, it is a grim reminder that corporate social responsibility programs are failing to deliver on lofty promises.

<snip>

http://news.yahoo.com/big-brands-rejected-bangladesh-factory-safety-plan-122206229.html

[malaise]

1. Why should corporations care about dispensable brown people

They don't even care about the dispensable white people in their own countries.

Only money counts! Only markets count! Profit by any means. Fuck poor people!!

[cali]

2. yes, it's fuck poor people

of any color. Many of the exploiters in the Bangladesh factory collapse are brown people- the Bangladeshi factory owners.

[malaise]

3. Yep but they're the elites and they grease the palms of their cronies - the political

class - at home and abroad.

It's one international racket - of the markets, for the markets, by the markets and until we the people are prepared to dedicate time, energy and organization to fight back, the scum of the earth will proceed with their greed, corruption and indifference to everything but money.

[cali]

4. yes it is an international racket. thanks for responding to the op

I'm finding it a bit depressing that DUers are so uninterested in this horrific tragedy.

[malaise]

5. Not really - there hae been a few threads and some folks have responded

This is the worst disaster in Bangladesh but there have been more than a few before and there is no reason why those poor people were forced to enter that cracked building.
The owners should be sent to prison for life.

[Cirque du So-What]

10. I am definitely interested and want this put in front of as many eyes as possible

I don't want to play any role in driving this bloody business. I'm open to suggestions on the best methods of coercing retailers to act more responsibly, but we must remember that we're dealing with sociopaths who don't give a flying fig about the lives of people anywhere in the world who contribute to their bottom line.

[Brickbat]

15. People are rarely interested in these kinds of tragedies, because it raises uncomfortable

questions about what we buy and why, and for some reason that's a painful discussion for many. People jump in on the Foxcomm stuff because it's easy to boast "I don't even HAVE an iPhone!" when the fact that if you own something that says "Made in China," or a host of other countries, there is no guarantee about the conditions the item was made in, and very little way to check it.

[redqueen]

20. I don't think people are uninterested.

If they're like me they just feel hopeless.

The unions are dying here. Our own government is failing to regulate businesses here.

What hope do we have that another government will regulate businesses elsewhere?

This is about cheap clothes. People need clothes, and many of them can barely afford them.

We can't even get affluent people here to stop buying electronic shit they DON'T need every time a new bell or whistle comes out.

So yeah. Hopeless.

[Fumesucker]

6. "Corporate social responsibility" is an oxymoron n/t

[cali]

8. no, it's not. it's tiny and it needs to grow, but it exists

http://vbsr.org/

[Fumesucker]

12. The very purpose of a corporation is to avoid personal responsibility

That's why you set up a corporation in the first place, to protect your own ass(ets).

[cali]

13. there are socially responsible and sustainable corporations

you may not want to cop to that FACT but it's still a fact.

[Fumesucker]

14. I have a picture of an actual Wolf licking my face

Right after I fed it a pint of Haagen Dazs vanilla.

Just because some Wolves have been somewhat acclimated to humans under some conditions doesn't mean they aren't Wolves.

[redqueen]

21. This.

However responsible some corporations are, this is why we need strict regulations and enforcement.

[leftynyc]

7. How about some congressional hearings

on this? Haul the CEO's from these big brands and let them explain why the people of Bangladesh don't matter.

[cali]

9. I was thinking the same thing

I'd also like to see any tax breaks those companies may have, repealed or revoked.

[leftynyc]

11. Yes, excellent

Embarrassment probably wouldn't be enough for these cretins - hitting them in the wallet is the only thing they truly understand and let the congresspeople who support these tax breaks explain themselves. My grandmas (may they rest in peace) never let me forget about the Triangle Shirt Factory.

[LiberalAndProud]

16. The numbers are damning.

$1 trillion annual sales, and a $500,000 annual investment is "too costly.

Then there is this:

H&M also did not sign on to the proposal because it believes factories and local government in Bangladesh should be taking on the responsibility, Pierre Börjesson, manager of sustainability and social issues, told AP in December.

Right. Because we know these corporate folks are all about government regulation, right?

[redqueen]

18. He's saying they won't do anything until they're forced to.

I fail to see how this is surprising.

[LiberalAndProud]

19. Who said I was surprised?

Outraged, yes. Surprised, not at all.

[redqueen]

17. Corporations and owners are never held accountable.

We learned this in New York and formed the Committee on Public Safety, got strict legislation passed, etc.

[cbdo2007]

22. Is there any way to find out exactly which brands they were making?

I know there was some speculation yesterday and some names thrown out of brands they know were made in Bangladesh, but how can we find out which ones specifically are using these unsafe conditions??

[laundry_queen]

23. One brand is for sure a Canadian brand

it's been on the news here in Canada constantly - "Joe Fresh" which is kind of a spin off of Loblaws (a large discount grocery chain). There's actually a picture of a Joe Fresh item in the rubble. There's also some clothes chain in the UK involved...but I forget the name. Here's just one of the many stories in the news: (I just noticed if you read down it has a few of the companies involved in this factory, including Walmart and the UK store)

http://www.ctvnews.ca/business/joe-fresh-customers-react-to-news-of-disaster-at-bangladesh-factory-1.1254804