Wal-Mart Linked to Collapsed Bangladeshi Factory; The Gap Rejects Safety Pact
The retail giant Wal-Mart has been tied to the collapsed Bangladeshi industrial building where more than 1,100 workers died last month. The New York Times reports documents found in the rubble show a contractor had hired one of the buildings factories to produce jeans for Wal-Mart stores. The contract was over a year old, and Wal-Mart maintains it was not using the factory when the collapse occurred. On Tuesday, Wal-Mart reaffirmed its rejection of a plan requiring firms that profit from low wages in Bangladesh to help pay for fire safety and building improvements at factories. Wal-Mart says it is conducting its own safety review of its Bangladeshi factories and will post the results in six months. On Tuesday, six more companies, including Carrefour, Marks & Spencer and El Corte Inglés, signed on to the plan, which requires companies to conduct independent safety inspections, pay for repairs and end dealings with factories that refuse to improve safety. In addition to Wal-Mart, another major U.S. retailer, Gap, is refusing to adopt the plan unless it drastically reduces the liability of companies found to be in violation. In response, the Worker Rights Consortium, an independent monitor, said: “Gaps demand is that the agreement be made unenforceable and therefore meaningless.”
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U.S., Banks Reach $26 Billion Settlement for Mortgage Abuses
The five largest U.S. banks have agreed to a reported $26 billion settlement to resolve claims over abusive practices that forced scores of people from their homes and helped bring about the nations financial meltdown. After months of talks with state and federal officials, the banks have reportedly agreed to help some one million homeowners reduce their mortgage debt or refinance their homes at lower rates. Another 750,000 people who have lost homes to foreclosure will receive $2,000. The deal would mark the largest civil action settlement for the housing industry, but would still only help a fraction of the struggling homeowners affected by the banks practices. New York and California have signed off on the deal after initially holding it up in protest of lenient treatment of the banks. The settlement will reportedly preserve a lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman accusing banks of fraud and deceit in the use of an electronic mortgage registry. But the deal gives banks immunity from civil lawsuits for “robo-signing,” a practice whereby homeowners were rapidly evicted without proper vetting.
Hundreds Take Part in Milwaukee Fast-Food, Retail Strike
Hundreds of fast-food and retail workers staged a one-day strike in Milwaukee on Wednesday as part of a national effort for a $15-an-hour wage and the right to unionize without intimidation.
Jennifer Epps-Addison: “Fast food and retail, its one of the fastest-growing industries. Its one of the most profitable, with $200 billion in profits. And yet these are the lowest-paid workers in our economy. Theyre standing up and saying, ‘Our families can’t survive on $7.25 an hour.”
Workers gathered in large numbers outside restaurant chains, including McDonalds, Burger King, Wendys and Taco Bell, holding signs and chanting slogans. Milwaukee is the fifth city to see a fast-food workers strike in six weeks, following Detroit, St. Louis, Chicago and New York City.