New revelations in the fire that killed at least 111 workers in a garment factory in Bangladesh used by several Wal-Mart suppliers. It was the worst industrial accident in the countrys history.
Survivors said an exit door at the factory was locked, fire extinguishers didnt work, and that when the fire alarm went off, their bosses ordered them to stay at their sewing machines. Many victims were trapped or jumped to their deaths from the eight-story building, which had no emergency exits or fire escapes. More than 50 of the bodies retrieved were burned so badly they could not be identified. And reports showeda document posted on Tazreen Fashions website indicated that an “ethical sourcing” official for Wal-Mart had flagged “violations and/or conditions which were deemed to be high risk” at the factory.
Wal-Mart said it fired the suppliers that subcontracted work to Tazreen Fashions and that they were using the factory without its approval. But critics say inspection reports discovered in the Tazreen factory, which were obtained by the New York Times from a labor rights group, underscore fundamental problems with Wal-Marts supply chain in Bangladesh, allowing it to avoid addressing safety problems.
Steven Greenhouse talking:
So I worked with our reporter in South Asia, Jim Yardley, and we found several surprising revelations in investigating Wal-Marts relationship with this Tazreen factory. First, we obtained a series of inspection reports that showed that over nearly a year Wal-Mart suppliers continued doing work in this factory, even though it was found to, you know, have many serious safety problems. Each report found a lack of fire extinguishers. Several reports found lack of smoke detectors. There was a lack of fire alarms and firehose pipes on the factorys fourth and fifth floors. Each report found, you know, partially blocked access to exit routes.
One of the big revelations we found in our investigative report was that one of the main monitoring companies, inspection companies for Wal-Mart, admitted that “We dont even check whether factories have emergency exits, whether they have fire escapes or fireproof, smoke-proof enclosed staircases.” And this factory did not have outdoor fire escapes, did not have enclosed staircases. It had three staircases which all led down to the ground floor where the fire had begun. So, youre really screwed if youre in a factory and have to go the down the staircases that lead right to where the fire was.
Another revelation we found was that while the CEO of the company, Mike Duke, gave a major address at the Council on Foreign Relations saying that “We, Wal-Mart, will not use unsafe factories,” it turns out that the companys head of ethical sourcing sent a letter around to other retailers two weeks earlier saying, you know, we mustyou know, “We acknowledge that our audits, our inspections, are inadequate on fire and electrical safety.” I think this dovetails with what this inspection company said, that “We dont even check for fire”
Wal-Mart is taking some efforts not to use unsafe factories, but a lot of critics, both here in the United States and in Bangladesh, say its not doing nearly enough. You know, while it might have left 94 factories that it deemed unsafe, then, again, the critics say, it goes to other factories that are often also unsafe. And if Wal-Martif a Wal-Mart inspector finds a factory unsafe, it usually takes at least 18 months, or three “orange” ratings over 18 months, over two years, for Wal-Mart to exclude the factory. And some critics say Wal-Mart kind of plays a shell game. Its in these factories for a year or two, until theyre deemed safe, and then it will go to another factory.
In 2010, Juan, there where two very bad factory fires in Bangladesh, one in which 21 died, one in which 29 died, including people jumping from the eighth and ninth floors, just like the Triangle Shirtwaist fire in New York City in 1911, where 146 young women died about a mile or two from here.
And one thing that amazed me and disappointed me in investigating the Tazreen, you know, factory is that we have all these American companies doing business in Bangladesh in factories that dont have some of the most basic, basic, you know, safety mechanisms, like fire escapes, like enclosed staircases. And I wonder how companies say, “We only want to use safe factories,” when, you know, anyone who knows the least amount about factory safety will sayespecially in as flammable a place as an apparel factory, will say we needyou know, “You need fire escapes. You need enclosed staircases.”
Also, after the horrific fires in 2010, there was an emergency meeting held in Bangladesh in April 2011 where labor groups, Bangladesh government people, Bangladesh manufacturers, Bangladesh NGOs, and retailers like Wal-Mart, Sears, Target participated. And we obtained the minutes of the meeting. And there, Wal-Mart spoke out against proposals for the Western retailers, the deep-pocketed retailers, to really finance the needed corrective actions to ensure fire safety in the factories. Wal-Mart said, “We justyou know, its not financially feasible. We cant afford it.” People Ive interviewed said it wouldnt really cost that much to make the 4,500 factories safe. They estimate it would cost about $3 billion over five years, $600 million a year, which is just like 3 percent of the cost of the annual amount of exportgarment exports. So that would just raise, the cost of, a $20 shirt by a few cents.
We often think that China is, you know, the humongous exporter of garments. And it is, but more and more companies, apparel companies, are leaving China and sourcing instead in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is now the worlds second-largest exporter of apparel. It exports $19 B-billion worth of apparel, you know, for Wal-Mart, for Target, for H&M, for Tommy Hilfiger.
An interesting thing now is that Tommy Hilfiger, the parent company of Tommy Hilfiger, PVH, and this German retailer, Tchibo, have embraced a really important plan to try to assure factory safety. They have promised to, you know, really pay for the needed factory improvements at various garment plants and have independent inspectors look at the plants. And if the inspectors find that the safety situation is adequate, then these companies will step up and pay for the improvements. Theyre saying, “Its just two of us. We wont really make this plant operational until we get two other companies to join us.” And theyre pushing very, very hard for Wal-Mart and other companies to join them.
Wal-Mart, Mike Duke says Wal-Mart is a leader in factory safety. People point to this April 2011 meeting where Wal-Mart, you know, as the 800-pound gorilla, so to speak, in many ways blocked an important plan. I think of the movie Lincoln, where Lincoln says, “I am clothed in immense power.” And I often think Wal-Mart, in the world of retailing and the world of apparel, is clothed in immense power, and Wal-Mart really has the ability, if it wants, to really turn things around, to be a game changer in Bangladesh. And it wouldnt cost the company that much, and it could save many, many lives.
Walmart buys more than $1 billion in garments from Bangladesh each year, attracted by the countrys $37-a-month minimum wage, the lowest in the world.
You had Kalpona Akter on. Shes an impressive, very active union organizer. She heads the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity. You know, there is a workers movement in Bangladesh. There was a big fight two, three years ago to raise the minimum wage, which I think was just $20, $25. They got it all the way up to $37, which is still quite, quite low. Theres a lot of ferment in Bangladesh. Theres a lot of resistance to unionizing individual plants. One of the nations foremost union organizers, Aminul Islam, was found murdered six, eight months ago. My colleague Jim Yardley did a very moving story about his death, and his piece points to perhaps government folks or business folks perhaps hiring someone to murder him. And I think, as we see sometimes in the United States, a lot of workers in Bangladesh are scared to stick their necks out and support a union, because they might get in trouble, they might get fired.
When Jim Yardley and I researched the article, you know, we spoke to some factory owners, and they say, “We are paid such low prices by Wal-Mart and other Western buyers, Western retailers, that we cant afford the, you know,$500,000, $300,000 in investments in fire escapes and in enclosed staircases.” And they say the folks with the big pockets should be doing this. And, you know, Wal-Mart has called on the Bangladesh government to get more aggressive in doing inspections and to phase out, close down unsafe plants. And Bangladesh, you know, is so eager to attract business, its probably not going to become a very tough policeman.
– source democracynow.org