Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)-A year ago today 1,129 people died and more than 2,500 were injured when an eight storey garment factory in Bangladesh collapsed.
It stands as the worst garment industry accident in history. One year later, there has been a lot of talk, but little action, reports Kevin Newman Live.
“I think there have been a lot of great efforts on the part of Western brands…a lot of commitments made,” says Sarah Labowitz, co-director of the Center for Business and Human Rights at NYU Stern, to Kevin Newman Live Thursday from Dhaka.
“The question now here at the one-year anniversary is implementation and seeing these commitments through."
Things are happening, Labowitz says.
People are talking about factory safety and supply chain issues, but there is a lot more that should be done.
Still, Labowitz says workers she’s spoken to want Western consumers to buy goods from Bangladesh.
“Their message for consumers in the US, Europe, Canada is keep buying, keeping placing orders,” she says. “They don’t want boycotts, they want jobs.”
New laws implemented since the collapse allowed workers to create unions and have increased monthly wages increased from $38 to $68 per month.
There is now also an inspection program in place, but only a small percentage of the country’s more than 5,000 factories have been inspected for safety issues.
And only about 2,000 factories are a part of the program. Labowitz says the worst conditions are mostly in factories that are not part of the agreements.
A trust fund was set up to compensate the families of victims. Canadian-based Loblaw, whose Joe Fresh clothing was made in the Rana Plaza factory has contributed around $3.3 million US, according to the Rana Plana Donor Trust Fund site.
Labowitz, along with Dorothee Baumann-Pauly, reserch director for the Center of Business and Human Rights, have spent months studying the issues and wrote a report entitled Business as Usual is Not an Option: Supply Chains and Sourcing After Rana Plaza. Since July, they have interviewed more than 100 people about business practices in the supply chain, including factory owners, buyers, agents, workers, trade unionists, bankers and finance professionals.
“We’re calling for brands to make a long-term commitment to Bangladesh and to their primary suppliers so the factory owners can afford to make upgrades,” Labowitz said.
She adds that inspections are not enough. The way to increase the quality of working conditions is through building relationships between brands, governments, suppliers and factories.
Despite the lack of movement, there is a great sense of urgency.
Labowitz says, “Rana Plaza really was a wakeup call."
BBN/ANS/AD/25Apr14-5:40pm (BST)