Breaking: we’ve just learned that a deadly factory fire broke out at another factory in Bangladesh yesterday, killing
eight people and injuring another 50. It's just the latest in a string
of tragedies that have struck garment workers in Bangladesh.
The records we’ve obtained so far show that the factory supplied both Walmart and Gap.
The media is just starting to report on the latest tragedy. Let’s make
sure that as the news breaks, tens of thousands of consumers are putting
the blame squarely where it belongs -- on the shoulders of greedy
companies like Gap and Walmart. It shouldn't take more deaths to
convince them to protect their workers by signing the binding Accord of
Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh.
Since the Tazreen factory fire last November, we've joined with
activists around the world and pleaded for apparel brands to sign the
Bangladesh Safety Accord, which could make tragedies like this a thing
of the past. In the wake of the horrific Rana Plaza factory collapse,
which killed more than 1,000 workers, more than 90 companies agreed to
serious reforms, but Walmart and Gap pushed a non-binding PR stunt of a safety plan. Bangladeshi workers are still paying the price with their lives.
The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh that
Walmart and Gap refused to sign was designed to prevent tragedies like
this one. Under the Accord, factories will undergo fire safety
inspections, mandatory repairs and renovations, and apparel brands will
be required to help pay for any safety upgrades. The Accord's
inspections will be starting soon, and with hundreds of factories to
cover, it won’t fix everything overnight. In fact, several companies
that have signed sourced from the factory that burned down yesterday.
This latest tragedy just underscores why a new safety standard is so
urgently needed, and the fact remains that the Accord is the only credible plan to stop future disasters.
Incredibly, Walmart and Gap praised the Bangladeshi firm responsible for this disaster as a “top supplier.” It's
just another reminder that we can't trust corporations with people's
safety, which is why the independent inspections and legally-binding
commitments to safety improvements that the Accord creates are so
important. We can't rely on Gap and Walmart's corporate-controlled
"alliance for worker safety" to do much more than give corporations an
excuse to avoid getting serious about worker safety.
Not only have Walmart and Gap refused to sign a binding safety
agreement, they have also refused to compensate the victims of the
factory disasters in which they've been implicated. In recent years,
over a thousand workers have lost their lives in factory fires and
collapses in Bangladesh, and hundreds more have been injured so severely
that they'll never work again. That means that thousands of families
have lost a primary breadwinner and are still struggling to survive. Walmart
and Gap have made billions off of Bangladeshi workers -- they have a
responsibility to make sure that their victims receive full and fair
compensation.
When Walmart, Gap, and their allies walked away from the Accord, we knew more workers would die as a consequence.
We can’t let this go on any longer. Let’s make sure that Walmart, Gap,
and the media hears us loud and clear as this story breaks.
Thanks for all you do,
Rob, Angus, Paul, Kaytee, and the team as SumOfUs.org
Rob, Angus, Paul, Kaytee, and the team as SumOfUs.org
SumOfUs is a world-wide movement of people like you, working together to
hold corporations accountable for their actions and forge a new,
sustainable path for our global economy. You can follow us on Twitter, and like us on Facebook.
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More information:
Bangladesh garment factory fire kills at least 10 people, CBC, Oct. 8th, 2013.
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