Giant Companies Admit Link With Firms In Collapsed Bangladesh Building
By Countercurrents.org
30 April, 2013
Countercurrents.org
The Italian retail giant Benetton has admitted that it was supplied by one of the garment factories in the Bangladesh building which collapsed last Wednesday for a one-off order, after previously denying that it had links with any of the businesses there. Rebecca Smithers reported [1]:
The company's U-turn came as a Bangladesh court on Monday gave police 15 days to question the owner of the building, in which at least 382 people were killed, as rescuers used heavy machinery to cut through the destroyed structure after giving up hopes of finding any more survivors.
Mohammed Sohel Rana, the owner of the building was arrested on Sunday as he tried to flee to India. Rana will be held for questioning on charges of negligence, illegal construction and forcing employees to work in the building. His father, Abdul Khaleque, was also arrested on suspicion of aiding Rana to force people to work in a dangerous building.
The illegally constructed, eight-storey Rana Plaza collapsed in a heap as thousands of people worked inside, in five garment factories that supply major western brands including Primark, Matalon, Mango and Benetton. About 2,500 survivors have been accounted for.
Benetton's announcement follows the publication by the Associated Press of pictures garments with its labels in the debris. The Italian firm, which on the day of the tragedy issued a statement saying "None of the companies involved are suppliers to Benetton Group or any of its brands", said this had been updated in the light of contiuning investigations.
The statement said: "Regarding the tragic accident in Dhaka, Bangladesh, we wish to confirm that none of the companies involved is a supplier to any of our brands. Further to this, a one-time order was completed and shipped out of one of the manufacturers involved several weeks prior to the accident.
"Since then, this subcontractor has been removed from our supplier list. A program of random audits takes place on an ongoing basis throughout our global supply chain, to ensure that all direct and indirect suppliers comply with our long-standing social, labor and environmental standards."
New Wave Bottoms, one of the manufacturers based at Rana Plaza, lists Benetton as a client while labor rights activists digging through the debris also said they found documents linking Benetton to the factory.
Britain's Primark and Bon Marche and Spain's Mango have acknowledged their products were made in the block, while UK chain Matalan said it had been supplied in the past.
A petition drawn up by the National Garment Workers' Federation calling on Primark, Matalan and Mango to pay compensation to victims' families and to sign the Bangladesh fire and building safety agreement to prevent the future deaths of garment workers, has so far received nearly 600,000 signatures.
A garment manufacturers' group said the factories in the building employed 3,122 workers, but it was not clear how many were inside when it fell.
The collapse and previous disasters in garment factories have focused attention on the poor working conditions of workers who toil for as little as £25 a month to produce clothing for top international brands.
An earlier report [2] by Syed Zain Al-Mahmood from Dhaka, Jason Burke and Rebecca Smithers said:
Dilara Begum, a garment worker who survived the accident, told the Guardian: "We didn't want to go in but the supervisors threatened to dock pay if we didn't return to work."
Mohammad Asaduzzaman, in charge of the area's police station, said factory owners appeared to have ignored a warning not to allow their workers into the building after a crack was detected in the block on Tuesday. A bank based in the block sent its staff home on Tuesday, locals said, fearful of a collapse.
There was no warning before the rear of the building fell in, followed by most of the upper floors, survivors said.
"I was at work on the third floor, and then suddenly I heard a deafening sound, but couldn't understand what was happening. I ran and was hit by something on my head," said Zohra, another worker, who was pulled from the rubble by local people.
At least one factory in the collapsed building has previously supplied the UK discount store Matalan.
Among the businesses in the building were Phantom Apparels Ltd, New Wave Style Ltd, New Wave Bottoms Ltd and New Wave Brothers Ltd – the latter all part of the same New Wave group which on its website named 27 main buyers, including firms from Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Spain, Ireland, Canada and the United States.
A spokeswoman for Matalan, which has 212 stores in the UK selling fashion for men, women and children, and homeware, said: "We can confirm that New Wave has been a supplier to Matalan, although we don't have any current production with them. We are deeply saddened by the news and we have been trying to get in touch with our contacts since we heard to check if we are able to assist them."
There were five garment factories – employing mostly women – in the building. They included Ether Tex Ltd, whose chairman told Reuters he was unaware of any warnings not to open the workshops.
"There was some crack at the second floor but my factory was on the fifth floor," Muhammad Anisur Rahman said. "The owner of the building told our floor manager that it is not a problem and so you can open the factory."
Sheikh Abdul Mannan, a senior official at Rajdhani Unnayan Kartipakkha, the government agency responsible for building safety in Dhaka, said the building broke national building regulations. "We are investigating whether proper planning permissions were taken," he said.
November's factory fire raised questions about how much control western brands have over their supply chains for clothes sourced from Bangladesh. Wages as low as $38.50 a month have helped propel the country to the second largest apparel exporter in the world.
Buildings in the crowded city of Dhaka are sometimes erected without permission and many do not comply with construction regulations.
Savar is a relatively new manufacturing zone and was once swampland.
Sam Maher, of Labour Behind the Label, said: "It's unbelievable that brands still refuse to sign a binding agreement with unions and labor groups to stop these unsafe working conditions from existing. Tragedy after tragedy shows that corporate-controlled monitoring has failed to protect workers' lives."
Reforms were promised after the 2005 collapse of the Spectrum factory in which 64 died.
Primark – owned by Associated British Foods – confirmed that it is currently being supplied by New Wave. The retailer has a total of 257 stores worldwide and in the UK has become symbolic of cheap, "throwaway" fashion which is sold and worn in high volume. It has opened 15 new stores in the past six months, including six in Spain, four in the UK, two in Germany, two in Austria and one in the Netherlands. It is also set to make its first foray into France by the end of the year.
Last week Primark revealed a 24% jump in sales, as its successful formula of embracing the high street over the internet has paid off.
Source:
[1] guardian.co.uk, Apr. 29, 2013, “Benetton admits link with firm in collapsed Bangladesh building”,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/29/benetton-link-collapsed-building-bangladesh
[2] The Guardian, April 25, 2013, “Dhaka: many dead as garment factory building that supplied west collapses”,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/24/bangladesh-building-collapse-shops-west
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