What's going on here? The New York times, April 26, 2012, has an OpEd in its newspaper entitled, ANOTHER PREVENTABLE TRAGEDY IN BANGLADESH. But it does not appear on its web site. Why? I've never seen this before, something in OpED but not on its site. Is it because the paper's OpED names H&M, Walmart and the Gap (advertisers) as contributors to lack of safety in the garment industry?
The editorial makes excellent points and the web site readers are being deprived of knowing them. The OpED points out that the garments made in Bangladesh are made for American and British corporations. These companies have not demanded and paid for adequate safeguards at the factories that fill their orders. Workers who try to establish Unions, who would protect workers, are often fired and beaten.
"...companies can demand and pay for safer factories and they need to put pressure on the owners and Ms.Hasina [Prime Minister of the government] to allow unions and improve inspections" says The TImes editorial.
The Times does have a straight news story which says in part, "The PVH Corporation, the parent company of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, and Tchibo, a German retailer, have endorsed a plan in which Western retailers would finance fire safety efforts and structural upgrades in Bangladeshi factories — although they first want other companies to sign on.
Walmart has refused to join that effort. But in January, it announced that it would demand that factories quickly correct any safety violations and would dismiss any contractor that used unapproved or unsafe factories. Two weeks ago, Walmart pledged $1.8 million to establish a health and safety institute in Bangladesh to train 2,000 factory managers in fire safety. [The Times editorial called that measure 'half hearted.'"]
But analysts said that based on past experience, there would be plenty of blame to go around, with harried factory owners scrambling to fill orders under tight deadlines imposed by their Western customers.
“Even in a situation of grave threat, when they saw cracks in the walls, factory managers thought it was too risky not to work because of the pressure on them from U.S. and European retailers to deliver their goods on time,” said Dara O’Rourke, an expert on workplace monitoring at the University of California, Berkeley. He added that the prices Western companies paid “are so low that they are at the root of why these factories are cutting corners on fire safety and building safety.”
Numerous Western apparel companies issued statements acknowledging that they had used factories in the building and expressing their condolences.
Primark, a British retailer, confirmed that it was using a factory on the building’s second floor and said it was “shocked and deeply saddened by this appalling incident.” Primark said it had been engaged for several years with nongovernmental organizations and other retailers “to review the Bangladeshi industry’s approach to factory standards.”
Loblaws, a Canadian retailer that markets the apparel brand Joe Fresh, said one factory produced a “small number” of Joe Fresh garments. “We are extremely saddened” by the building collapse, Loblaws said in a statement, adding, “We will be working with our vendor to understand how we may be able to assist them during this time.”
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