Benefit for Bangladesh : You saw 4 Corners, now take action: Thurs 27 June, Celtic Club, Queen St, Melbourne

The plight of the garment workers of Rana Plaza : Australian responsibility : lots of links for information & aid

24/09 2015
Following the ABCTV Four Corners program last night, I am re-publishing a former post on the fire at Rana Plaza and the garment workers' plight. The original post has quite a collection of links, particularly to labour rights organisations. I have now added a further myriad of links from the ABC Four Corners site. The post has now become quite encyclopaedic with regard to the links. There is no excuse now for being uninformed; for not writing that letter; for not donating or not attending that benefit. Most of all there is no excuse for not encouraging people - in whatever industry - to join their union. Labour rights on the factory floor and humane intervention by governments is what prevents such events as the garment factory fire which has killed, maimed, and defrauded so many. Please act now!

We have all heard about the Bangladesh factory fire of 24 April, 2013 which killed 400 people.  This is nothing new. Bangladesh (and those international retailers who commission goods from factories there) have form.  The picture above is from a 2012 fire which killed 112 people.  For information about the prosecution of the factory owner, please go here.

Michele O'Neil of the Textile Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia reports:

Kmart, Target, Big W and Cotton On have all not signed on to the global agreement and those companies have no excuse not to be part of this. This is an effective way of actually dealing with a huge tragedy.

It is clear that only consumer activism, complaints, and demands for retailers to supply clear labelling and listing of supply chains will change anything and keep our retailing corporations honest, active and responsive to human rights. I have linked below contact forms and pages for the three major retailers mentioned on The World Today by Michele O'Neil.

Kmart contact form
BigW contact page
Cotton On contact form

Bangladesh has the lowest minimum wage in the world at $38 month.  Cambodia has the second lowest minimum wage in the world at $66 a month, so reports CorpWatch.  And, Australian consumers, if you are tempted to say that costs of living are cheaper in both countries then that doesn't wash.  These are people whose incomes barely put food in their mouths.  Their incomes don't buy four bedroom houses with bathroom, ensuite and plasma TV.  

The fact is that Australian greed, First World greed, 

is exploiting Third World need.

As Alecia Simmonds says - 

Western consumers must take some responsibility 

for the Bangladesh factory deaths.

One thing you can do that is only a Like away:

Facebook site for

The Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity

I have written to-day to Kelvin Thomson, Parliamentary Secretary for Trade as follows:

Dear Kelvin Thomson,

I write to express my concerns about the recent Bangladesh factory fire which has horrified the world.

It is clear that watchfulness on the part of the consuming public is the only way to keep governments, manufacturers and retailers open and honest about their supply chains and the way workers are treated and how and how much they are paid.

I write to ask you, as Minister for Trade, what the Australian Government - and in particular the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade - is doing to assist in:

1. Making Australian businesses compile supply chain details in relation to the products they sell and supply them on request to their customers.
2. Advising Australian businesses in relation to their responsibilities in relation to human rights when sourcing goods and products from countries with low-wage, non-unionised sweatshops and deathshops.
3. Keeping watch on countries with low-wage, non-unionised sweatshops and deathshops.
4. Keeping watch on governments of countries with low-wage, non-unionised sweatshops and deathshops.
5. Developing Australian Government responses to countries and governments which allow low-wage, non-unionised sweatshops and deathshops.

I plan to follow up to-day by writing to the following retailing organisations:

Australian Retailers Association

Australian National Retailers Association

Council of Small Business Australia

Below, more links are provided to expand your knowledge on this topic.

Firstly, previous posts on The Network on the 2013 Bangladesh factory fire at Rana Plaza:

Will things really change or merely salve western middle-class consciences?

Free trade comes first in Australian politics.

Supply chains enchaining low cost labour. Consumers need to question.

###

Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity

International Labor Rights Forum - Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity

Walmart creates its own Bangladesh factory safety program

Clean Clothes Campaign

Clean Clothes site

Clean Clothes Campaign - Facebook site

Fairwear Australia
Asia Floor Wage
Living Wage as a fundamental right of Cambodian Garment Workers
Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh

ADDED - Tuesday 25 June 2013
Wondering what you can do after last night's 4 Corners program
Lots of stuff below - from writing letters, to giving money, to action
and all based on great information

AID, ADVOCACY, RESOURCES

ActionAid: The Rana Plaza

Benefit for Bangladesh | Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia

The Clean Clothes Campaign | Oxfam UK

Ethical Clothing Australia

Fair Wear

Garment Workers' Appeal | ActionAid Australia | @ActionAid_aus

International Labor Rights Forum

Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights

Oxfam Australia Campaign: Support The Bangladesh Factory Workers

Sweatshops in Bangladesh | War on Want

The Worker Rights Consortium

Australian retailers Rivers, Coles, Target, Kmart linked to Bangladesh factory worker abuse

Fashion victims with Background Information

The above link provides links under the following headings

Email addresses you can write to about their unethical behaviour:

amardirossian@ woolworths.com.au

jcoates@bigw.com.au

q@rivaus.com.au

customerservice@btr.com.au

just group@jjh.com.au

Clothing retailers respond

The following retailers respond: Coles, Forever New, KMart Australia, Big W, Mango Clothing, Cotton On, Benetton, Mango

Reports and Company Audits

How sustainable are Australian retailers' new sourcing strategies? | AMP | Jul 2012 

See Nothing, Know Nothing, Do Nothing | Inst. for Global Labour and Human Rights | May 2012 -

Chinese Sweatshop in Bangladesh | Inst. for Global Labour and Human Rights | 8 Mar 2012 

Bangladesh's ready-made garments landscape | McKinsey & Co | 2011

2011 Sustainability Report | MANGO

Ethical Code of Conduct | Forever New Clothing Pty Ltd

Labour Practices in our global supply chain | Woolworths Limited

The Cotton On Group Vendor Code of Conduct 

World News Coverage

Dreams of Bangladesh garment workers often go unrealized, or become nightmares for families | Star Tribune | Jun 2013 

LISTEN: Fashion's Victims: An Artist's Focus On Garment Workers | NPR | 19 Jun 2013

Bangladesh Factories' Safety Issues Run Deep: Survey | The Irrawaddy | 17 Jun 2013

Most US Retailers Choose Not to Sign Bangladesh Factory Accord | Voice of America | 17 Jun 2013

Uncertain future for Rana Plaza survivors | Dhaka Tribune | 11 Jun 2013

'Rana deserves life term' | The Bangladesh Chronicle | 22 May 2013

The Cost of Making Factories in Bangladesh Safer: Ten Cents | The New Yorker | 16 May 2013

LISTEN: Australian retailers snub Bangladesh factory safety accord | ABC PM | 16 May 2013

Death Mill | Foreign Policy | 9 May 2013 - How the ready-made garment industry captured the Bangladeshi state.

Bangladesh: Tragedy Shows Urgency of Worker Protections | HRW | 25 Apr 2013 

Information on Ethical Garment Manufacturing

Accredited Brands | Ethical Clothing Australia

The Culprits - Who is to Blame? | FairWear Australia

Find Ethical Australian Products | Ethical Clothing Australia 

Retailers | Ethical Clothing Australia

Supply Chains in the Clothing Industry | FairWear Australia

The Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Accord | International Labor Rights Forum | May 2012 

Videos

The full story of the Rana Plaza Factory Disaster

Counting the cost - Bangladesh: the cost of fashion - Al Jazeera

Would you still buy that dress after watching this?

The deadly cost of fashion - New York Times

Made in Bangladesh - the fifth estate

Will things really change or merely salve western middle-class consciences? Accord signed after Bangladesh factory deaths

From Inside Retail:

Global retailers signing accord      Posted Date: 14/05/2013 By Inside Retail Global retailers including H&M, Zara, Tesco, and Primark are set to sign a legally binding agreement in the wake of Bangladesh's worst ever garment factory disaster. The move on Monday by some of the world's biggest chains aims to improve fire safety in Bangladeshi factories and improve the safety standards of buildings. It comes as workers continue to clear the rubble of the Rana Plaza, a garment factory near the country's capital city, Dhaka, that collapsed last month, killing more than 1,100. The disaster, which implicated global retailers like Bennetton, Primark, and Mango, sent shockwaves across the world and has led to heavy scrutiny of many major retailers' supply lines. Bangladesh is the world's second largest garment exporter after China, with brands like Walmart, H&M, J C Penney, Benetton, Gap, and Zara among its biggest benefactors. The world's biggest retailer, Walmart, which was linked to another Bangladeshi factory disaster late last year that killed over 110, has yet to sign the Accord on Fire and Building Safety. The deadline for signing The Accord is on Wednesday, with it billed as a legally binding agreement between signatories, global unions, and numerous apparel unions in Bangladesh. The agreement includes all of the components essential to be effective, including independent safety inspections with public reports, mandatory repairs and renovations, and worker unionisation. “We welcome the decision of H&M, [Zara parent company] Inditex, and C&A to sign, and we urge other retailers to follow suit immediately," said Philip Jennings, global union general sectary of UNI Global, one of The Accord's global union partners. "We call on these companies to do the right thing on behalf of the more than 1,250 textile workers killed in Bangladesh factory disasters in the last six months. This is black and white, life and death.” Hundreds of Bangladeshi garment factories have been closed indefinitely in the last two weeks, following worker unrest sparked by the country's worst ever industrial disaster. The country's government has since said it will allow the country's four million garment workers to form trade unions without permission from a factory's owner. It has also indicated that it will raise the minimum wage for garment factory workers, many of whom currently earn just over $1 a day.

Supply chains enchaining low cost labour. Consumers need to question.

I have lifted this from Inside Retail because this is such an important issue with life-saving possibilities.

Retailers urged to disclose suppliers

Posted Date: 03/05/2013 By Inside Retail Australian retailers Target, Myer, Just Group, Sportsgirl, and Kmart are being targeted by international aid agency Oxfam in the wake of Bangladesh's latest garment factory disaster. According to Oxfam Australia, these retailers are just some of the big names working with contractors in Bangladesh; the world's second largest garment exporter outside China. Oxfam is urging all Australian retailers to follow the lead of international brands like Nike, Adidas, and Puma, who disclose the locations of all their supplier factories globally. "We urge Australian garment companies to take this next step in transparency and allow independent verification of conditions inside their factories," says Daisy Gardener, labour rights advocacy coordinator, Oxfam Australia. According to information given to Inside Retail by the aid agency, Just Group, which owns Just Jeans, Jay Jay's, and Portmans, and Sportsgirl, Target, and Myer, have major suppliers in Bangladesh. The retailers are connected with the unregulated market via Mac Group, a major sourcing agent for the local fashion industry that is based in Melbourne. Oxfam says Mac Group is now one of the largest exporters to Australia from Bangladesh. Target, Just Group, and Myer have also been connected to Li & Fung, another sourcing agent that has emphasized Bangladesh as a key centre of growth since 2011. Last November, Li & Fung was connected with another devastating factory disaster in Bangladesh, where over 100 workers lost their lives in a fire while producing garments for Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer. Pacific Brands is also in the spotlight to disclose it's supply chain. Although the majority of its products appear to be sourced in China, it also sources from Bangladesh, namely for Workwear Group. “These big brands are operating behind a veil of secrecy. As factory locations are kept secret, there is no way of independently verifying that people are working in safe and decent conditions," says Gardener. “Unfortunately, more than 17 years’ of research and experience has made it clear to Oxfam that sweatshop conditions are the norm in the global clothing industry throughout Asia, not the exception." Last week's garment factory collapse outside Bangladesh's capital city, Dhaka, has officially killed almost 400 workers, with the final toll expected to reach over 1000. Clothing destined for the stores of global retailers Primark, Benneton, and Mango, which is currently teaming up with local department store, David Jones, have since been found in the rubble. British chain Primark has since said it will compensate the families of victims of the disaster and that it takes responsibility for any failures in its supply chain. According to news reports, the factory's 2,500 workers were told to go to work the morning of the disaster, despite worrying cracks having appeared in the foundations of the large garment factory. Rana Plaza's owner, Mohammed Sohel Rana, quickly disappeared as the building began to crumble, but was captured by local police on Sunday and charged with negligence. Rana now faces up to seven years in jail, with his father also arrested on suspicion of aiding his son to force people to work in a dangerous building. The widely publicised disaster has renewed calls from international organisations for an overhaul of the way retailers work with subcontractors globally, many whom allegedly work with unregulated factories in developing nations. Tens of thousands of people joined May Day protests in Bangladesh this week, with reports some angry protesters in the last week have even tried to set fire to other garment factories.

Bush 'n' Boots

Picture from here

Over at The Nature of Robertson, Denis Wilson - a good friend of this blog - 

is having a vent about footwear in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales.

Denis Wilson of The Nature of Robertson

Picture from here

Now there are a few things you should know:

1. Denis lives in a lovely village called Robertson in the Southern Highlands.
2. Denis is a keen environmentalist/naturalist.  He is this blog's expert in residence and general go-to person in relation to birds and plants and a range of other matters.
3. The Southern Highlands - certainly for more than a century - has been the place where Sydney folks with a bob or two like to establish country estates which they visit at week-ends.

Denis's venting post is interesting on a couple of levels.

• He makes plain what the true country person wears in the way of footwear and why.
• He makes plain the necessity of wearing a particular type of footwear.
• His vent takes on a sociological bent as he contrasts his footwear with the footwear of other men and women present at the hostelry to which he had resorted.
• He contrasts the footwear of the leisured weekenders still dressed in Sydney kit with his own - the footwear of those who tread the land to better understand their environment and the other species with which they live. 

I hope the result of Denis's vent is that the leisured weekenders will have a think about the where and the why of their footwear. 

•  Do they choose to look like locals or like leisured weekenders? 
•  Do they choose to look like people seeking to understand their environment or just transplants demonstrating their class and their origins?