Spanish clothing company Inditex is leading a move to set up a
‘solidarity fund’ for victims and families affected by the collapse of
a garment factory in Bangladesh last year.
Inditex was one of a number of clothing retailers to have used the
independently owned Spectrum factory in Savar which fell down in April
2005, killing 73 workers and injuring many more (EP7,issue 2, p7). The
companies that were Spectrum’s customers argue they can bear no
responsibility for the collapse, but still want to help those affected
by the disaster.
The solidarity fund is being set up by Inditex with help from the
International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation and
KPMG, which has been asked to devise a system to assess need and set
payments. Other companies that have sourced from the factory, among
them Cotton Group, Scapino, Steilmann and Karstadt, are understood to
be interested in either contributing to this fund or to a trust fund
set up by Oxfam.
Inditex has already provided $35,000 (£20,000) of aid to victims and
families through other channels, and other businesses have offered
help. The French supermarket chain Carrefour has contributed money
through an NGO called Friendship, which has set up a rehabilitation
programme for victims and provided medical care, food and educational
support. It has also found new jobs for eight victims.
The Clean Clothes Campaign, which has been monitoring the situation,
said all injured workers ‘have received adequate medical treatment’ and
some relief. However, it has criticized what it sees as the slow
response of many buyers.
The Business Social Compliance Initiative, a Brussels-based ethical
supply chain organization with 30 corporate members, including three
that have used the Spectrum factory at some stage – Inditex, Neckermann
and Steilmann – has held several meetings in Bangladesh with NGOs,
government officials and trade unionists to see how companies can help.
But it has also been trying to improve local regulation of factory
buildings, and has secured a pledge from the ministry of labour that it
will increase the number of factory buildings inspectors. At present 50
inspectors cover the country.
Lorenz Berzau, project co-ordinator at BSCI, conceded that there had
been poor workplace standards at the Spectrum factory and said a BSCI
programme to begin social audits of factories in Bangladesh used by its
members had been brought forward by at least six months in the wake of
the disaster. However, he argued that retailers could not be held
responsible for construction standards of buildings used by suppliers.
‘The people doing social audits are not engineers, and while they will
report any obvious signs of problems with a building, you cannot expect
a social audit to cover technical aspects of building construction,’ he
told EP. ‘The responsibility for that lies with the owner and with the
regulatory authorities.’
The National Garment Workers Federation (Bangladesh) does not agree. It
has called on all brands sourcing in Bangladesh to take part in a
‘structural review of multi-storey buildings’ used in the garment
sector.
