USA/BANGLADESH: New York shoppers have mixed reaction about pressuring retailers to stop manufacturing in Bangladesh after factory collapse that killed more than 400

Record ID: 216378

  • Title: USA/BANGLADESH: New York shoppers have mixed reaction about pressuring retailers to stop manufacturing in Bangladesh after factory collapse that killed more than 400
  • Date: 1st May 2013
  • Summary: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (MAY 1, 2013) (REUTERS) ERIC DIRNBACH, VICE PRESIDENT OF INTERNATIONAL LABOR RIGHTS FORUM, WALKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) ERIC DIRNBACH, VICE PRESIDENT OF INTERNATIONAL LABOR RIGHTS FORUM, SAYING: "Well for one thing the prices of the garments are not going to rise at all. I think the estimates have shown that it costs a dime for every
  • Embargoed: 16th May 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa, Bangladesh
  • City:
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Business,Disasters,Industry,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA5BK3PAEVVEQNTCJJYHP4O5949
  • Story Text: The factory collapse in Bangladesh that killed more than 400 people last week is a stark reminder of the risks in the global retail industry's search for cheap production.
    Canadian retailer Joe Fresh is feeling the heat with consumers calling on the company to improve safety issues and other questionable labor conditions. Parent company Loblaw is now the second Western fashion retailer that has promised to compensate the families of the victims of the Bangladesh garment factory collapse, following Britain's Primark.
    Loblaw has said it regularly conducts audits to ensure its garments are manufactured responsibly, but focuses on labor practices and not building construction. Loblaw said on its website and Facebook page that it would issue updates as it developed details of its compensation plan.
    Eric Dirnbach, Vice President of the International Labor Rights Forum board in New York praises the move by Loblaw and says consumers are not likely to feel the impact in the cost they pay for goods at Joe Fresh.
    "Well for one thing the prices of the garments are not going to rise at all. I think the estimates have shown that it costs a dime for every garment to fund a decent program in Bangladesh. So if Joe Fresh and other companies are coming forward with a program for Bangladesh that's great. Maybe they'll take it out of their own profits, maybe they'll raise their prices for their products slightly. People in the U.S. are not going to notice higher prices. They might go up by a nickel or a dime. But I think what it does is sends a message that companies need to come forward and take some responsibility for the problems that they are creating by going to Bangladesh and finding the cheapest labor in the world to make their product."
    Dirnbach says that it is now up to U.S. consumers to drive American companies like the Gap and Walmart to follow in Joe Fresh's footsteps.
    "None of them are doing anything to address the problems of unsafe factories and working conditions in Bangladesh. They need to come forward to work on a real solution to the problems in Bangladesh. So we need more consumer pressure and we need folks that are concerned about this issue to tell the companies that we are concerned about this."
    But New Yorkers are mixed about whether or not they will stop buying at stores whose clothing is manufactured in Bangladeshi factories.
    Some say the issue just seems too distant from their lives to impact their shopping decisions.
    "It's probably sad to say but I don't feel like it directly affects me. I think it's up to someone else to govern that," Mark Nichols told Reuters.
    Erik Stylez said he isn't concerned about shopping in stores whose goods are manufactured in Bangladesh.
    "I don't see that there's any problem with it. It wouldn't bother me if I did or didn't."
    Dutch Caris, a contractor, said it is too early and difficult to rush to judgment about who is at fault. He says boycotting any retailers would be premature.
    "You know there's so much involved there we really don't know. The buildings were they up to code? Is it the responsibility of the guy who rents the building to know the codes and how much weight he can put on the floor? I'm a contractor so there's a lot of questions to be asked."
    But some people were moved by the incident. Asked if she would shop at Joe Fresh Amber Love said she "could never, there are so many people that lost their lives."
    Janou Silva said she too will not shop there and added "I think we have to begin to develop a conscience of shopping to avoid this kind of social dumping, labor dumping."
    Eight people including four factory bosses have been arrested over the collapse of the factory last Wednesday.
    More than 400 people were killed in the disaster, the latest incident to raise serious questions about worker safety and low wages in the poor South Asian country that relies on garments for 80 percent of its exports.
    The accident has sent shockwaves through the major Western retailers and their shareholders. But in the U.S., it has yet to be determined if the people who buy the clothes will boycott retailers and apparel makers who continue to operate in Bangladesh.
    Officials in Bangladesh have said the eight-story complex was built on swampy ground without the correct permits, and more than 3,000 workers - most of them young women - entered the building on Wednesday morning despite warnings that it was structurally unsafe.
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