No use blaming multinational retailers for industrial tragedies in Bangladesh
2 industrial tragedies in B'desh, have led activists to renew their campaign to force MNC's to take greater safety measures.
Two recent back-to-back industrial tragedies in Bangladesh, a factory fire that claimed 117 lives and a building collapse that resulted in 1,127 deaths, have led activists and media persons around the world to renew their campaign to force multinational retailers such Wal-Mart and Carrefour to take greater responsibility for fire and structural safety in the factories from which they buy their products.
Feeling the heat, a set of predominantly European retail chains, including Carrefour, Benetton, Marks &Spencer, El Corte Inglés, H&M and Inditex, have capitulated and signed an agreement accepting responsibility for rigorous independent inspections in the factories. They have also committed to paying for fire safety upgrades such as fire escapes. Most US companies, including Wal-Mart, have stayed out of the agreement. The urgency of actions to prevent these tragedies can be scarcely underestimated.