Factory collapse a ‘wake-up call’ for fashion industry

April 30th, 2013

Peter Nolan

Updated

May 01, 2013 08:02:51

Video: Bangladesh factory disasters ask questions of Australian companies
(7.30)

Relatives show pictures of missing Bangladesh workers

Photo:
Relatives show pictures of garment workers who are believed to be trapped under the rubble (Reuters: Andrew Biraj)

The deadly collapse of a building in Bangladesh has sparked serious questions about the fashion industry’s use of sweatshops and cheap labour.

More than 380 people died when the eight-storey Rana Plaza building collapsed on the outskirts of the capital last week.

Some 2,500 people have been rescued alive but hundreds are still missing, and voices of survivors have now faded from the twisted wreck.

Famous fashion brands like Benetton and Mango have been implicated in the disaster.

But many more companies – including ones in Australia – source their products from Bangladesh, the workhorse of the international fashion industry.

They are now under serious pressure to ensure workers are not exploited or forced to work in deadly conditions.

Karen Webster, the former director of the Melbourne Fashion Festival who now represents Australian designers, says the disaster has affected the local industry.

I personally feel completely devastated about it. I think from a fashion industry perspective it’s been a major wake-up call for all people.

“I personally feel completely devastated about it,” she told 7.30.

“I think from a fashion industry perspective it’s been a major wake-up call for all people.

“Every company is reassessing how they get their garments produced – not even just those large-scale chains, even smaller independent businesses.

“Anyone who’s producing offshore would have to be looking at how their garments are being produced and making sure they are being made in adequate conditions.”

The fashion industry provides jobs for millions of people in Bangladesh, and accounts for 80 per cent of the nation’s export earnings.

But it can be dangerous work. In the past decade almost 1,000 workers have died.

Police have arrested the owner of the building and three proprietors of export-oriented garment factories for forcing the workers to work in the building despite it developing visible cracks a day before the tragedy.

The owners of three of the factories based in the destroyed building have also been charged with negligence causing death.

Gallery:
Bangladesh building collapse

A string of Australian companies including Kmart, Target, Big W and Cotton On sell products that are made in Bangladesh.

All say they insist on strict guidelines on safety and workers’ rights, and conduct regular audits of their Bangladeshi suppliers.

But no company would speak to 7.30 on camera and explain in detail just how they ensure safe working conditions are met.

For David Jones there are more serious implications because of its contract with Spanish clothing label Mango.

Mango products were made in the Rana Plaza building, and David Jones is now reconsidering its relationship with the brand.

The department store says it is now talking to Mango to make sure better standards are met before the label is sold in DJ’s stores later this year.

But that is the sort of commitment Michele O’Neil, the national secretary of the Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia, does not trust.

If companies aren’t disclosing to the public their supply chain and every one of their suppliers, there’s a reason for it.

“Those companies need to answer why they’re making in Bangladesh and they need to be completely transparent about their supply chain,” she said.

“If companies aren’t disclosing to the public their supply chain and every one of their suppliers, there’s a reason for it.”

7.30 asked each company for a location of their Bangladeshi suppliers, and for a copy of their audit reports. None was forthcoming.

“I don’t think you can trust any company that says it employs its own auditors to check its own factories,” Ms O’Neil said.

“You can’t trust that. It’s not a valid process.

“You need to know names of the factories and addresses and details of the factories, because if you don’t go to that level, how can it ever be independently checked and verified?”

Ms Webster hopes the disaster will also spark meaningful change for consumers.

“I think we need to reassess how we are buying clothes,” she said.

“Maybe we need to just stop and think. Do we need so much cheap stuff in our wardrobes? Should we sit back and start buying less, buying better, buying local?

“This is what the public has to start asking about their own fashion wardrobes – do I really need a $5 t-shirt?”

Topics:
accidents,
disasters-and-accidents,
fashion,
retail,
industry,
business-economics-and-finance,
bangladesh,
australia,
asia