North American Retail Giant Helps Bangladesh Garment Factories Improve Production Conditions

Recently, WAL-MART and the largest US retailer in the world. clothing With the initiative of Gap, 17 heads of retailer and brand in North America have reached an unprecedented alliance agreement, that is, joint financing of more than 142 million US dollars, including sponsorship and low interest loans, to help Bangladesh garment factories improve production conditions and ensure the safety of their clothing workers.

Retailers involved in maintaining Bangladesh workers' safety alliance include Messi, department store, Nordstrom, Sears Holdings, Taghit department store (Target), VF CORP, Sears, JC Penney and Kohl s. Most of the clothing products of these companies come from more than 500 garment factories in Bangladesh.

The first stage schedule of the League agreement stipulates that all members of the alliance must submit the inspection of the garment factories in Bangladesh within one year, and jointly establish safety standards in the next 3 months. Alliance members have said that the new Bangladesh workers' safety initiative is unprecedented and of great historical significance.

Members of the alliance have been determined to create a working environment to ensure safety in Bangladesh and to exclude any hidden dangers to the factory. The preliminary investigation will be conducted by an independent board of directors, and the results of the investigation can be shared by an independent organization, Fair Factories Clearinghouse. This ensures that factories that are threatened by safety can be identified immediately, and suspicious messages can be communicated to factory owners, workers and government in time to ensure that the problem can be solved quickly.

According to the agreement, the inspector will have the responsibility to immediately notify any factory premises which are in danger and even have the power to order the factory to close and evacuate workers. In each factory, the WPC will also be established to facilitate workers to carry out the forum activities to enhance their safety awareness and reduce their excessive worries in the workplace. The anonymous workers hotline will be set up by third parties, and all kinds of emergency situations will be reported by mobile phone. The plan will be implemented in November this year. After that, the factory improvement progress report will be submitted two times a year, so as to update the progress and direction of the plant management.

Regarding the plant safety construction fund, the members of the alliance have committed $42 million in the initiative agreement, and some companies will also provide 100 million dollars of low interest loans to help Bangladesh factory owners to further improve their safety. The allocation of the funds will be based on the number of garment companies in the country, and each factory will receive a maximum of 1 million US dollars / year for upgrading the facilities for a total of 5 years. At the same time, the alliance proposes to withdraw 10% of the investment fund for resettlement of workers temporarily displaced due to factory maintenance or factory closures.

To ensure the execution of the alliance and to urge retailers to fulfill their commitments, the supervisory board of 9 people, consisting of 4 retailers, 4 stakeholders (donors, etc.) and 1 independent members, will be established.

CEO, a member of the alliance, said, "Bangladesh factory safety incidents are unacceptable. We can build a relatively strong group through joint forces, ensuring the effectiveness and continuity of individual efforts and collective cooperation, and effectively curb future tragedies. " The highest retail leaders also said: "we are committed to building efficient operations with other global retail brands, and we will also use the power of the alliance to raise more construction funds, such as close cooperation with government agencies around the world, so as to perfect the country as far as possible. Spin The infrastructure construction of the factory.

Up to now, the US retailers' alliance agreement to ensure the safety of Bangladesh factories has been supported by more than 70 retailers and brands. Professionals in the industry say that with the acceleration of globalization and the effective implementation of the "going global" strategy, the links between retailers and production sites are becoming increasingly inseparable. This North American retailer helps Bangladesh factory improvement, not only taking into account the social impact or public interest, but also the objective of achieving win-win results and mutual benefits.