Nisa Soraya
The New York Times wrote in an article on Rana Plaza published on April 26, 2013:
“Meanwhile, labor groups in the United States on Friday distributed photos showing that they had discovered garments with labels from JC Penney and El Corte inglés, the Spanish retailer, at the site of the collapse. Seeking to press American retailers to do more to assure factory safety in Bangladesh, dozens of worker advocates held protests on Thursday at the Gap’s headquarters in San Francisco and at a Walmart store in Renton, Wash. Labor activists and human rights groups called on retailers and global brands to help pay for programs to improve factory safety and upgrade fire prevention equipment, a need underscored by a November fire that killed 112 workers making shorts and sweaters for export. Activists say that spending about $600 million a year for five years could bankroll sweeping improvements to the country’s 5,000 garment factories — noting that global brands could finance such a program by agreeing to pay an additional 10 cents per garment for the more than six billion garments exported each year. Atiqul Islam, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, called on the owner of Rana Plaza and the owners of the factories inside the building to surrender to the authorities.”
Mr Islam also said that the trade group would hire engineers in coming months to examine the structural stability of all the country’s garment factories.
Shahid Ahmed
Allow [these] trade unions.
