數
千名孟加拉人週一走上街頭﹐抗議上週末的一場工廠大火。該工廠製造服裝以供出口﹐火災造成百余人死亡。這家工廠為香港外包巨頭利豐有限公司(Li & Fung HK:494 -0.32% )生產服裝﹐而利豐又是沃爾瑪連鎖公司(Wal-Mart Stores Inc. WMT -0.41% )等零售商的採購商。週一夜間﹐沃爾瑪說﹐不再授權該孟加拉工廠為自己生產服裝﹐還說已經切斷了與一家供應商的聯繫﹐該供應商在未經沃爾瑪同意的情況下與那個工廠簽訂了分包協議。沃爾瑪拒絕給出這家供應商的名稱。
由 服裝工人組成的若干團體說﹐抗議工人堵塞了達卡某郊區的街道﹐抗議活動中時有暴力事件發生。工人們向工廠投擲石塊﹐砸毀了多輛汽車﹐還封鎖了該地區一條主 要公路。約有200家工廠週一停業。抗議活動最先爆發於達卡北邊的工業區Ashulia﹐上週六造成多人死亡的火災就發生在這裡。
上週六夜間﹐孟加拉企業Tuba Group旗下的制衣廠Tazreen Fashions Ltd.一幢八層建築發生火災﹐該工廠生產的服裝出口至歐美國家。除為利豐生產服裝外﹐該公司可能還與部分零售商有直接業務關係。
勞工權利組織說﹐這次大火是孟加拉連續發生工廠致人死亡火災事件中的最新一起。
Associated Press
週一，孟加拉國抗議者聚集在首都達卡郊區的一家服裝廠外。週六這家工廠發生大火，造成百餘人死亡。
Tuba Group公司網站上發佈的文件包括一封自稱來自沃爾瑪美國和加拿大道德採購部門的信函。該信函通知Tazreen Fashions說﹐2011年5月的審計報告發現﹐這是一個“高危”工廠。信函說﹐如兩年內再出現兩次這樣的結果﹐沃爾瑪就會停止向這家工廠下訂單﹐停 單時間至少為一年。
沃爾瑪週一通過電子郵件發表聲明說﹐我們對這起悲劇中受害者的家屬表示慰問﹔這件事的發生讓我們極度不安﹐我們將繼續在服裝業努力﹐以改善在孟加拉的消防安全教育和培訓。
沃爾瑪沒有提到是否發出了那封公佈在Tuba Group公司網站上的信函。
無法聯繫到Tazreen Fashions和Tuba Group的管理層置評。據孟加拉媒體報道﹐有關部門已下令對火災事故展開調查。
沃爾瑪在其2012年全球責任報告中說﹐由於消防安全問題﹐已停止與孟加拉49家工廠的合作。
利豐表達了對死者的哀悼。利豐說﹐此事不會對其財務狀況造成重大影響﹐還說今年給Tazreen的所有訂單總計約11.1萬美元。這些訂單由利豐美國公司旗下的Kids Headquarters發出。
JOANNE CHIU / TRIPTI LAHIRI
Factory Fire Sets Off Protest in Bangladesh
Thousands of Bangladeshis took to
the streets Monday to protest a weekend fire at a factory that made
clothes for exports in which more than 100 workers were killed.
The factory supplied clothes for Hong Kong-based sourcing giant Li & Fung, 0494.HK -1.28% which is a buyer for retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. WMT -0.41% Late Monday, Wal-Mart said the factory was no longer authorized to make clothes for the retailer, and that it had cut ties to a supplier that subcontracted with the factory without its authorization. The company declined to name the supplier.
Garment-workers' groups said workers were blocking the streets of a Dhaka suburb in a protest that turned violent at times. The workers threw stones at factories, smashed vehicles and blocked a major highway in the area. Some 200 factories were closed for the day after the protest erupted in Ashulia, the industrial zone just north of Dhaka where Saturday's deadly fire occurred.
The fire broke out late Saturday at an eight-story building of Tazreen Fashions Ltd., a subsidiary of Bangladesh's Tuba Group, an apparel factory that exports to the U.S. and Europe. In addition to making clothes for Li & Fung, the Bangladesh group may also have had direct relationships with some retailers.
The fire was the latest in a series of deadly factory fires in Bangladesh, labor-rights groups say.
Fire-department officials had reported at least 120 deaths Sunday, but on Monday, police and government officials gave conflicting reports. Shamsul Hoque, junior minister for home affairs, said the official figure was 109. M Abdus Salam, director general of industrial police, said at least 111 bodies had been recovered.
Documents posted on Tuba Group's website included a letter purporting to be from Wal-Mart's ethical-sourcing department for the U.S. and Canada informing Tazreen Fashions that a May 2011 audit had found it to be a 'high-risk' factory. The letter said that two more such findings within two years would lead to Wal-Mart suspending orders from the factory for at least a year.
'Our thoughts are with the families of the victims of this tragedy.' Wal-Mart said in its statement emailed Monday. 'The fact that this occurred is extremely troubling to us, and we will continue to work across the apparel industry to improve fire safety education and training in Bangladesh.'
Wal-Mart didn't address whether it had sent the letter that was posted on the Tuba Group website.
Officials at Tazreen Fashions and Tuba Group couldn't be reached to comment. Authorities have ordered an investigation into the cause of the fire, according to local media.
In Wal-Mart's 2012 report on global responsibility, the retailer said it had stopped working with 49 factories in Bangladesh because of fire-safety issues.
Li & Fung, which expressed distress at the deaths, said the incident won't have a material impact on its financial performance, saying the total orders placed with Tazreen on behalf of Kids Headquarters, a subsidiary of its U.S. division, amounted to around $111,000 this year.
JOANNE CHIU / TRIPTI LAHIRI
The factory supplied clothes for Hong Kong-based sourcing giant Li & Fung, 0494.HK -1.28% which is a buyer for retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. WMT -0.41% Late Monday, Wal-Mart said the factory was no longer authorized to make clothes for the retailer, and that it had cut ties to a supplier that subcontracted with the factory without its authorization. The company declined to name the supplier.
Garment-workers' groups said workers were blocking the streets of a Dhaka suburb in a protest that turned violent at times. The workers threw stones at factories, smashed vehicles and blocked a major highway in the area. Some 200 factories were closed for the day after the protest erupted in Ashulia, the industrial zone just north of Dhaka where Saturday's deadly fire occurred.
The fire broke out late Saturday at an eight-story building of Tazreen Fashions Ltd., a subsidiary of Bangladesh's Tuba Group, an apparel factory that exports to the U.S. and Europe. In addition to making clothes for Li & Fung, the Bangladesh group may also have had direct relationships with some retailers.
The fire was the latest in a series of deadly factory fires in Bangladesh, labor-rights groups say.
Fire-department officials had reported at least 120 deaths Sunday, but on Monday, police and government officials gave conflicting reports. Shamsul Hoque, junior minister for home affairs, said the official figure was 109. M Abdus Salam, director general of industrial police, said at least 111 bodies had been recovered.
Documents posted on Tuba Group's website included a letter purporting to be from Wal-Mart's ethical-sourcing department for the U.S. and Canada informing Tazreen Fashions that a May 2011 audit had found it to be a 'high-risk' factory. The letter said that two more such findings within two years would lead to Wal-Mart suspending orders from the factory for at least a year.
'Our thoughts are with the families of the victims of this tragedy.' Wal-Mart said in its statement emailed Monday. 'The fact that this occurred is extremely troubling to us, and we will continue to work across the apparel industry to improve fire safety education and training in Bangladesh.'
Wal-Mart didn't address whether it had sent the letter that was posted on the Tuba Group website.
Officials at Tazreen Fashions and Tuba Group couldn't be reached to comment. Authorities have ordered an investigation into the cause of the fire, according to local media.
In Wal-Mart's 2012 report on global responsibility, the retailer said it had stopped working with 49 factories in Bangladesh because of fire-safety issues.
Li & Fung, which expressed distress at the deaths, said the incident won't have a material impact on its financial performance, saying the total orders placed with Tazreen on behalf of Kids Headquarters, a subsidiary of its U.S. division, amounted to around $111,000 this year.
JOANNE CHIU / TRIPTI LAHIRI
As Walmart Makes Safety Vows, It’s Seen as Obstacle to Change
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE and JIM YARDLEY
Critics of Walmart say its factory monitoring system is flawed, and the
company has shown little interest in changing the practice of demanding
that factories meet safety standards at their own cost.
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