FOCUS O BUSINESS ANDHUMANRIGHTS How Many Workers Have to Die for Apparel Brands to Change their Game? I programmes improve conditions failed have meaningful monitoring Corporate to working change tried deliver have that to monitoring programmesthat have triedto improveworking conditionshave failedto deliver meaningful change JUDY GEARHART is Executive Director off the International Labor Rights Forum in Washington On nessed ever 11September inthe two history of and the of 24 worst the November, apparel industrial industry: we fires witnessed two of the worstindustrial fires everinthehistory oftheapparelindustry: 262 workers died at Ali Enterprises in Pakistan and 112werelosttothefire atTazreenFashions inBangladesh. Since2006,morethan6OOworkers have died in majorfactory catastrophes in Bangladesh making clothesforexport. Workers who survive factory fires report exits were blockedby product, or even locked,fire escapeswerenon-existent, barred windowsprevented alternateescapes and panic overtook everyone. Whenworkershave raisedconcerns they've often been sentback to their stations or dismissed. Itistimeformultinational apparelcorporations tojoinan industry-wide initiative that is transparent ,binding, and committed to including local workers inensuring workplace safety. Formorethantwodecadesapparelcompanies have been steadily movingproduction offshore, divorcing themselves from production and focusingon design,marketing and logistics. Thishas resulted ingaping flaws inthewayourclothes are made. Corporatemonitoring programmes that havetried toimprove working conditions inexport processing abroadhavefailed todeliver meaningful change,as the recenthorrific tragediesin Pakistan andBangladesh so painfully remind us. Companieshave arguedthatordering apparel from poorcountries is good foreconomicdevelopment ingeneral anda blessing towomenworkersinparticular . Infact, as economic development goes,investing inwomen'slivelihoods is generallya goodthing, usually resulting inhealthier children and more empowered women. Unfortunately, thesejobshaveneither lifted apparel workers outofpoverty norempowered¿hem. In fact,when women told theirmanagersat TazreenFashions they thought they shouldevacuatebecausetheyheardthefire alarm, theywere tolditwas a test andtogo backtotheir workstations .A fewmenignored themanagers and ran downthesmoke-filled stairs - justintime. Forthe womenon that secondfloor itwas toolate. Yet workers are dependingon thesejobs. In fact, manyareso desperate foremployment that theysaythatthey'd return to Tazreentomorrow ifthey could.On 30 November, theBBChadthis from a former Tazreenworker: "Wewanttheowner toreopen the factory as soonas possibleorpay us a fewmonths of salarybecausewe have nowhere elsetogo right at thismoment ",said Hasan, a worker whoescapedthe fire and usesonly onename. 7 needtorecover soon.I needmoney immediately .We want at leastfour months of salarytojustgetbynowand bythis time , we willlook for jobsinother factories", saidDipa Akter, the19-year-old worker who injured herlegescaping the fireand whohasworked at thefactory forthree years."Otherwise, I havetogo backtomyvillage, where I have nothing todo". BrandMonitoring Programmes The greattragedy behindtheseaccidents is that brandshave knowntheywere takingrisksby relying on unsafeapparelfactories that struggled toensureworker safety. Brandshavespecifically soughtto minimise thatriskbyestablishing voluntarymonitoring programmes that generate confidential reportsso brand representatives knowwhichfactories toavoid. Ironically, Walmart'smonitoring programme actually did whatitwas designedto do - itdeauthorisedTazreen Fashions before the fire. Walmart executives'insistence on makingthis pointtothepressindicates that they see nothing wrongwithwalking awayfrom problematic factorieswithoutinforming workersabout what theyfound.Were the problemstheyfoundin Tazreenrelated tofaulty electrical wiring orother fire hazards? Withthewaycorporate monitoring programmes arestructured, itis entirely possible fora brands'monitoring agentto discover a fire hazard and pull out withouttellinganyone. Global apparel companiescannotcontinueto keepthiskindofinformation confidential; inthe end thesesecret s becomedeadly. The factthattwoWalmart suppliers continued to use Tazreenafter itwas de-authorised shows thatWalmart is notin fullcontrol of itssupply chain;somebody downthechainviolated itsprotocol .Yet thebusinessmodelthatWalmart has builtis precisely intended to ensureitsdistance from theactualworkers, production, andanyreal responsibility. For the families of 112 garment workerswho died at Tazreen,however,these disclaimers don'tmatter now. Meanwhile, as Walmart executives defendthe company on thegrounds thattheir system had a glitch in it,theworkers interviewed bytheBBC makeitclearthepriority nowshouldbe on how to ensurecompensation fortheinjured and the families ofthedeceased.Thelackofpriority being given toworkers' concerns andwelfare isemblematicofwhatis fundamentally wrongwithglobal brands' approach tomonitoring their suppliers. Real Solutions - NotJustMoreofthe Same Now is a keymoment whenall consumers need to come together and demanda changein the current modelofproduction: a modelthat allows INTERNATIONAL union rights pase 10Volume 19Issue 4201 2 FOCUS □ BUSINESSAND HUMANRIGHTS globalbrandsto keep the profits and disclaim any responsibility when thingsgo wrong.In order to changetheapparelindustry, consumers need to become activists and join directaction campaigns to demanda muchmoresignificant response.We need to effect a paradigmshift wherebrandsrealisethatno one acceptstheir claims about voluntary initiatives sheathedin 'standard confidentiality agreements' anymore. Thefires area two-part problem. On one side, a technical fixis neededto rebuild infrastructure and ensurebuilding inspectors are moreskilled, morenumerous and morereliable.Butthesecond part,justas crucialas thefirst, is therelationship betweenmanagement and workers. In short, a system ofindustrial relations is crucial to establishing a levelofrespect and trust between...