Wages becoming regular but workplace safety, health conditions worrisome: Wal-Mart

Apparel industry in Bangladesh
Wages becoming regular but workplace safety, health conditions worrisome: Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, thinks that payment of wages and benefits to Bangladeshi apparel workers are becoming regular.
But its auditors described workplace safety and health conditions in Bangladeshi factories, on an average, as ‘still worrisome’.
According to its 2010 Global Sustainability Progress Report, in the region comprising Bangladesh, Pakistan and the Middle East, ethical standards in 24 per cent of factories was marked green, 62 per cent — yellow and 12 per cent — orange.
For ethical standards green factories carry low risks and they need auditing every two years, yellow indicates medium risks, needing auditing every six months and orange indicates high risks, needing auditing every three months.
Wal-Mart sourcing office auditors in Dhaka said that they audit regular payment of wages, overtime bills, sanction of leaves and maternity leaves, appointment letters and similar rights to determine ethical standards.
‘Still we find many factories in multistoried buildings with inadequate elevators and evacuations, sweating floors and no spaces for taking foods by workers or where they can take rests for few minutes,’ one auditor, however, said.
Wal-Mart directly sources apparels from approximately 70 Bangladeshi factories and its sourcing agents work with a few hundred factories.
It rated the working condition in Bangladesh apparel industry as poorer than India and Sri Lanka, but not so compared with Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia.
In Bangladesh’s region, its auditors found undeclared subcontracting, and suppliers’ manipulation of records systems stemming from issues such as poor production planning, capacity and urgent shipments
The rating found Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia, with 15 per cent green factories, 67 per cent yellow and 18 per cent orange.
In Sri Lanka and India, 45 per cent of the factories –green, 44 per cent — yellow and 11 per cent — orange.
But the suppliers there respond well to training and development programmes.
Labour unions, Christian organizations and environmental groups in the US criticise Wal-Mart, one of the largest corporations in the world, for its policies and business practices.
Several labour unions blame Wal-Mart for its anti union stance and treatment of employees.
Currently it is facing, in the US, a gender discriminatory law-suit which alleges that female employees were discriminated against in matters regarding pay and promotion.

Courtesy of NewAge