Global retailer Walmart and Illinois–based multinational Sears Holdings Corp have denied compensating the affected workers of Tazreen Fashions where other companies started paying ‘voluntary compensation’ for last year’s fire victims, said a report on Monday.
The Walmart and Sears also did not respond to an invitation for attending a meeting of the companies, whose clothing products were manufactured at the Tazreen Fashions factory at Ashulia, scheduled to be held on Monday, said the report of the Bloomberg.
The companies were expected to discuss compensation payments at the meeting, it said.
On November 24 last year, 112 workers of Tazreen Fashons were killed in fire as the factory did not have proper fire safety measures.
According to Bloomberg report, Walmart and Sears have said the suppliers used the Tazreen factory without their permission and they were not legally obligated to compensate the workers.
Both the companies said they were working with their suppliers to ensure better working condition and workers safety at factories producing their products.
In a statement, the Walmart said it has been advocating for improved fire safety with the Bangladeshi government, with industry groups and with suppliers.
A Sears statement said it had no plan to attend the meeting in Geneva. ‘As part of our ongoing efforts, we are continuing to actively train our suppliers on factory and fire safety as part of our Global Compliance Program,’ reports Bloomberg. Labour-rights groups said the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association and the government have begun paying compensation to some of the Tazreen workers and their families but that companies have not compensated workers and families for their losses.
They said about 700 workers have died since 2005 in factory fires in Bangladesh which is the world’s second-largest apparel exporter after China.
Li & Fung, a Hong Kong-based exporter, has agreed to pay $1,280 to the family of each worker who died and to each injured worker via a fund set up by the BGMEA.
A separate foundation will fund the education of victims’ children, Katherine Wang, a company spokeswoman, said in an e-mailed statement.
‘We’re continuing our dialogue with the industry in Bangladesh to determine what else we can do to help,’ Wang said.
European retailer C&A has donated $1,200 per family via its foundation, according to the Workers Rights Consortium. C&A also committed to providing monthly payments of $50 to the children of the dead, the group said.
On April 12, Tazreen survivors Sumi Abedin and Akter visited Walmart headquarters in Arkansas to deliver a petition urging the company to attend the Geneva meeting and help improve worker safety.
The petition was signed by more than 112,000 consumers worldwide, according to the Corporate Action Network, a Washington-based watchdog group that has helped coordinate the trip.
The workers-rights advocates are petitioning companies to sign a contractually enforceable memorandum that would require them to pay Bangladesh factories enough to cover costs of safety improvements.
So far, PVH Corp, owner of the Tommy Hilfiger brand, and German retailer Tchibo are the only ones to sign the agreement, which also would require companies to provide accurate and regularly updated lists of their approved suppliers and subcontractors in Bangladesh.
But it won’t take effect until four major retailers signed on.
-with New Age input
