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By Alex Lennane
It is not yet known exactly how many of the 2,000-strong workforce were killed at the weekend following a fire in a garment factory in Bangladesh, which had no emergency exits. Walmart says it doesn’t know whether the company was its supplier or not. How many times must this happen before retailers (and consumers) take some responsibility? Is there anything the supply chain can do to push for higher standards at factories? Much-criticised Foxconn is beginning to look like a model employer…
Comment on this article
Michael Webber
November 29, 2012 at 3:16 pm“How many times must this happen before retailers (and consumers) take some responsibility?”
Sadly, the answer is that it never seems to be enough to make people willing to inconvenience themselves. While the abuse is undoubtedly exponentially worse in countries like Bangladesh, in the US we see coal CEO’s mugging for cameras about their ability to gut regulators even as they continue to – literally – bury their employees alive. Are consumers willing to pay a few pennies more to ensure a safer work place? If polled, quite likely. Are they willing to take a couple of extra minutes to drive past the big box store or even to inform themselves of which companies are responsible to employees. I’d not bet on it. Thanks for floating the question.