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To: Business Social Compliance Initiative
Attn. Heinz-Dietter Koeppe, Dominique Barra
Amsterdam, April 26
Dear Mr. Koeppe, Ms. Barra,
In response to your statement following your meeting of April 21, the
CCC would first of all let you know we appreciate the fact that the
brands sourcing from Spectrum have held this meeting, and have decided
to collectively organize a mission to Bangladesh at short notice. Could
you please give us some more information regarding the exact aims, the
composition of the delegation, the schedule and who they intend meet
with?
We also appreciate the intention to meet directly with local stakeholders.
We would recommend that these include the trade union organizations
NGWF, BIGUF and BGTWL, as well as the Womens Rights organization Karmojibi
Nari and the Solidarity Center. NGWF have confirmed having had 39 members
at Spectrum (of whom 5 are dead and 12 are wounded). We will gladly
provide you with contact details.
We understand that further investigation is necessary to clarify the
real cause of the collapse, but miss a commitment from the BSCI brands
to ensure that this investigation is independent, transparent and will
investigate the direct cause of the collapse as well as related violations
of labour law and code of conduct standards, as outlined under point
two of our call for action. Surely the BSCI would not consider its own
investigation to be independent, and surely there is no reason to wait
untill the end of your mission to support this call?
We have by now received a number of reports from different sources
indicating gross violations of labour rights at Spectrum also prior
to the collapse:
- death of a worker three days before the collapse due to burns sustained
from hot water from a boiler in the factory;
- another worker seriously injured three months prior to the collapse,
when her clothing became tangled in wires and she was electrocuted.
She remains hospitalized;
- violation of the minimum wage (obviously this means wages far below
living wage standards). Wages at Spectrum Sweater were reportedly
only 700 taka (about 10 Euro) per month. The minimum wage is 930 taka,
an amount that has not been raised since 1995 and which is commonly
acknowledged by unions as well as major buyers to be far below what
is needed to live off of;
- violation of legal right to one day off in seven. Workers at Spectrum
Sweater reportedly worked seven days per week. In Bangladesh workers
have the right to one day off per week (Friday, which is the Islamic
day of rest) increasingly factories observe this, but at Spectrum
Sweater this law was structurally violated;
- as already indicated in our April 15 appeal there were structural
violations of the overtime and night work rules, both according to
local labour law and to international standards.
Importantly, the investigation should include looking at the failures
of government, manufacturers and the BSCI member companies themselves
to prevent, detect or remediate violations of construction rules and
labor laws. It is our present understanding that actually none of the
BSCI member companies ever inspected this factory, despite all having
codes of conduct including the right to a safe and healthy workplace.
We also want to underline once more the crucial importance of addressing
in workers' access to safe channels to communicate their concerns on
such issues as health and safety to their employers. According to an
article of the Daily Star of april 25 "Workers detected the cracks
about 16 hours before the building caved in and immediately reported
the matter to the higher authorities of the Shahriyar Fabrics Industries
Ltd and the Spectrum Sweater Industries Ltd, according to an official
source. " But no step was taken to evacuate the building or to
have it inspected by an expert. Instead, workers were asked to continue
production to meet a deadline for export," the source said."
The CCC fails to understand why the BSCI brands can not immediately
pledge a more concrete commitment to the three broad categories of demands
outlined in the 15 April appeal, relating to relief and compensation,
independent and transparent investigation and long term follow-up. All
of these are still outstanding, and we have meanwhile been informed
by our partners of some additional items that would need to be addressed
and taken up in the consultation, namely:
- Payment of overtime wages owed for February, March and April
- Job security with wages and compensation for the surviving workers
- The level of compensation, some organisations call for higher compensation
then originally put forward on april 15 (up to one million taka to
families of workers killed)
The CCC and partners remain concerned that other facilities in the
vicinity of Spectrum Sweater, which is an area historically prone to
flooding, run the risk of collapse due to similar faulty design and
construction. Buyers sourcing in this area and in other recently developed
areas prone to flooding are called upon to immediately make contact
with their suppliers to determine if their facilities were properly
built, with legal authorization, and if workers are at risk in their
workplaces. We have serious indications that the other nearby facilities
operated by the same owner are high-risk as well. Cotton Group said
it is planning to contact their suppliers on this. We urge all other
buyers to do the same.
We look forward to your swift response,
On behalf of CCC
Ineke Zeldenrust - ineke@cleanclothes.org
Clean Clothes Campaign, International Secretariat
Amsterdam, the Netherlands
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