Joe Fresh clothes made in Bangladesh factory that collapsed, killing more than 200

[cookoo]

Disturbing.

www.edmontonjournal.com/business/Fresh+items+made+Bangladesh+factory+that+collapsed +killing/8293924/story.html

As rescuers continued to pull corpses and survivors from the rubble of a collapsed garment factory in Bangladesh, some consumers in Canada were shocked to learn that items from their favorite brands were made there.

The building collapsed Wednesday killing at least 238 people, many of them poorly paid workers who were forced to keep producing clothes even after police ordered an evacuation due to deep, visible cracks in the walls.


Canadian clothing line Joe Fresh was among the customers of the garment factories operating in the building.


Natalie Erb, 24, shops at Joe Fresh at least once a week for everything from yoga clothes to office wear, she said. The news out of Bangladesh has the loyal customer disturbed about her purchases.


"To be honest, I had never really done much research into where Joe Fresh manufactures their clothing, but knowing what I do now, I'm hugely disappointed in the company," said the Halifax woman.


"I don't know if I'll be buying from the line any time soon, or ever again for that matter."


Joe Fresh parent company Loblaw (TSX:L) released a statement Thursday saying some Joe Fresh items were made in the factory and offered its condolences to the victims and their families.


The company said it requires vendors to ensure products are being manufactured in a socially responsible way, prohibiting child harassment, abuse and forced labor, as well as ensuring fair pay, benefits and health and safety standards.


Spokeswoman Julija Hunter said the standards are audited on a regular basis and align with those of the industry around the world.

[Shirnette]

Sad news story...I feel for the victims & their families.. I never researched either where the "Joe Fresh"
clothing etc we're made. I guess we will now see higher prices for their apparel or they'll just find another cheap labour market????

[Darth Penguin]

Sadly there's plenty of companies who will just switch to the next cheap labour supply and then bleat about responsible supply chains when something like this happens.

[Natalka]

It's so very sad...

Last November, 112 died in a factory fire there too.

[Darth Penguin]

Survivor pulled from Dhaka factory 4 days after collapse

A survivor has been pulled from the rubble after four days as 900 people are still missing in Bangladesh's worst ever industrial accident.
Despite the arrests of two owners of the garment factory protestors are still fuming as they hunt for their missing family and friends.
Protests spread to a second city today with hundreds of people throwing stones and setting fire to vehicles after the collapse which has killed at least 324 people

The wife of the building owner, who is on the run, was also detained in an attempt to force him to surrender.
Rescue workers continued to bring badly decomposed bodies out of the tangled mess of concrete, bricks and steel amid frenzied efforts to pull out remaining survivors, more than three days after the building came down in the worst tragedy to hit Bangladesh's garment industry.

[cookoo]

loblaw companies ltd. was named one of canada's top 50 socially responsible corporations in 2012. i wonder how reliable the judges' methodology was.

[Darth Penguin]

Loblaws to compensate Dhaka collapse victims

Loblaw has said that it will provide compensation for the families of victims who worked at the Bangladeshi garment factory that collapsed last Wednesday leaving more than 380 people dead and hundreds missing.
The company, whose Joe Fresh clothing line was produced in the factory, said that it aims to ensure that victims and their families "receive benefits now and in the future."
Spokeswoman Julija Hunter said the company is still working out the details, but plans to deliver support "in the best and most meaningful way possible."
The death toll from the disaster has risen to at least 382 — and is expected to continue rising as crews dig deeper under the rubble.

[Darth Penguin]

Primark to pay victim compensations

Primark says it will pay compensation and offer emergency food aid and to victims of the Bangladesh factory collapse who worked for its supplier.
The clothing store chain said its team in Bangladesh had been "working to put in place immediate and long-term help for victims of this disaster".
It said would provide for children who had lost parents.
A factory complex collapsed last Wednesday on the outskirts of the capital Dhaka, killing some 350 people.
Primark said it would review the support to ensure it kept up with need.
The company occupied a floor of the collapsed building and the workers there were suppliers to the brand.

Primark is a British company which sells affodable clothes and prides itself on ethical trading.

[Jina]

Primark and Loblaw are the only 2 companies that are compensating the families if I'm correct.
I remember reading somewhere that the factory also makes clothes for Children's Place and Benetton among others.

I'm not sure if it's right to point the finger at Loblaw though. Like many other companies in the world, makes their clothes where it's cheap and providing work to thousands of people. I would blame the factory owner first. Surely the building maintenance is the responsibility of the owner, since there are many companies with workers under the same roof?

As for people planning on boycotting Joe Fresh, do you know where all the items in your home are manufactured, how and in which condition? Especially dollar stores (if you shop there), how do you think they can sell their products so cheap?

[Darth Penguin]

Bagladesh rescuer: "I cut off limbs to save lives"

Didar Hossain was working in a garment factory opposite the Rana Plaza on the outskirts of Bangladesh's capital Dhaka when it collapsed last week, killing hundreds of people. Despite the risks, Mr Hossain went into the ruined building repeatedly, freeing those trapped. He told his story to the BBC World Service.
There was a sound, a really loud sound, and I realised something was wrong. I went to the window to see what had happened and the building wasn't there.
All I could see from the window was this dust-like fog - it was really dark, and smoky. We were screaming and trying to get out, but the security guard stopped us and said: "No, you can't go outside." But I pushed past him and went out.
We knew people were working in the factories and realised straight away that there would probably be a lot of people trapped in the rubble.
As a human being, I felt it was my duty to try and help other human beings. When I first went in I saw a dead body and I was frightened. But I gathered up my courage as I went on.

A very brave man.

[Darth Penguin]

Primark and Loblaw are the only 2 companies that are compensating the families if I'm correct.
I remember reading somewhere that the factory also makes clothes for Children's Place and Benetton among others.

I haven't found out any other companies who are currently planning on compensating the victims. Though hopefully some more will start offering some form of recompense. Hopefully it will get to the victims but I'm not totally hopeful since Bangladesh is rated joint 144 out of 174 of uncorrupt countries.( Canada is joint 9th)

[SharonMe]

Brave and then some!

"The anaesthesia was only in her hand, so she was conscious and could talk. She watched while I amputated her hand. She was screaming and I was screaming too, and I cried when I saw her crying. I felt really bad, but there was no other way.

I went to visit her at the hospital. She was looking at me before I even reached her bed. I asked her whether she recognised me and she said that she did and that I was the person who saved her life.

I wished her to get better and apologised to her - I explained that I did not have any other option than to cut her her hand. She said: "If you hadn't done it I wouldn't have got out alive; it's I who should say sorry to you for the hardship you went through in order to rescue me." Her parents had tears in their eyes and thanked me for saving their daughter's life."

Bagladesh rescuer: "I cut off limbs to save lives"



A very brave man.

[Darth Penguin]

Bangladash building collapse death toll over 800

he army in Bangladesh says 804 people have been confirmed dead after the collapse of an eight-storey factory building near the capital Dhaka. Authorities are continuing to search the rubble for more bodies two weeks after the Rana Plaza building collapsed on 24 April.
Bangladesh's largest industrial disaster sparked outrage among workers in the country.
Several people, including the building's owner, have been arrested.
Many of the bodies recovered on Wednesday were so decomposed, they were being sent to a lab for DNA identification, the AP news agency reports.
Officials say about 2,500 people were injured in the collapse and that 2,437 people have been rescued.

[Jina]

This is heartbreaking
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...h-factory.html

[Natalka]

Amazing, a survivor found this morning!

"She was calling, 'I'm alive, I'm alive. Please rescue me!' said Capt. Ibrahim Islam, a Bangladeshi military official outside the collapse site.

Unfortunately, number confirmed dead is at 1,039

http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/10/world/...pse/index.html