Tragedy Bangladesh jumpstarts debate working conditions

Illegal storeys cost hundreds of lives

By now 381 bodies have been recovered and more
than 2,500 people got injured, while it is still unclear how many are missing.
Officially 3,122 people worked in the building, but it is suspected more were
present at the time. Sunday there was a fire when rescue workers tried to
rescue an employee from under the rubble.

Seven people have been arrested: the owner of
the building and his wife, the three owners of the textile factories in the
building and two engineers. The building of eight storeys was an illegal
construction. The owner was arrested when he tried to flee the country.

Third largest textile superpower in the world

Providing for the textile industry is worth 77
percent of all export of the impoverished Bangladesh. Behind China and Italy,
Bangladesh has the largest textile industry in the world. It is one of the
largest exporters of clothing to the United States and Europe. Savar is located
situated in the heart of the textile
industry of the country, 45 km from the capital Dhaka.

The minimum wage is 29 euro per month, even
though a lot of companies pay even less. Furthermore working conditions are
very often below par: deadly victims are no exception. Five months ago a
factory fire cost the lives of 112 people.

Irish Primark already admitted that the
collapsed factory was part of their supply chain. Other retailers are trying to
stay out of the picture, but labels of Spanish Mango were also found in the
rubble. C&A also worked with the factory, but recently stopped that
cooperation.

“Lack of safety structural and poignant”

In the meantime policy makers urge companies to follow the OECD guidelines. “The lack of safety in textile factories in
Bangladesh is structural and very poignant”, said the Dutch minister for
Foreign Trade and Development Lilianne Ploumen.

“Since 2006 over 800 workers have died in
Bangladesh. We can not accept that textile workers run incredible risks while
making our jeans and T-shirts”, she states.