European And American Enterprises Encounter Social Responsibility Questioning

The collapse of commercial buildings in Bangladesh has aroused global concern, which also gives spin clothing The industry, especially those European and American enterprises that have long relied on Asian processing and manufacturing, has once again sounded the alarm bell. For a while, safety production, working environment, workers' treatment and other issues were pushed to the forefront. How European and American enterprises deal with this incident, and how to solve the labor problems and work environment problems in relevant processing places, affect their reputation and image in the world. A discussion on conscience and responsibility is quietly unfolding among European and American enterprises.

Key words: safety production

Primark promised to compensate Bangladeshi workers

britain Clothes & Accessories Retailer Primark has reiterated that it will compensate the victims of the collapse of Rana Tower in Bangladesh. The enterprise said that they were actively and fully supporting the rehabilitation work, but since the records of employed workers were destroyed after the collapse of the building, the identities of many workers killed in the accident have not yet been confirmed. Once the enterprise gets the list of victims, Primark will immediately start compensation action.

However, due to the delay in receiving compensation, Bangladeshi workers expressed serious dissatisfaction with Primark. The head of Bangladesh Garment Workers' Federation said: "Although these European and American enterprises said that they would come up with a specific solution as soon as possible, there is no progress at present, and we hope to get a clear answer as soon as possible."

In this regard, Primark said that the company will implement the existing short-term rescue plan as soon as possible, while a further, more comprehensive plan that can meet the short-term and long-term needs of survivors and the families of the deceased is still being finalized. The plan will help survivors recover and rebuild their confidence in medical and professional aspects.

In addition, Primark will continue to distribute food to about 1000 affected families every week, and they are willing to provide food subsidies to more families if necessary.

At the same time, the United States Department of State, the Department of Labor and the Office of the United States Trade Representative also participated in the dialogue. They encouraged American garment enterprises that set up processing plants in Bangladesh to protect the rights of local workers and improve their working conditions.

Robert Blake, Assistant Secretary of the Central and South Asia Regional Affairs Office of the United States, and Barbara Shailor, Special Representative for International Labor Affairs jointly said: "This tragedy reminds us once again that the government, enterprises, businesses, and workers' organizations need to work together to ensure the safety of workers' lives and work."

Key words: labor disputes

Adidas pays severance pay to Indonesian workers

Recently, after Adidas, a sports brand giant, agreed to pay severance to Indonesian workers, Pennsylvania State University announced to rebuild its business partnership with the brand. In fact, this severance payment was owed by adidas' contractor, but the University of Pennsylvania believes that adidas, as a brand enterprise, has the obligation and responsibility to pay this amount.

On March 13 this year, the university decided to terminate its contract with Adidas. The reason is that Adidas unexpectedly closed Indonesia PT Kizone factory in April 2011, which resulted in 2800 Indonesian workers losing their jobs without knowing it, and they did not receive severance pay. According to the arbitration of the Indonesian court, these workers should receive a total of 3.4 million dollars in severance payments. Some businesses have paid 1.6 million dollars, but still 1.8 million dollars have not been settled. The dispute over the balance directly refers to Adidas, a sports brand giant.

The American anti sweatshop organization said that after the dispute, 17 American universities have terminated their cooperation with Adidas.

David J. Skorton, President of Cornell University "We believe that receiving severance pay is a basic right of workers and a basic guarantee for their future life. Workers have the right to choose a suitable and safe workplace. At present, there is a huge gap between the development of the clothing industry and workers' rights and interests, which needs prompt attention from all walks of life. Adidas is obliged to pay severance pay to workers."

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On April 26, Adidas finally agreed to pay this fee to resolve the dispute.

In this regard, Rodney Erickson, president of the University of Pennsylvania, said: "We are glad to see that Adidas is aware of the plight of these workers, and listen to our suggestions to appease and compensate the workers. Now, Adidas has resolved the dispute over factory closure and made up for the impact on unemployed workers. As a university, although our influence on the global textile industry is very limited, we are willing to continue to work with other universities to help and ensure that these garment manufacturing workers receive fair treatment and compensation. "

Keywords: work environment

Gildan updates equipment to improve working environment

Gildan sportswear, a Canadian manufacturer of T-shirts and socks, is expanding its supply base and strengthening its links with manufacturers concerned with safety and other social responsibility issues.

Laurence Sellyn, chief financial officer of Gildan, said: "Now, brands attach great importance to stable manufacturer resources to ensure that contractors will not damage the business value and brand image of the enterprise. The recent collapse event has prompted these brands that outsource production to pay more attention to production safety and other social responsibility issues. Our company's ability to double its profits is inextricably linked to our commitment to providing employees with a safe production environment. In order to ensure the working environment of employees and expand productivity, we conduct vertical management on contractors and constantly update production equipment. " After the collapse of the eight storey building in Bangladesh, he said: "If there is an accident, the brand will pay a higher and more tragic price."

Gildan said that in the past 15 years, enterprises have not stopped updating equipment. The investment in product technology and production capacity gives the enterprise comparative advantages: lower manufacturing costs, high and stable product quality, and excellent working environment. In FY2013, Gildan plans to spend $10 million to update textile equipment and modernize the workshop.

In addition, the company will spend 85 million dollars to upgrade its wool spinning equipment. It is expected that all new equipment will be in place in fiscal 2014. "Our continuous investment in production equipment is to reduce production costs, ensure product quality, and improve the safety of the production environment, which is very worthwhile for the enterprise." The head of the enterprise stressed.

Although most of Europe and America Clothing retailers Positive feedback has been given to the labor disputes in processing places. However, in Southeast Asia and other places, the rights of many garment processing and production workers have not been fully guaranteed. In order to achieve "fair trade" and ensure that every garment sold in the market becomes a "reassuring product", clothing buyers, retailers Joint supervision and efforts of manufacturers.