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2012 Tazreen Fashions Fire: The Impact on Survivors and The Response of Companies

Research Question

What resulted after the 2012 Tazreen Fashions factory fire and how did the aftermath of the factory fire and companies involved  impact the survivors’ lives?

Intro

Due to the factory fire in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2012, many survivors have suffered the financial, physical, and emotional burdens of this tragedy, while some big name companies participating in manufacturing garments in the Dhaka factory are refusing to acknowledge those survivors and their well being. Since the fire, the factory regulations have been revised in 2015 in order to ensure the implementation of safe working conditions for factory employees.

Effect on the Survivors

Survivors of the Tazreen factory fire continue to suffer physical pain and financial instability. Some survivors have said to have no income because of their inability to work after being injured. These former factory workers have not yet been compensated for their injuries and medical bills.1 The emotional trauma was a major result of the fire. Survivors exclaim that their injuries could have been less severe if the doors of the factory were not locked since many of the factory’s employees were forced to jump out of the windows of the building in order to escape the fire.1 Others say that this fire has given them fear and anxiety when living their everyday lives.1 A survivor by the name of Tahera struggles to financially and emotionally support her young son due to her lack of employment and fear.1 She claims that she does not leave her room often and fears “something dark” that comes to her room and haunts her.1 Survivors hope that the person responsible for the fire is caught and punished.1

In an interview with Human Rights Watch, survivors have also explained their lack of compensation for their injuries. To pay for treatment, survivors were forced to sell their belongings which left them with little money to support their families.2 Other survivors begged for money in order to save themselves from the financial and physical suffering.2

Response

In 2015, The Clean Clothes campaign has come together with The International Labor Rights Forum in order to seek compensation for the survivors of the Tazreen Fashions factory fire. These organizations target brands such as Walmart to seek donations for the workers injured and the families who have lost loved ones in the fire. IndustriALL Global Union, The Clean Clothes Campaign and others formulated an agreement where money will be donated to injured survivors and families of the workers who passed away in order to aid with medical bills and lack of income.3 The Tazreen Claims Administration Trust was formed directly after the agreement was arranged.3 The purpose of this Trust is to ensure the proper handling of claims made by survivors and the families of former Tazreen Fashions employees, while also allowing the donation of funds to the families affected by the factory fire.3 Many brands that purchased products from Tazreen Fashions have agreed to donate to the fund such as C&A.3 The company Kik also has agreed to contribute to the fund, despite their reputation for withholding compensation to survivors of the fire within Ali Enterprises.3 Walmart is known to be Tazreen Fashions’ largest consumer and has not responded nor donated to the Fund as of 2015.3

Revised Regulations

After the Garib & Garib Sweater Factory fire in February of 2012, labor activists and anti-sweatshop activists pushed for safety regulations to be put in place for Bangladeshi factories. The Tazreen Fashions Factory fire urged anti-sweatshop groups such as The Clean Clothes Campaign, The International Labor Rights Forum, The Worker Rights Consortium, and The Maquila Solidarity Network to create agreements for inspections and the freedom for the public to gain access to inspection reports in garment factories.4 These groups initially made an agreement with the American company PVH which later was established as the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety.4 Companies involved with the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety are held accountable for required independant inspections on garment factories to ensure safety regulations are met.4 Despite this agreement, companies such as Walmart and GAP belong to The Alliance For Bangladesh Worker Safety which does not require any mandatory inspections and do not have regulations on declining work in unsafe factory conditions.4

As of July, 2013, Bangladesh passed a law that stated the freedom to create unions within the garment factory workers. Along with new opportunities for garment workers, Bangladesh established a fund in order to help garment workers when they are struggling financially.5 The legislation implements that 5% of annual profits must go into this fund to support employees of garment factories.5 In addition to this revision, there was a law written that stated employees in a union are not able to be transferred to a different factory that is owned by the same owner, after the factory they have worked at has not met the necessary safety requirements.5 Due to the four million factories that produce garments in Bangladesh, these new revisions to laws have been put into place in order to stop the ongoing corruption of garment factories and their workers.5

As more companies buy more of their products from garment factories in South Asian countries, such as Bangladesh, because of the low cost, the “garment industry death toll” in Bangladesh is rising.8 Since 2005, the death toll went up to 700.8 Activists have made an effort to try to keep wages from quickly plummeting in Asia.8 The Asia Floor Wage Campaign was then created to enforce wage standards, which would stop wages from constantly dropping.8

Consequences

The two factory owners, husband and wife Mahmuda Akter and Delwar Hossain, have been charged for the Tazreen Fashions factory fire. Eleven others were charged for also being held responsible for the fire.6 Death by negligence was the charge for the husband, wife, and the eleven individuals including security guards and managers in the factory which can result in ten years of prison if they are convicted.6 Most of the thirteen guilty individuals attended court, but five of those charged were hiding in hopes of saving themselves from possible conviction.6 In addition to the death by negligence, the court claimed that the owners of Tazreen Fashions’ factory broke regulations for the building due to the blocking of all stairways and exits, which forced employees to jump out of the windows in the nine story factory in order to attempt to escape the fire.6 Owners of the building locked the exits to ensure the children and teenagers that were working would not leave.7 Employees were told by their managers to keep working  despite the smoke in the building.6 Although managers and security guards were charged, no government inspectors had been charged despite their role in this fire.6

Works Cited

Agence France-Presse in Dhaka. "Bangladesh Court Indicts Factory Owners over Deadly 2012 Fire." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 03 Sept. 2015. Web. 03 Mar. 2016.

Chen, Michelle. "Flammable Material: How Garment Workers Can Respond to the Tazreen Factory Fire." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, Web. 06 May 2016.

Clean Clothes Campaign and International Labor Rights Forum. "International Labor Rights Forum." Three Years after Tazreen Factory Fire Walmart Still Refuses to Pay. International Labor Rights Forum, 18 Nov. 2015. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.

Connell, Tula. "Tazreen Fire Survivors: ‘Our Suffering Has Just Started’ | Solidarity Center." Solidarity Center Tazreen Fire Survivors Our Suffering Has Just Started Comments. Solidarity Center, 19 Nov. 2015. Web. 03 Mar. 2016.

Ross, Robert J. S. "BRINGING LABOR RIGHTS TO BANGLADESH." The American Prospect Summer 2015: 74-9. ProQuest. Web. 25 Mar. 2016.

Smith, Sandy. "Tazreen Victims Finally Will Receive some Compensation for Deadly Fire." EHS Today (2014)ProQuest. Web. 25 Mar. 2016.

Solidarity Center Tazreen Fire Survivors Our Suffering Has Just Started Comments. Solidarity Center, 19 Nov. 2015. Web. 03 Mar. 2016.

U.S. Official News. "Washington: Companies Fail to Compensate Fire Victims." LexisNexis. Plus Media Solutions, 18 Dec. 2013. Web. 25 Mar. 2016.