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Abir Abdullah / EPA
Garment workers shout slogans as they attend a procession on Tuesday to mourn victims of the Tazreen Fashions factory fire.
A deadly factory fire that killed at least 111 textile workers was sabotage, Bangladesh authorities said Tuesday, as protesters took to the streets for a second day and garment factories across the world's second biggest clothes exporter stopped work to mourn the dead.
The country's worst-ever industrial blaze broke out on Saturday and consumed the multi-story Tazreen Fashions factory building. More than 150 workers were injured.
The interior minister, Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, said according to a preliminary inquiry, the fire was the result of arson.
He promised to bring the culprits to justice.
"We have come to the conclusion that it was an act of sabotage. We are finding out as of now who exactly the saboteurs are and all culprits will be brought to book," Alamgir said.
Thousands protest after Bangladesh fire traps workers
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also said she suspected the fire was an act of sabotage but she did not identify any suspect or say why she thought the cause might have been arson.
Andrew Biraj / Reuters
A worker visits a burnt garment factory Monday after a fire which killed more than a hundred people in Savar, Bangladesh.
Victim's families to get $1,200 each
The fire has put a spotlight on global retailers that source clothes from Bangladesh, where the cost of labor is low — as little as $37 a month for some workers — and rights groups have called on big-brand firms to sign up to a fire-safety program.
Bangladesh has about 4,500 garment factories and is the world's biggest exporter of clothing after China, with garments making up 80 percent of its $24 billion annual exports.
Li & Fung, a company that has worked with the factory and that supplies some U.S. clothing firms, said on Sunday that it would provide victim’s families with approximately $1,200 each, and plans to set up an education fund for victim’s children.
On Monday, it said the company was "very distressed and saddened by the deaths" in a statement that also sought to reassure investors that the fire "will not have any material impact on the financial performance of Li & Fung."
"The total value of orders placed for the year with Tazreen on behalf of Kids Headquarters, a division of LF USA … amounted to approximately $111,000," it said in a statement.
"Li & Fung also confirms that the Company has not placed orders for other customers with Tazreen," it addded.
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Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, said in a statement that one of its suppliers subcontracted work to the factory without authorization and would no longer be used.
The company would not comment on what products were made at the factory and whether the products made it onto store shelves. A spokeswoman, Megan Murphy, said in an e-mail to NBC News that the company would have no further comment beyond the statement released on its website.
A number of other retailers like Gap and Nike rushed to deny any relationship with the plant.
Officials in Massachusetts say a blast, that injured 18 people and damaged dozens of buildings in Springfield's entertainment district, was the result of a utility worker accidentally puncturing a high-pressure, underground pipe while looking for a gas leak.
Lax safety
More than 1,000 workers, some carrying black flags, demonstrated in the Ashulia industrial belt on the outskirts of the capital where the factory is located.
They blocked traffic moving on a highway and vowed to avenge the deaths of their colleagues, witnesses said.
"Never shall we give up demands for punishment for those responsible for the tragedy," one worker said.
Hundreds of protesters, mostly from labor and rights groups, also gathered in the capital demanding to know the cause of the fire and calling for punishment of those responsible.
All of Bangladesh's garment factories closed as the nation observed a day of mourning. Flags flew at half-mast on all government buildings.
Working conditions at Bangladeshi factories are notoriously poor, with little enforcement of safety laws. Overcrowding and locked fire doors are common. More than 300 factories near the capital shut for almost a week this year as workers demanded higher wages and better conditions.
At least 500 people have died in garment factory accidents in Bangladesh since 2006, according to fire officials.
Reuters contribtued to this report.
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Leave a Comment:
start making clothes in the USA again would be a great start.put our people back to work and try to make the USA a great country again....oh that's right...the rich who control us would never stand to make less profits.
Money makes their world go around. You can't even buy underware that's made in the USA anymore. What has happened to us?
I don't like it any more than those who are commenting here. However, ours is a consumer culture hell bent on buying things for the very lowest price. We shop until we drop and line up at big box stores in the wee hours of the morning to get the bargains. This is the age of globalization where communication, transportation and logistics make the world one huge factory. The jobs will go to those willing to work for pennies a day instead of dollars. This is the reality, folks, and its here to stay. No one will pay you $17 bucks an hour here in the USA to make the 42 inch flat screen you want to buy for $198. The math doesn't work and it never will. The golden age of high paid American labor is over.
Disgruntled employee did it.
With the working conditions over there and the former protests falling on deaf ears, someone struck a match.
Geronimo
It is not just the big box stores that do this. Try J.C. Penny, Sears, and the list goes on and on. As I have said before. Profit at any and All cost, the workers be damned. These third world governments are all taking bribes to look the other way. What have other articles stated ??? The owners of these sweat shops , now have high positions in government , own sports teams and live the good life. We here in the U.S. can do these jobs as good if not better than third world countries do and still turn a profit. All those jobs went overseas for the sole purpose of fattening the bottom line. No safety rules, no over sight, low or no taxes paid, no over time pay, no retirement plan, no sick time and no vacation time. Those are the reasons those jobs went overseas. CORPORATE GREED !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
bob
Welcome to globalization. Nobody is going to pay union wages in the USA to make clothes when someone in Bangladesh is willing to make them for $1.27 a day. The law of supply and demand prevails, and the people who thought we would be exporting our lifestyle when we exported our jobs are now revealed for the misguided fools they are.
you can buy all kinds of things made in America you just have to look. I mean your not going out to walmart and find them but they are out there I know i own clothes made here in America.
If you people want to bring jobs back to the USA, start buying American whenever possible. I just bought running shoes two weeks ago. I paid $120 for a pair of made in the USA New balance over a pair $80 made someplace else New Balance. If you are willing and able to spend the extra money, do so. Spend your money on 1- Made in USA products, and 2-Made in NAFTA country products and jobs will return to this area.
American made products were very high quality compared to what you get now. In Canada and other countries underwear and other American-made clothing is easier to find than it is here.
Not surprised to see Walmart associated with this story.
I would be shocked if they weren't!
It is disgusting how these big corporate box stores react to this kind of incident; they all buy from these cut throat companies, but the moment something goes wrong everyone 'distances' themselves from the loss of life and the blatant reality of inequality.
They know about the low wage, the poor conditions, the area: it is all figured into the profit margin from the start. Anyone that tells you anything else (as in "companies aren't aware of the conditions") is only selling something.
......."it would provide victim’s families with approximately $1,200 each, and plans to set up an education fund for victim’s children."
Wow just wow how can they afford to make this ungodly high payment to these families. And to think we once manufactured clothing right here in the USA but these greedy companies did not want to pay for work done by Americans so they outsourced to China, India, Vietnam etc. where labor is cheap. I wonder if Mitt Robme owns stock in this company? Something tells me this is right up his alley.
That is a nasty thing to say about Mitt Romney.The rest of your post I agree with but the elections over.
Militant Islam started the fire. Allah hates buildings. He wants everyone to sleep in the street.
and kill those declared infidels. Without jihad, how can there be a Muslim nation?
moral of this story: the life of a bangladeshi is worth $1200.
Minus taxes, shipping, and handling, which nets out to $12.00.
In basket case Muslim nations like Bangladesh, Pakistan, N. Sudan, Somalia and some others: there are high levels of Islamic madness and too much of corruption.
There are almost no laws and not many are punished even for crimes like rapes, murders, lootings and killings.
This factory fire is the result of owner(s) not bothering about any laws.
Of course, there will be finger pointing in different directions.
For authorities: it is sabotage and no one will be sparred.
After few weeks, it will be business as usual!
Yup. They haven't really found any actual evidence for arson. The government could just be claiming it to avoid getting blamed for their regulatory incompetency.
That was my first thought.
....so what a great place to export our manufacturing to, right?
Free enterprise is the best system, but keep in mind that capitalism has no soul. Capitalism is not patriotic. Unfettered, unregulated capitalism will be a disaster, just like socialism.
They make clothes for the whole world.
They were making clothes 1000 years before America was discovered.
Blame this on their culture not ours.
sam: Greedy capitalism is as bad as Sunni Islamic religious madness and extemist communist ideology!
Because they can get it done even cheaper elsewhere.
I hope so. Then I can save even more! Walmart rules!
-god doesn't understand that the savings are not passed on to him but are pocketed by the corporate management in the form of hundreds of thousands of dollars in salaries and bonuses.
How convenient, "Oh, it's not our fault. We had no idea this was happening."
Sure you didn't.
Sabotage??....................yeah, right!!!
(1) It's racism to deny these folks the work. (2) It would cost $900 per T-Shirt if the product was made by good American sleep-on-the-job campaign-donor union labor.
You will be villified for your comment but you said it better in two sentences than my much longer post above. The world has changed. The people crying for high paid American jobs fail to realize that they are their very own market. They will never pay the market price for an item they themselves were paid to make. You can rightfully bitch about corporate profits and greedy CEO's but the larger picture doesn't appreciably change when your biggest cost is labor.
and your proof? The real problem in the US economy is bloated management which no longer is interested in long term profits, but ensuring a quick profit so they can get a bigger bonus. I'm an investor and my interests are not met by these upper and even middle management MBAs who are overpaid and ignorant of their business. Just look at the TV show about bosses going undercover to work for their own firms.
Like you, I need no proof. I walk in mystic faith that the people, united, will riot unrequited... ♪ ♫
Blaming U.S. workers, especially unions, without which we'd not even have the privilege of a day off to go to church, is laughable. One only need to look at the insane profits, and I'm talking about net profits here, and compensation packages of top management to see the extreme disproportion between them and the work force. While the cost of goods continue to rise, even though they are largely produced in third-world countries, the American worker struggles to keep up with the cost of living here and is then demonized for expecting to be paid fairly and proportionately for their time, skills and dedication to turning out quality work/products. Yeah, that's real, real bad, but this one should really rile you up. . .they expect that their workplaces will be safe, have HVAC, be free from rodents, and they have the gall to expect a functioning fire exit, just in case, there's a raging fire. I KNOW! That sort of arrogance and expectation is just. . just. . .well it's un-American! (SARC!)
Do we thank the Communists or the Mafia for our daily bread? Just want to be sure.
Peikovian I didn't pay near that much for the clothes I have purchased here in america.
i heard that the burmese are only worth 20 dollars and will work for the right to breath.i guess its time to move production there.
Budget $600 you hire 4 guys pay them $150 ea. Govt says minimum is $200 ea. You fire 1 guy. Union says minimum is $300 ea. You fire another guy. Bangladesh says minimum is $100 ea. You fire everybody, move to Bangladesh, hire 6 guys. Unemployed American protesters wander, break stuff, get sprayed. Social justice.
Peikovian -- you missed a big part of the equation. If you are an American CEO, it goes like this -- hire 4 guys at $150 each. Fire one of them, give yourself a $5,000 bonus for being such a smart businessman and reducing costs. Meanwhile, the 3 guys left are expected to do the same work as was being done before by 4. When your business fails, blame the unions and the EPA, take your $10,000,000 golden parachute, and go to work as CEO at another company at 50% higher salary. Repeat ad infinitum.
Class warfare is a mystic idea, imported from the German philosophers. It won't be dignified here.
Truth hurts, doesn't it?
I wonder how many of those who bitch about walmart shop there?
I'm sure there are some but this is not a straddle the fence kind of issue like climate change. In my household, once we acknowledged that Walmart sells crappy merchandise discounted at the expense of their employees and causes Americans to lower their standards, fill up their shopping carts with crap just to save a few hundred dollars a year, we never set foot in there again. Read Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich.
Part of the problem is that when Walmart moves into an area, they make a deliberate effort to put all competing stores out of business. The company as a whole is so large, they can let any individual store operate at a loss in order to undercut the local competition. Then, when they are literally the only store left, the residents have no choice any more. There are many small towns where this is the case.
...and the horse you rode in on,We do not shop Walmart either.It is every Americans obligation to stop buying products made by slave labor.I like your screen name by the way.
This is just a glaring example of corporate greed run amok... Profits before people. However, consumers have all the power needed to change this by simply DEMANDING products made here and willing to accept the price of quality... Period.
And I am sick and tired of Union bashing by "tools" who know NOTHING about how Unions even work or the fact that they're the reason YOU (that's right YOU) have a living salary, safe working conditions, reasonable working hours (40 hr week) and a host of other benefits YOU take for granted! If it weren't for UNIONS, factories like those in Bangladesh and other third world hell-holes would STILL exist HERE!!! This ain't the 1880's anymore and I don't think ANY of us would want to go back to it either!!!
You get what you pay for. The clothes made in these factories are poor quality and you wonder why? Meanwhile the top echelon's of the corporate world continue to hoard all of the profit for themselves. I find it sickening to see them (Walmart, JC Penney etc) scatter like roaches when you turn on the light trying to distance themselves from the cruel reality of THEIR GREED!!!
The flagellant demands what he hasn't earned.
Yes Angry, the unions are the reason we enjoy safe working conditions today. When the Wagner Act was passed in 1935, the government recognized the right to organize. In 1947, the government recognized the monster it created and quickly passed Labor Management Act (Taft-Hartley) to put union power in check after a series of strikes crippled the nation. Unions serve a great purpose until laws are passed to protect workers rights, but once those laws are passed, unions become extorting thugs that demand more and more.
The first president of the AFL, Samual Gompers was asked what was the goal of Labor, he replied "More, More, More". That hasn't changed in over 100 years.
Unless those government buildings were ships at sea, the flags were flown at half staff not half mast ... come on writers ... if you can't get the fine details correct ... why should we have faith in the rest.
Do we really need all the cheap junk we buy from Wal-Mart? How much of what is bought this year ends up in the attic, or worse, the landfill by next year?
Walk away from products made with exploited labor.
I'm not saying it isn't arson, but what better way to deflect attention away from the conditions and toward the victims (of sweat shop labor, not the fire)? And, it seems to have worked, a read a post earlier that it was a "disgruntled employee" that did it. Hmm.... seems a bit suspicious. Regardless of the cause, if that many people died, it screams of insufficient measures taken for their safe evacuation, a probable reflection on overall conditions. Hope folks that matter keep their eye on the ball.
Safety of workers is the paramount issue in Bangladesh, India. Yes India, who claims to have a overseeing government on all business issues, but can't seem to guarantee workers safety. I challenge everyone reading these articles and comments to stop buying goods made in India and let the manufacturers, owners, and stock holders know we will NOT TOLERATE profits above safety. Just think if the clothes are made in this fashion in a poor country with zero safety for their workers, what kind of insects are coming with the packaging to the US and would you let your children wear these clothes.
No it wouldn't. Their profits would be lower. Slave labor is why a long sleeve shirt that sells for $50 in the fall only costs 10$ by spring. They still make a huge profit even at $10.
You can outlaw unions, abolish the EPA and OSHA, repeal child labor laws and overtime laws, get rid of unemployment insurance etc etc and GUESS WHAT? The jobs STILL go to the people making 10 cents an hour.
Buy a clue.
I guess the factory owners think that if they can turn this Tragedy into a witch hunt, maybe everyone will forget that the factory had NOTHING in the way of a Fire escape... and THAT is the reason 111 people are dead.
Well Denver Bob, Peikovian and all you other ant-American hypocrites, this is exactly why unions and OSHA were formed. Worker Exploitation and unsafe working conditions. As a matter of fact, it was a VERY similar fire at a garment factory here in the U.S. that was the catalyst for these changes. PEOPLE HAVE DIED HERE IN THE U.S. BECAUSE OF GREEDY COMPANYS JUST LIKE THIS.
Google Triangle Shirtwaist fire, it's almost word for word what happened here. From the PBS site... "It was the deadliest workplace accident in New York City’s history. A dropped match on the 8th floor of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory sparked a fire that killed over a hundred innocent people trapped inside. The private industry of the American factory would never be the same." And you want to bring this back?
Republicans think the only criminals in America are the ones who knock over convenience stores. Some of them are more ambitious than that.
Whether or not it was sabotage doesn't excuse the fact that the exit doors were locked and that there weren't any working fire extinguishers.This was horrific and an inexcusable way to treat employees.I will be checking clothing labels and add Bengladesh to the list of countries where products are made that I will not purchase.
There is NOTHING that America can do or stop doing that will make us competitive with 10 cents an hour wages. NOTHING.
Global Economy = Global Standard of Living.
Our standard of living is not competitive in a global economy and will decline until it is.
The markets work.
Dear Sam298381; Yes there is something Americans can do. Christmas presents made in India are off limits until their manufacturing requires worker safety laws. If their government does not want to issue laws, then the least we can do is boycott their products. No longer should we buy clothing made in India, specifically Bangladesh. Sam get over yourself, no time for people with no ideas.