Buyers risk brand image by sourcing from rogue factories

International buyers who source garments from non-compliant factories in Bangladesh run the risk of harming their own brands.
US Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues Melanne S Verveer shared her thoughts in an interview with The Daily Star on the sidelines of South Asian Women Entrepreneurship Symposium at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel yesterday.
"Buyers who source from factories that exploit workers are the buyers who know that their brands are going to be harmed," she said.
"But there is not a company that ever wants to have a potential customer say to them [that] 'I will not buy a shirt from you or anything from you because the source of manufacturing was abusive or the result of exploited labour'.”
"All buyers I have talked to want to be assured that the workers are being treated properly," Verveer said.
"Many of them have had inspectors that they hire. But it's very difficult to know exactly the sourcing and some of the contracts you work."
Her remarks came in response to what buyers can do to ensure workers' safety and rights in the garment factories in Bangladesh.
The issue came to the limelight after a devastating fire killed at least 112 workers at Tazreen Fashions in Ashulia last month. Non-compliance with labour laws by the owner was blamed for such a huge loss of lives.
Many of the fire victims were women who account for the majority of nearly 35 million workers in the clothing industry.
"I have seen how the lives of women, for example in the garment industry, have been improved by the kind of income they have been able to generate. But that is predicated on the fact that they are treated with dignity in their jobs and that they earn a fair wage and that their safety is a prime consideration," Verveer said.
She was scheduled to hold talks with some buyers and garment workers in Dhaka.
Verveer said some buyers have already started programmes to empower women workers to raise their confidence as human beings.
Everybody should subscribe to the well-known international standards, she said.
"This is a win-win for everybody when done properly. And I think we all want to see these standards are adhered to," Verveer said.
The envoy also backed trade union rights of workers so that they can represent themselves in factories to ensure their rights.
She also pointed to the issue of human trafficking and violence against women.
"It is a global epidemic," she said, adding that the leaders everywhere should address the problem.
"It's not only a human rights issue. That's fundamentally the dignity of every woman to be free from violence. Violence should not be a part of one's life whether you are a man or woman."