Rescue efforts are underway at a garment factory in Bangladesh that crumbled into a pile of concrete, killing at least two hundred people.
More than 2,000 people were told to keep working despite a police order to evacuate the building because of deep cracks.
A Bangladeshi government official says the garment factory violated construction codes.
The factory made clothes for major brands around the world, including Canadian clothing line Joe Fresh.
The building housed clothing factories for western brands, including Loblaw’s Joe Fresh sold at the great Canadian Superstore.
“The fact is these employers go off shore for cheap labour,” says Jim Sinclair with the B.C. Federation of Labour. “They go off shore for low working conditions, bad safety conditions…that’s what cheap labour is all about. It’s exploiting workers keeping them unsafe.”
A spokesperson for Loblaws says the factory produced a small number of Joe Fresh apparel.
In a statement to Global News they said – “Loblaws Inc. has vendor standards which spell out the standard requirements of working with us to ensure that products are being manufactured in a socially responsible way, and specifically prohibiting child harassment and abuse or forced labour; ensuring fair pay and benefits in compliance with applicable health and safety regulations. We audit against these standards on a regular basis.”
Sinclair says it can’t be left to the companies to fix this problem.
“The government has to stop acting like the agent for the companies and start acting as the protector for the people. None of us want this to happen in Canada. No one wants to go to the store, to buy a shirt for their kid, knowing someone had to die to make that shirt cheap enough.”
There’s also been criticism that Canada should join other countries when it comes to tariff concessions.
Sinclair says Canada should put tariffs on clothes and make sure they are imposed until there are standards in those countries that Canadians find acceptable.
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