The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety has demanded immediate closure of five factories owing to safety concerns over buildings where they are located.The factories are situated in four buildings, whose details have been submitted to the National Tripartite Committee (NTC) Review Panel with the recommendation that they be closed for remediation. Alliance inspections have revealed overloaded conditions and structural faults in these buildings, raising concern for the safety of workers in these factories.
The collective, which includes 26 companies such as The Children's Place, Macy's, Nordstrom, Gap and Fruit of the Loom, has claimed that it has begun dispersing funds to cover two months’ pay to more than 350 workers displaced by the closure of three factories. The Alliance will bear half of the cost while the factory owners will cover the rest.
The Alliance has so far inspected over 450 factories, with the goal of completing inspections of all 640 factories from which its members source by July 10. In addition to funding and conducting these inspections and helping cover the salaries of displaced workers, several Alliance member companies have made $100 million in affordable capital available to factory owners to help cover the cost of factory improvements.
www.bangladeshworkersafety.org
