Bill Text: NJ SR115 | 2012-2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Urges Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and Gap Inc. to sign Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Accord.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-06-24 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Labor Committee [SR115 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2012-SR115-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator LORETTA WEINBERG
District 37 (Bergen)
SYNOPSIS
Urges Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and Gap Inc. to sign Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Accord.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
A Senate Resolution urging Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and Gap Inc. to sign the Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Accord.
Whereas, More than 1,100 garment workers were killed when the Rana Plaza factory complex in Savar, Bangladesh collapsed on April 24, 2013 and approximately 2,500 more were rescued, including more than 600 with serious injuries; and
Whereas, On April 23, the day before the collapse, huge cracks had appeared in the building, which was built with substandard materials and major violations of local building codes, including the construction of its upper four floors without permits, causing a local inspector to order it evacuated; and
Whereas, Despite the imminent danger and the evacuation of the shops and banks in the ground floor of the complex, the garment workers were forced on April 24 to return to work and face death in the upper floors, being told by the factory managers they would not be paid for the month if they did not; and
Whereas, The garment workers of the Rana Plaza factory complex were paid wages of 14 to 26 cents an hour, the lowest garment worker wage rate in the world, and worked in 13 to 14 ½ hour shifts for six and seven days a week; and
Whereas, The Rana Plaza factory complex housed many operations producing low-cost garments for many large Western companies; and
Whereas, The Rana Plaza factory disaster occurred five months after a fire at the Tazreen apparel factory in Bangladesh killed 112 workers, followed by 41 incidents in other apparel factories killing nine more workers and injuring more than 600; and
Whereas, As of May 15, 2013, 43 mostly European apparel retailers, including seven of the world's largest purchasers of apparel from Bangladesh, had responded to the tragedy at the Rana Plaza factory by signing the "Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh," a legally enforceable, five-year agreement establishing a binding comprehensive safety plan for the apparel industry in Bangladesh by requiring rigorous, independent factory safety inspections with public reports, mandatory repairs and renovations underwritten by Western retailers, a cessation of business with any factory refusing to make necessary safety improvements, and the granting of a substantial voice in factory safety to workers and their unions; and
Whereas, Many large American apparel retailers, including Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., which purchases apparel from 34 factories in Bangladesh employing 17,000 workers, and Gap Inc., which purchases apparel from 34 factories, have refused to sign the accord, insisting on continuing their policy of relying on non-binding, voluntary programs of self-enforcement; and
Whereas, The terrible tragedy of the Rana Plaza collapse should inspire decisive, unified action to bring about systemic change to alleviate the appalling conditions inflicted on far too many of Bangladesh's 3.4 million garment workers, workers who produce so much of the clothing that Americans wear; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of New Jersey:
1. This House urges Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and Gap Inc. to sign the "Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh," thereby providing leadership to other American retailers in joining the most important international effort in the apparel industry to alleviate the unacceptable conditions imposed on millions of garment workers in Bangladesh.
2. Duly authenticated copies of this resolution, signed by the President of the Senate and attested by the Secretary thereof, shall be transmitted to the chief executive officers of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and Gap Inc.
STATEMENT
This resolution urges Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and Gap Inc. to sign the "Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh."
Following the April 24, 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza factory complex in Savar, Bangladesh, which killed over 1,100 garment workers and injured over 600, many major international clothing retailers entered into that accord to alleviate the unacceptable conditions imposed on garment workers in Bangladesh. Most large American retailers, including Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and Gap Inc., have refused to sign the accord.
