The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, a platform of North American buyers and retailers, cut business relations with nine more Bangladeshi readymade garment factories in March-April on grounds of workers’ safety risks at the units.With the nine, the number of RMG factories with which the group has severed business ties so far on the grounds reached 146.Ten more supplier factories listed by the group, however, completed remediation in the two months, making the number of remediated factories under its list 76.The Alliance on Wednesday announced the names of the nine factories it suspended from its supplier list due to their failure in making required progress on remediation and the names of the units which achieved substantial completion of corrective action plans.The suspended factories are: Clear Tex Industries Ltd, Eastern Dresses Ltd, Tariq Azim Textile Mills Ltd, YB Garments Ltd (formerly RANL Designer Ltd) and Maestro Apparels Ltd in Chittagong, Rupa Fabrics Ltd, Rupa Knitwear (Pvt) Ltd and Masco Printing and Embroidery in Gazipur and Starlight Knitwear Ltd at Mirpur in the Dhaka city.The factories which finished remediation are Alif Print and EM (Embroidery Village), Brandix Apparel Bangladesh Ltd, Envoy Textiles Ltd, Hop Yick Bangladesh Ltd, Karnaphuli Shoes Industries Limited, Lam Min Associates (Unit-2), Savar Dyeing and Finishing Ind, World Ye Apparels (BD) Ltd, Youngone (CEPZ) Ltd and Youngone Sports Shoe Industries Ltd (Unit-2).The Alliance commended the factories for making concrete commitments to worker safety by achieving substantial completion of their CAPs.‘Their laser focus on remediation is reflective of a broader push that has transformed safety in Bangladesh’s RMG industry and directly translated into lives saved,’ Alliance country director Jim Moriarty said in a statement.The platform said that it also continued to enforce accountability measures for factories that failed to prioritise remediation.‘In March-April, nine factories were suspended from the Alliance compliant factory list, bringing the total number of suspended factories to 146,’ the statement said. After the Rana Plaza building collapse in April 24, 2013, that killed more than 1,100 people, mostly garments workers, North American retailers including Walmart and Gap formed the Alliance undertaking a five-year plan, which set timeframes and accountability for inspections and training and workers empowerment programmes. At the same time, EU retailers formed the Accord on Fire and Building Safety to improve factory safety in Bangladesh. The Accord conducted initial safety assessment at 1,850 factories while the Alliance inspected 775 RMG units. The Accord has so far cut business relations with 71 factories due to their failure in complying with safety requirements.
