Trecentottandue i morti della fabbrica tessile di Dacca, nel Bangladesh. E ora Benetton, dopo i primi dinieghi, ammette mezzi legami con la fabbrica. Lo rivela il Guardian (29.4.13), ma in Italia la notizia non è uscita. In Inghilterra Primark, altro fruitore, ha invece chiesto agli altri beneficiati di farsi carico del rimborso alle famiglie delle vittime. Infine ad inchiodare Benetton ci ha pensato un fotografo dell’Ap, Kevin Frayer, che ha scoperto  tra le macerie camicie col marchio di Benetton (/come la foto pubblicata dal Guardian mostra).

Benetton admits link with firm in collapsed Bangladesh building

Italian company says garment manufacturer completed a one-off order but has now been taken off its list of suppliers

Rebecca Smithers 29 april 2013

The Italian retail giant Benetton has admitted that it was supplied by one of the garment factories in the Bangladesh building which collapsed last Wednesday for a one-off order, after previously denying that it had links with any of the businesses there.

The company’s U-turn came as a Bangladesh court on Monday gave police 15 days to question the owner of the building, in which at least 382 people were killed, rescuers used heavy machinery to cut through the destroyed structure after giving up hopes of finding any more survivors.

Mohammed Sohel Rana, who was arrested on Sunday as he tried to flee to India, will be held for questioning on charges of negligence, illegal construction and forcing employees to work in the building. His father, Abdul Khaleque, was also arrested on suspicion of aiding Rana to force people to work in a dangerous building.

The illegally constructed, eight-storey Rana Plaza collapsed in a heap as thousands of people worked inside, in five garment factories that supply major western brands including Primark, Matalon, Mango and Benetton. About 2,500 survivors have been accounted for.

Benetton’s announcement follows the publication by the Associated Press of pictures garments with its labels in the debris. The Italian firm, which on the day of the tragedy issued a statement saying “None of the companies involved are suppliers to Benetton Group or any of its brands”, said this had been updated in the light of contiuning investigations.

The statement said: “Regarding the tragic accident in Dhaka, Bangladesh, we wish to confirm that none of the companies involved is a supplier to any of our brands. Further to this, a one-time order was completed and shipped out of one of the manufacturers involved several weeks prior to the accident.

“Since then, this subcontractor has been removed from our supplier list. A programme of random audits take place on an ongoing basis throughout our global supply chain, to ensure that all direct and indirect suppliers comply with our long-standing social, labor and environmental standards.”

New Wave Bottoms, one of the manufacturers based at Rana Plaza, lists Benetton as a client while labour rights activists digging through the debris also said they found documents linking Benetton to the factory.

Britain’s Primark and Bon Marche and Spain’s Mango have acknowledged their products were made in the block, while UK chain Matalan said it had been supplied in the past.

A petition drawn up by the National Garment Workers’ Federation calling on Primark, Matalan and Mango to pay compensation to victims’ families and to sign the Bangladesh fire and building safety agreement to prevent the future deaths of garment workers, has so far received nearly 600,000 signatures.

A garment manufacturers’ group said the factories in the building employed 3,122 workers, but it was not clear how many were inside when it fell.

The collapse and previous disasters in garment factories have focused attention on the poor working conditions of workers who toil for as little as £25 a month to produce clothing for top international brands.