The problem is those standards for social compliance are totally bullshit. It's just a nice certificate they can put on the wall and bust out in cases like this as their get out of jail free card.
Yes, this is exactly what was discussed on the CBC this morning. Essentially these companies perform internal inspections of their own facilities once per year, and that's basically all that's needed to demonstrate that the facility is safe/adequate/humane/socially compliant. this allows the garment manufacturers to hide problems, keep their bottom line low, but provide their customers with a service that's 'socially compliant.'
What's needed is a push from the larger corporations (ie Joe Fresh, Walmart, Benneton) to demand a higher standard of social compliance. Only work with manufacturers that adhere to a program using external inspectors and random inspections, the results of which are made public. The Bangladeshi government can do its part by holding violators of work safety laws accountable. And the Canadian government can encourage enforcement of those laws by restricting free trade with Bangladesh until change occurs and workers are safe. Of course, some of those options are really 'pie in the sky' changes at this stage. But what I'm trying to say is that this is hardly an issue that can be solely attributed to the big bad Joe Fresh corporation.
I think the wrong thing to do is to immediately stop all consumer purchasing of these products. Many of these garment factory workers are supporting their entire families on these earnings.
