Walmart Refused to Pay for Safety Upgrades at Bangladesh Garment Factory in 2011

Walmart Refused to Pay for Safety Upgrades at Bangladesh Garment Factory in 2011
During a 2011 meeting, Walmart refused to pay suppliers to help them upgrade safety conditions at their Bangladesh garment factories.

A fire at a Bangladesh garment factory, which made clothes for Walmart and Sears, killed more than 100 people last month, reports Bloomberg News.

According to the International Labor Rights Forum, a Washington-based advocacy group, more than 700 Bangladesh garment workers have died since 2005.

At the April 2011 meeting in Dhaka, Bangladesh, retailers (including Walmart) discussed a memorandum that would require them to pay Bangladesh factories enough money to cover costs of safety improvements.

However, Sridevi Kalavakolanu, a Walmart director of ethical sourcing, said that Walmart wouldn’t share the cost, in a report of the meeting minutes obtained by Bloomberg News.