You choose, we deliver
If you are interested in this story, you might be interested in others from The Journal Gazette. Go to www.journalgazette.net/newsletter and pick the subjects you care most about. We'll deliver your customized daily news report at 3 a.m. Fort Wayne time, right to your email.

Business

  • World stocks stabilize after big sell-off
    MOSCOW (AP) — World stocks stabilized on Friday, a day after global markets dropped sharply on concerns global growth is slowing and the Federal Reserve could start scaling back its monetary stimulus.
  • Grain futures rose, livestock prices fall
    CHICAGO (AP) — Grains futures rose Thursday on the Chicago Board of Trade.Wheat for July delivery rose 14.75 cents to $7.0325 a bushel; July corn rose 3.5 cents to $6.
  • Oil falls below $94 on weak outlook for demand
    BANGKOK (AP) — The price of oil was knocked lower Friday by a combination of ample supplies and lukewarm demand.
Advertisement

Wal-Mart gets strict with suppliers

Bangladesh disaster leads to change in subcontracting rules

– Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has alerted its global suppliers that it will immediately drop them if they subcontract their work to factories that haven’t been authorized by the discounter.

Wal-Mart’s stricter measure, along with other changes to its policy, comes amid increasing calls for better safety oversight after a deadly fire at a Bangladesh factory that supplied clothing to Wal-Mart and other retailers. The fire in late November killed 112 workers at a factory owned by Tazreen Fashions Ltd. Wal-Mart has said the factory wasn’t authorized to make its clothes.

In a letter sent Tuesday to suppliers of its Wal-Mart stores as well as Sam’s Clubs in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom, the company says it will adopt a “zero tolerance” policy on subcontracting without the company’s knowledge, effective March. 1. Previously, suppliers had three chances to rectify mistakes.

Wal-Mart also said it plans to publish on its corporate website a list of factories that haven’t been authorized to manufacture goods for Wal-Mart.

Also, starting June 1, suppliers must have an employee stationed in countries where they subcontract to ensure compliance, rather than relying on third-party agents.

“We want the right accountability and ownership to be in the hands of the suppliers,” said Rajan Kamalanathan, Wal-Mart’s vice president of ethical sourcing in an interview with The Associated Press. “We are placing our orders in good faith.”

Wal-Mart ranks second behind Swedish fast fashion retailer H&M in the number of clothing orders it places in Bangladesh. Before the fatal fire there, Wal-Mart had taken new steps to address the growing problem of safety such as mandating fire safety training for all levels of factory management. Building fires have led to more than 600 garment work deaths in Bangladesh since 2005, according to research by the advocacy group International Labor Rights Forum.

Advertisement