Research the Solutions

After students have a more complete picture of the issues involved with the Bangladeshi garment industry, they should then research how their company might try to address worker safety and rights in Bangladesh and around the world.

1. Stop Doing Business in Countries With Poor Safety Records. Will your company decide to stop all production until safety conditions are improved, like the Walt Disney Company recently announced in Bangladesh? Does Disney’s move abandon poor workers? Or is it just smart business for a company that is very protective of its image? Alternatively, does Disney’s early announcement actually place well-timed pressure on Bangladesh’s government, forcing political leaders and business owners to recognize that more companies might follow Disney’s lead if they don’t act fast?

2. Improve Safety and Working Conditions. Will your company decide to stay in Bangladesh and join a “legally binding plan that requires retailers to help finance fire safety and building improvements”? So far, the brands H&M, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and Izod have signed onto the agreement, but other major companies are still reluctant.

Will your company agree to similar agreements for the garment industry around the world? Do you agree with this piece by Kalpona Akter, a former child laborer in Bangladesh, that states “…more tragedies can be prevented only if the multinational corporations and retailers whose goods are produced at these factories are willing to stand up and do what is right”?

3. Increase Transparency About Clothing Origins. Will your company seek to distance themselves from unsafe garment factories in Bangladesh or elsewhere, or will they acknowledge their connection when disasters occur?

Will your company provide compensation to families who lost loved ones in factory accidents, or will they insist that all responsibility falls on local manufacturers and governments?

And will they follow the lead of some brands that provide customers with “information about exactly how, and where, their products were made”? In fact, new research suggests that consumers are willing to pay more for fair-labor clothing.