Tag Archives: Bangladesh

‘Bullying’ clothing companies are asking struggling suppliers for discounts

May 14, 2020UncategorizedAustralia, Bangladesh, brands, business ethicss, companies, corona, covid19, ethics, fashion, retailers, Supply Chainmartijn

Prominent Australian retailers been caught out again for “unsavoury” behaviour during the coronavirus pandemic – including asking for discounts and pushing back orders from struggling suppliers overseas.

Kmart has backflipped on its request for a 30 per cent discount it forced on its Bangladeshi suppliers, but is still enforcing tight turnarounds.

Mosaic Brands, which owns Crossroads, Millers, Noni B and more, has told its suppliers, also in Bangladesh, that it won’t be meeting some of its payments for eight months, according to the ABC.

Mosaic was called out early in the pandemic for its pushy sales techniques, peddling hand sanitiser and face masks to shoppers to capitalise on the panic-buying surge.

The behaviour is nothing short of bullying, business ethics expert Martijn Boersma said.

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Australian government slow to respond to supply chain labour exploitation

April 25, 2016UncategorizedAustralia, Bangladesh, catalyst, civil society, companies, exploitation, forced labour, government, ILO, labour standards, modern slavery, regulation, Supply Chain, supply chains, trafficking, transparency, working groupmartijn

Rescue workers and volunteers search by hand for victims amongst the debris of the collapsed Rana Plaza building in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Photo: Jeff Holt

Sunday marks three years since the Rana Plaza garment factory collapse in Bangladesh. This disaster led to the tragic loss of 1130 lives, left 2500 injured, and sparked a global debate about workers’ rights and ethical labour standards in low-wage countries. In Australia, civil society organisations such as Baptist World Aid and Oxfam lead the charge to expose labour abuses and improve working conditions in global supply chains. But thus far the government has been largely absent form this debate and has been slow to act.

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2SER Radio Interview about the Catalyst CSR Dashboard and Corporate Reporting

June 21, 2013Environment, Gender, Politics, Society, World2SER, Bangladesh, Catalyst Australia, Corporate Governance, CSR, Guidance, ILO, labour standards, Martijn Boersma, NGOs, OECD, Radio Atticus, Rana Garment Factory, Reporting, supply chains, Sustainability, Unions, UTSmartijn

Annamarie Reyes from 2SER’s Radio Atticus talks to Martijn Boersma, Researcher at Catalyst Australia and the University of Technology Sydney, about the Catalyst CSR Dashboard and the poor corporate reporting on labour standards and supply chains.