Inside the Bangladesh Clothing Supply Chain

One year ago today, on April 24, 2013, more than 1,000 people died and more than 2,500 were injured in the collapse of Rana Plaza, a building located in Savar, just outside Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka. Most of the deceased and those hurt in the accident were employees of the many garment factories that were located in the eight-story structure. Rana Plaza was closed the day before it collapsed after its walls started to crack. Workers were called back to work on April 24 and forced in by managerial staff.

The collapse, and other tragedies such as the fire at the Tazreen Fashions factory, which killed at least 112 people, shed light on substandard working conditions of those making garments for some of the world's biggest retailers. Accords and alliances have been forged between companies to make conditions safer for workers, but the situation is still complicated since those toiling in these factories desperately need these jobs. In fact, 3,500 workers were laid off last month when an inspection of their factory building deemed it unsafe. 

A compensation fund to aid survivors and those families who lost loved ones in the Rana Plaza collapse, set up by the International Labour Organization, has raised $15 million to date, far below the $40 million target, with the majority coming from one donor, the Irish clothing chain Primark. According to Human Rights Watch, "15 brands whose clothing and brand labels were found in the rubble of the factory by journalists and labor activists have not paid into the fund." 

A major part of the investigation in “Made in Bangladesh” is based on the paper trail of a Walmart order that ended up in the Tazreen factory, which caught fire on November 24, 2012, exactly five months before the Rana Plaza collapse.

Fault Lines received internal documents related to the order, including a contract between Dhaka-based Simco Dresses and Walmart supplier, Success Apparel. The  documents give an inside look into Walmart’s complicated supply chain, which involves a number of middlemen and sub-contractors, and which critics say helps shield the company from accepting blame or responsibility when disaster strikes.

Correspondent Anjali Kamat explains each document in the paper trail below.

This is how it all began. This is the initial contract between Simco Dresses and New York-based Success Apparel—a Walmart supplier—drafted on August 14, 2012. The order is to produce 336,634 pairs of “Faded Glory” shorts (28,052.91 dozen).

This is the Letter of Credit between Simco and Success Apparel. It assured that  payment would be made to Simco’s bank (Agrani Bank Ltd.) from Success Apparel’s bank (Wells Fargo) once the order of "Faded Glory" shorts was complete. It’s dated October 2, 2012, with an addendum on November 15, 2012. The total amount to be paid was $1,023,961.03.

This document shows that Simco subcontracted a portion of Success Apparel’s "Faded Glory" order—25,000 shorts— to Tuba Garments, of which Tazreen Fashions was a subsidiary. The order was to be completed by Tuba no later than November 30, 2012.

This document, found in the ruins of the Tazreen factory, shows a portion of the subcontract order made by Simco for the "Faded Glory" shorts it owed Success Apparel. It’s dated November 17, 2012—a week before the fire—and includes a part of Simco’s original purchase order with Success.

This is Simco’s invoice for shipping a portion of the "Faded Glory" order to Success Apparel.

This email was sent from True Colors India, Success Apparel’s agent in South Asia, to Simco. This email suggests that True Colors may well have known about the subcontract to Tazreen before the fire. (Note: The term “subcon” in the email is industry-speak for subcontractor.) 

This is a copy of a quality inspection report by the Walmart-approved auditor Bureau Veritas concerning what seems to be the final portion of the "Faded Glory" shorts order before they were shipped out to Success Apparel. The products all passed inspection.

This email from Success Apparel informed Simco that all their shipments had been cancelled by Walmart. The completed "Faded Glory" order that Simco had shipped to Success would be abandoned. Simco says it lost more than a million dollars on this cancelled order and had to lay off hundreds of its workers. This was when the Simco factory directors realized they were being made to pay the price for subcontracting to Tazreen (via Tuba).

In May 2013, following the deadly Rana Plaza building collapse, Walmart published, without explanation, a list of over 240 factories in Bangladesh that it would no longer do business with. Simco was one of the factories on this list.