Retail operations run by the U.S. government are buying clothing from unsafe and abusive factories in Bangladesh without investigating the working conditions, according to a new ILRF report. In relying on factories’ own unverified claims of compliance with labor law or the audits of companies such as Walmart and Sears—audits that have persistently failed to protect workers from fires and building collapses— the exchanges are, in effect, “flying blind."
The report, “Dangerous Silence: Why the U.S. Military Exchanges Need to Address Unsafe and Illegal Conditions in Their Supplier Factories,” also shows that in some cases the exchanges cut off relationships with suppliers when presented with evidence of violations, leaving workers behind in potential deathtraps.
