Women’s Wear Daily reports that Walmart is hinting at plans to end or sharply curtail apparel sourcing from Bangladesh, where over 100 workers were killed in a fire last November at a factory that made Walmart-brand clothing. Before the fire, Walmart had played a key role in blocking a proposal for retailers to pay Bangladeshi suppliers slightly more for apparel in order to help factories pay for fire and electrical safety improvements.
Walmart is the second-biggest customer for Bangladeshi apparel factories and has an opportunity to be a hugely positive influence in making the country’s apparel industry safer. (The company is infamous, after all, for keeping its suppliers on a short leash.) But rather than investing in apparel workers and factory safety, the company appears to be on the verge of cutting and running, shirking responsibility.