Doug Miller

In April 2005 a factory making sweaters for the European market collapsed like a pack of cards during the nightshift in Savar near Dhaka, Bangladesh. The circumstances of this disaster, which caused the deaths of 64 clothing workers and injured a further 84, proved to be a final straw for trade unionists and NGO activists who had long been concerned about the state of factory safety and the inadequacies of social protection in the Ready Made Garment industry in the South East Asian country. Last Nightshift in Savar presents a detailed account of the national and international campaign efforts to bring the owner and his multinational buyers to book. It is also an account of the emergence of two quite different but replicable buyer approaches to the provision of relief for workers in such calamitous circumstances, which hopefully sheds light on some of the contradictions of corporate social responsibility in the globalised economy in which we live today. Finally, it is the story of the efforts of the international trade union, and NGO movement and of two men, in particular, to drive home change in compensation for industrial injury and fatality in the less developed world.

The Story of the Spectrum Sweater Factory Collapse

Last Nightshift in Savar

John Pugh

Key West is the end of the world for some. A variety of people come to the island for an assortment of reasons. Our reason, aside from celebrating Reno's bachelor party, was to experience 'Margaritaville', not the bar - but that place in your mind or dreams where everything is perfect. The sun always shines, the people are always happy, there is no business talk and your worries simply drift away. Every day is a holiday and every meal is a feast. This is a place where you can escape. The sun energizes the soul, nighttime elevates the heartbeat, laughter fills the air, and you end up talking for hours with your friends you brought along or just met. You fall asleep to the sound of the sea quietly rushing in and out and awake to the sound of seagulls and the smell of sea salt. That's why we found ourselves walking down Duval Street that night. It was all present here, at least that is how we envisioned our journey to the Southern Zone. We were wrong.

Hurricane Season

Jennifer Bair

Marsha Dickson

This book provides insight into the potential for the market to protect and improve labour standards and working conditions in global apparel supply chains. It examines the possibilities and limitations of market approaches to securing social compliance in global manufacturing industries. It does so by tracing the historic origins of social labelling both in trade union and consumer constituencies, considering industry and consumer perspectives on the benefits and drawbacks of social labelling, comparing efforts to develop and implement labelling initiatives in various countries, and locating social labelling within contemporary debates and controversies about the implications of globalization for workers worldwide. Scholars and students of globalisation, development, corporate social responsibility, human geography, labour and industrial relations, business ethics, consumer behaviour and fashion will find its contents of relevance. CSR practitioners in the clothing and other industries will also find this useful in developing policy with respect to supply chain assurance.

Doug Miller

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