Article: http://world.time.

com/2013/09/16/in-bangladesh-rana-plaza-victims-still-await-compensation/ Response: Its very disappointing to read this article about the absence of many big companies in the Geneva meeting held recently. The main agenda of the meeting was discussion on providing compensation to the sufferers of Rana Plaza which collapsed this April. It is an eight story building containing 3200 workers working on the garments of big branded companies all over the world. I think the companies, who use the cheap labor and run a business of big profits, should feel responsible for those workers. Its surprising that only one brand has come forward to recoup the workers who got affected in the tragedy, that too for short-term. On further research by me on this issue, I found that many companies like Walmart, Sears and Walt Disney have been running their garment factories in this building and Walt Disney recently asked to stop the production from Bangladesh, due to lagging safety conditions (Mahr, Habib, 2013). I am not sure whether all these companies used to perform safety audits regularly in the factory. Depending on the audit results they could have taken necessary actions. But on contrary, after such a tragedy also, none of them is ready to show up in meeting. It is very unethical on the part of the companies being socially irresponsible towards their workers. The reputation of the companies is at stake in this situation. In fact, the companies should create a win-win situation for themselves and workers. They should take care of the workers by providing them good working conditions, which will improve productivity and in turn increasing the profits of the company. There should be agreements and contracts signed between company and each and every worker in the organization by which both the companys owner and employee will be responsible towards each other. Also, the organizations such as International Labour organization, the government workers unions, should come forward and stand for the workers whenever there is a new contract is started between a company and workers. They should supervise the credibility of contracts signed and also the terms and conditions included in the contract. In this way, the companies can be held answerable to the plight of workers. But I feel that there is another side to the story. Not only the big corporations, but also Bangladesh government, the owner of the building, the municipal administrators are accountable for the disaster. A building which was constructed in 2010 (Al-Mahmood, 2013), collapsed in just three years, which means the building was not constructed properly, by which we can say that the engineers who constructed it were very careless, the mayor who approved this project, was so negligent. This negligence and carelessness has taken a toll. References: Mahr, K. Habib, H. (2013, May03). Why Big Fashion Labels Shouldnt Pull Out of Bangladesh. Time: World. Retrieved fromhttp://world.time.com/2013/05/03/why-big-fashion-labels-shouldntpull-out-of-bangladesh/

Al-Mahmood, S. Z. (2013, April 28). Bangladeshi garment factory death toll rises as owner arrested on border. TheGuardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/apr/28/bangladesh-garment-factory-collapse-ownerheld