Rana Plaza Case Study
Case Study: Rana Plaza
Through the connection with the crimes of the powerful, the Rana plaza collapse is inspected to see what types of crimes were committed and what effects they had on the victims and on a wider social setting. This case study investigates how corporations and companies exploit and manipulate the Bangladeshi economical and political system that resulted in the death of thousands of garment workers.
What is a crime?
When understanding the crimes committed in relation to the Rana Plaza incident, it is important to understand what crime is. A crime of the powerful is defined as being an act that is condoned by the government and are a violation of criminal and international law (Kanji, 2014). The social construct of a crime looks into how a crime can change over time, and is constructed through power and culture. Power relations and power struggles also heavily influence crime (Rothe and Friedrichs, 2015). When relating these concepts with the Rana plaza incident, it is evident that a crime has been committed.
The Rana plaza incident was the collapse of a factory building that killed more than 1,100 workers and leaving hundreds more injured. The cause of the collapse was revealed after an investigation that indicated that there had been a series of irregularities in the construction of the building (Maher, 2016). The upper floors were added to the building illegally, and the building it self was not equipped for industrial usage. Furthermore no one was monitoring or managing the factory and did not caution the workers of any safety protocols.
Labeled as a mass industrial homicide, the Rana plaza event highlighted the exploitation of labor workers, the corruption and negligence of elite corporations and demonstrates the lack of government enforcement (Rushe, 2018). This crime demonstrates how both private and public organizations violate the rights of women, workers, consumers and the political and economic system (Chowdhury, 2017). A crime can be categorized into different forms; it can be argued that the Rana plaza incident is a human rights violation, health and safety issue, a state and state-corporate crime (Chowdhury, 2017).
Causes of the Rana Plaza Incident
There are numerous reasons as to why this event had occurred. When assessing the social setting, there is a pattern that emerges amongst the garment industry in Bangladesh. There have been similar cases that have occurred prior to this incident. Five months before the Rana plaza accident, a fire had broke out at the Tazreen Fashions Industry where 112 garment workers had died and hundreds had been injured (Hossain, 2013). There have been several occurrences of more factory fires or collapses that have killed and injured labour workers in recent years. Factory fires and accidents are not isolated events. With the rapid growth of the garment industry and the lack of enforcement on workers and building policies by the Bangladesh government, it has led to multiple hazardous working conditions and poorly constructed factories (Comyns and Franklin-Johnson, 2016).
The cause of this incident is not as simple and singularly defined, as it is connected to a broader spectrum of crime. Western companies and international corporations are also to blame, as they benefited from both minimizing costs and maximising profit, resulting in the thousands of lives lost (Kanji, 2014). The corrupted Bangladeshi government permitted the negligence by not ensuring labour rights, holding the accountable for their actions and checking whether the victims were properly compensated. The concept of authority and the abuse of state authority can be related to the lack of government intervention, and having a constant revolving door between the state and business affairs (Rothe and Friedrichs, 2015). The presencse of clientealism demonstrates how relations with powerful civil societies also played a role with officials being able to escape from prosecution. This is also a presentation of corrupt political and economical ties that are also held liable. The Bangladesh Department of Labor (DOL) were responsible for dealing with trade unions and were granted access to investigate any injustices with the workers’ rights. However their contribution had no legal requirements to look into unfair allegations that were claimed. As one system is dependeant on another (Margon, 2015). The DOL are also dependeant on the labor court, who are given a case to enquire if a violation as been committed, however it can take years for a case to get to court, as they can be inefficient and unproductive.
Consequences and Impacts
This incident resulted in many changes with policy and had a considerable effect on the victims and the reaction of international companies. The incident highlighted how labour workers had to work in strenuous conditions and were underpaid (Chowdhury, 2017). To avoid this from continuing, the Bangladeshi government had increased the minimum wage a couple months after the incident. This action only took place in response to violent uprisings and protests as workers and victims wanted change and reform especially after the Rana plaza incident. Bangladesh has previously paid garment workers lower wages compared to other international companies. As wages were raised to US$68/month from US$39/month, it was still relatively lower than wages given to garment workers in other companies around Asia. This is another demonstration of the reluctance to increase wages, as it would deflate profits (Kanji, 2014).
The Alliance and the Accord
The companies that were involved in subletting or producing orders in the Rana plaza building, as well other campaigns and trade unions, collectively initiated two policies to insure the protection of garment factories and enforce better safety measures (Hossain, 2013). This was done through the Accord on Fire and Building Safety, which was signed by 175 European retailers. It had representatives from other elite NGO’s, International labour organization and Bangladesh trade unions. This agreement is responsible for over 1600 factories and making sure they are inspected and thorough improvements are made. It is designed to develop the ready-made garment sector in Bangladesh. Through the influence of coalition power, another initiative was made which was the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety (Ruhmkorf, 2015). This agreement works on improving the safety of the workers in the garment industry by educating and empowering the works and management as well as developing institutions to help enforce and maintain safe working conditions throughout Bangladesh. The alliance is composed of large companies such as Walmart, Primark and Gap (Margon, 2015). There were other policies made such as the Rana plaza trust fund and the Freedom of Association and Right to Organize under international human rights law. These initiatives illustrate the collaboration of both national and international forces have formed in order to make reform. The reason for the creation of these policies was to monitor and facilitate the following 5 years and avoid another catastrophe from occurring, all being done on a voluntary basis with a non-profit nature. However, there have been conflicts and controversy among the compensation that was owed to the victims.
Victims
Some impacts are more detrimental and long term compared to others, and this is most evident with some of the cases of the victims and their stories and experiences throughout this ordeal. When looking at the experiences of Rahima, a victim of the Rana plaza collapse, she explains the difficulties while working at the factory and the struggles she faced after the collapse, demonstrating the monetary cost and consequences of the Rana plaza crime (Chowdhury, 2017). Rahima has a child of her own and has no one to support her, when her husband left her she took a job at the factory. After the collapse, she claims that she given a total sum of US$504 from various organizations, and training for work, however the training was no use to her and the money was not enough, as the injuries she sustained made her unable to work and the money was not enough to pay for the full treatment, and it was only a quarter of the full compensation that was promised to her (Chowdhury, 2017).
Rahima’s story highlights the role of elite non-governmental organization, multinational corporations and Rana plaza coordination committee’s lack of contribution to fulfilling their duties to provide compensation to the dead and injured victims (Comyns Franklin-Johnson, 2016). According to the Star Business report (2013), some MNC’s such as Walmart and United colors of Benetton, did not rehabilitatee the victims or the victims’ families, as they denied having any operations in action at the time of the collapse (Carmody, 2013). Only after when their brands labels were found in the wreckage they admitted to having production being done. Many multinational conglomerates invest in cheaper labour in countries such as Bangladesh as to cut costs and increase profit, but being a part of a globalized unit, this allows companies to exploit the rules and regulations, as they are not heavily regulated due to the lack of management. As many MNC’s subcontracted NGO’s to distribute compensation, it led large companies and conglomerates to avoid and distance themselves from the process of compensation (Margon, 2015). Subcontracting NGO’s is a business strategy, which meant that MNC’s could limit their time and resources achieving their moral responsibilities, allowing them to not directly be involved or held accountable for corruption, injustices or any failures that may occur due to the global supply chain. NGO’s are also at fault as they chose to maintain dominance without hegemony over the victims, despite voluntarily taking responsibility that MNC’s should have done themselves. Hegemony is an example of Gramsci theory of moral leadership that is proposed through consensus rather than coercion (Davidson, 1977). Very good
This demonstrates the powerful and the powerless in the system that is run by the ones on control, and the ones who work under them, in reference to Marx and Engels notion of the capitalist society, as the means of productions are controlled by the ruling class (Davidson, 1977). The complex and intrinsic cycle between companies and corporations demonstrates how crime is rooted into this event. Corporate crime has led to corporate violence against workers, as the collapse has brought to light the violation of human rights, workplace safety and forced labour (Hossain, 2013).
Corporate Social Responsibility
The incident of Rana plaza disaster indicates the failure of following corporate social responsibility. CSR refers to companies to take responsibility for their effects and impacts they make on society. According to Maher (2016) she believes that CSR is imperative in order to sustain and stabilize the EU economy and its enterprises. CSR can bring benefits to human resource management, risk assessments and consumer relationships. When relating this concept to Rana plaza, it is difficult to say whether CSR has been followed through. As Bangladeshi authorities, multinational companies and NGO’s have failed to fully execute and implement their commitments, which was revealed under the Sustainability Act in 2017 (Margon, 2015). Labor laws were supposed to be amended to match with other international standards but they were not followed through. In a more general point of view, factory officials and management were not held accountable for the threats made against the workers or their negligence to ensure workers safety. The reason why the ones responsible were not held accountable is that it can be difficult to pin point the perpetrator of a crime, as there are multiple factors and players involved, with numerous violations made that led to this disaster. The roles of complicit corporations and states are difficult to put into a typology, as the nature of the crimes are reproduced and reinforced by powerful social condition (Rothe & Friedrichs, 2015).
When reviewing the case of the Rana plaza incident, it can be observed that the crime of Rana plaza was not addressed properly or as it should have been. The causes of the incident indicate that the similar occurrences have happened before, and therefore the collapse could have been avoided if it was properly cared for. It also demonstrates how the incident itself has more elements connected to it, demonstrating that a single crime has not been committed, but rather an array of violations have led to a massive failure and disaster. The consequences of this incident show the magnitude of how the powerful have managed to slip through loopholes and continuously evade from being penalized for it. It also establishes the monumental effect it had on its victims and the disregard to CSR. However there has been a demonstration of reparations made with the Alliance and the Accord, but the it is questioned to what extend it has successfully achieved its purpose, and whether it will continue to do so after the contract is expired.
