Kmart comes clean

Discount department store Kmart has upped the ante on its international supply chain policies, following public outrage on the Bangladesh tragedy and the responsibility of fashion retailers to take a stand.

The company, owned by Wesfarmers, recently became one of the first Australian retailers to sign on to the Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Accord, along with sister brand Target.

The Accord, which aims to ensure tragedies like April’s Rana Plaza building collapse do not happen again, has also since been signed by more than 70 global retailers including other Australian brands Cotton On and Forever New. However, local retailers Woolworths (Big W), Rivers, Best & Less and The Just Group are yet to sign on.

However, Kmart has now confirmed that it now plans to publish the addresses of supplier factories in all countries making its clothing, to allow for independent checks of conditions for workers.

A pledge by Kmart’s managing director Guy Russo was made last week, (Sunday 7 July) on ABC RN’s Background Briefing program, with confirmation also specifically passed on by the company to human rights organisation Oxfam.

Commenting on the Kmart decision, Oxfam Australia CEO Dr Helen Szoke said the move makes Kmart the first Australian retailer to announce it will publicly reveal the addresses of supplier factories.

“This is a hugely important step and means that Kmart will be leading the pack in terms of transparency among Australian clothing retailers,” Szoke said.

“Once Kmart publishes its list of supplier factories, it will be possible for independent groups to visit factory sites and verify wages and conditions for workers. We look forward to visiting Kmart’s website very soon and being able to download this information.

“Oxfam has spent nearly two decades investigating the global clothing industry, and our research shows that very low wages, long hours of overtime and unsafe workplaces are the norm.

“We call on other Australian retailers to follow Kmart’s lead and assure customers that they are being open about the location of factories and enabling independent checks.”

Szoke added that Kmart’s recent action goes beyond its obligations under the accord by publicly revealing locations of all their supplier factories, no matter where they operate.

“The death of five workers in last Thursday’s garment factory collapse in India, together with two factory collapses in May in Cambodia, shows that the problem of unsafe workplaces is not limited to Bangladesh,” Szoke said.

Kmart will be join European and US companies such as Nike, Levis, Timberland and H&M, which have also announced they intend to publicly release the locations of their suppliers.

H&M is the first of these companies to have already, recently, released the location of supplier factories – listing 164 factories in Bangladesh alone.

Despite confirming the move, Kmart Australia declined to offer any further comment on the decision when contacted last week by ragtrader.com.au.