Wal-Mart announced it will sever ties with suppliers after a fire killed more than 100 garment workers in Bangladesh, reported the Wall Street Journal.
Suppliers to the retailer have been warned that it is adopting a “zero tolerance policy” for violations of its global sourcing standards and the company’s new plan would begin taking effect from 1 March, the WSJ said.
The tougher code replaces Wal-Mart’s prior “three strikes” approach to policing suppliers, which gave the suppliers three chances to address problems before being terminated.
“Our three-strike policy wasn’t working as well as it could have,” Rajan Kamalanathan, Wal-Mart’s vice president of ethical sourcing, told the WSJ in an interview. “Our message of zero tolerance is meant to get people’s attention.”
More than 100 workers were killed in a 24 November fire at the Tazreen garment factory in Bangladesh.
Wal-Mart has said repeatedly that its Faded Glory clothing should not have been in production at the factory, a facility Bangladeshi authorities said was not safe for use.
