KIK_en

is not OKAY!

On Tuesday, 11 September 2012 a fire broke out in the factory Ali Enterprise in Karachi, Pakistan. At this time around 600 employees were working in the factory, and were busy with the production for the German Tengelmann subsidiary KIK. Fire escapes and fire extinguishers were lacking, windows were locked with bars, so 259 people died a horrible death by fire. A few weeks later, on 24 November, another factory is on fire. In the factory Tazreen Fashions in Dhaka / Bangladesh, 112 people died a dreadful death because effective and sufficient fire protection measures were missing. Again, Tazreen Fashions Ltd.. delivered as a subcontractor of Tuba Garments to KIK until August 2012, the company declared on request of the Network of Social Responsibility, NeSoVe. Austria is a country of distribution for KIK.

KIK denies an own responsibility and refers to „implementation gaps“ in „practice.“ According to KIK, there was a misconduct of the people, „who had the doors locked, the fire brigade, which arrived too late at the fire site, through to the Pakistani authorities, which did not fulfill their duty of supervision.. Since 2006, alone in Bangladesh 470 people died because of fires in textile factories. In Bangladesh 3,5 million employees work for 5000 textile factories. Bangladesh is worldwide the second largest supplier. For a monthly salary of the equivalent of 28 Euros in Bangladesh, we can dress ourselves in Europe “from socks to the cap for less than 30, – Euro.“ But KIK explains, that „the problems have simply not yet found their way into the minds of all actors in the producing countries.“

Meanwhile, sales of KIK are rising: alone in 2011 the company made a turnover of 1.69 billion Euros. Annually, in Europe 200 new KIK-stores are opened. KIK currently operates more than 3,200 stores in eight European countries. In their Code of Conduct KIK explains to specially engage with its employees in the supply chain. All standards were respected by the business partners, including its compliance with safety measures. KIK has declared to provide $ 500,000 to compensate fire victims of the Pakistan Ali Enterprise .

This means 1930 Euros for one human life ….

In the view of NeSoVe, it is socially irresponsible to outsource the production of textiles to supplier companies that do not have adequate fire protection devices. NeSoVe is convinced, that fair working conditions can only be ensured if fair contract amounts for textile production are paid and human rights standards are guaranteed.
NeSoVe calls the Austrian State and the European Union to define comprehensive and effective and enforceable due diligence requirements for European companies in the supply chain. Further, NeSoVe calls for strict liability and redress rules which are not dependent on the good will of the companies. NeSoVe is of the opinion, that 1930 euros for a human life is unworthy compared to the victims and their relatives.