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(Reuters) - A factory fire that killed more than 100 garment workers in Bangladesh has led the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc, to concede that it needs to do more to control its supply chain and keep unauthorized manufacturers out.
In an interview with Reuters, his first since the November 24 Tazreen Fashions fire, Wal-Mart Vice President of Ethical Sourcing Rajan Kamalanathan said the company's current controls could only go so far in preventing a factory Wal-Mart did not approve of from making its clothes, as was the case here.
"If a supplier or an agent chooses to subcontract without informing us, then that is a problem," Kamalanathan said. "We can put all kinds of controls in place, but if they don't tell us where they're putting our order, then that is a problem."
Wal-Mart has said repeatedly that its Faded Glory clothing should not have been in production at the Tazreen factory, a facility Bangladeshi authorities said was not safe for use. The building was not cleared to be used by any party manufacturing garments for the world's largest retailer.
Wal-Mart says that in 2011 alone it audited over 9,000 factories globally to check whether its standards were being met. But still, Wal-Mart acknowledges it only controls its supply chain up to a certain point. If suppliers hired by Wal-Mart in turn hire agents who then line up production, the seemingly tight controls Wal-Mart has put in place can fail.
"We have a contract with the supplier and that's where our control is and where our relationship is," Kamalanathan said.
The lack of control down the supply chain represents a challenge not just for Wal-Mart, but for the industry overall, Kamalanathan added.
Companies such as Bentonville, Arkansas based Wal-Mart must figure out how get more involved in the operations of factories in countries such as Bangladesh, rather than hoping that contact with suppliers and factory audits will suffice.
"We are actively thinking about how to better work with suppliers who work with agents," he said. "This is something we are talking about internally and across the industry."
Among other things, retailers and clothing designers have been talking about the possibility of fire safety codes that would be written into contracts with suppliers, although those efforts are still at the early stages.
MORE INDUSTRY WORK NEEDED
Wal-Mart established a factory certification program in 1992, focused on Bangladesh and China, currently the top two garment exporters in the world. Wal-Mart says the program, which was established amid pressure on the company over worker rights, is dedicated to improving standards for foreign labor.
Since then, Wal-Mart has taken measures such as increasing factory audits, expanding the program to other countries, setting stricter standards for suppliers and lengthening the penalty period for disapproved factories to one year from 90 days.
Kamalanathan's team now includes more than 120 employees, plus third-party audit firms, with people based in Bangladesh, China, India and elsewhere. Kamalanathan says he visits factories "quite often."
Still, such efforts matter little when companies push their Wal-Mart manufacturing off to agents who then link up with factory owners and choose not to fill Wal-Mart in on which factory is being used - a key part of the agreements Wal-Mart has with its suppliers.
"It is a must that they disclose factories they use for our production. Once we know who these factories are, then we initiate the process for an audit to occur," he said.
Factories must address problems highlighted in Wal-Mart audits, which assign a rating of green for minor to no violations; yellow for medium risk, orange for higher risk and red for the most serious violations, which lead the company to sever ties with the factory.
Factories with orange ratings can go through an "Orange School" program for Wal-Mart to show them how to fix high-risk violations and get at the cause of the problem.
Wal-Mart said a May 2011 audit found violations at Tazreen, which led to the factory getting Wal-Mart's "orange" rating, and a subsequent audit in December 2011 again found violations that led to an "orange" rating. Tazreen did not participate in the Orange School, Wal-Mart said.
Tazreen was no longer authorized before the fire. Wal-Mart said that was for a variety of reasons, including poor audit ratings. Tazreen owner Tuba Group has said it was not aware it was making clothes for Wal-Mart at the time of the fire.
PUSH TO CUT COSTS
Kamalanathan has been Wal-Mart's vice president of ethical sourcing since 2002. He sits on the board of the Global Social Compliance Program, which was formed in 2006 and now includes more than 30 companies that work on measures such as developing a clear and consistent message for suppliers.
Some industry groups claim the push from Wal-Mart and other retailers for low-cost merchandise pressures factory owners to pay workers little and to cut corners on fire safety training and proper exits that would cost them too much.
At a meeting held in Dhaka in April 2011, participants including government representatives, trade union leaders, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association and buyers discussed rules that would require factories to be paid prices high enough to cover the cost of safety improvements.
Amirul Huque Amin, president of National Garment Workers Federation, was at the meeting and said that, when the question of financing was raised, Sridevi Kalavakolanu, a Wal-Mart director of ethical sourcing, strongly opposed the move, saying it was not possible for "us" due to the high cost.
Wal-Mart vehemently denies such charges and said her remarks were taken out of context. It points to efforts such as its audit program, rating system and work with the Bangladeshi government, industry groups and suppliers as proof that it has been proactive in raising fire safety awareness and increasing fire prevention.
Wal-Mart operates on the premise that running its business on a low-cost basis leads to low prices for its 200 million weekly customers. The 50-year-old chain, founded by Sam Walton, now has more than 10,000 stores and its annual sales rose nearly 6 percent to $443.85 billion last year.
Still, it contends that making factory improvements should not lead to sky-rocketing prices.
"Our policy is designed to create a supply chain that meets our standards and at the same time delivers high quality products at low prices. It is clearly possible to do both," Kamalanathan added.
(Reporting by Jessica Wohl in Chicago. Additional reporting by Serajul Quadir and John Chalmers in Dhaka. Editing by Ben Berkowitz and Andre Grenon)
It mostly has to do with certification. States require you to take specific classes, pass tests, and what-not to get certified. So it depends on how your school does it.
What my university does is I am a Math major but getting my secondary education certificate for mathematics. So I am a math major with a secondary ed. minor kind of. Basically I?m just tacking on the certification to my math degree so I can teach when I graduate.
New multiple myeloma drug shows promise in treating people with advanced diseasePublic release date: 10-Dec-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Christie Corbett christie.corbett@mountsinai.org 646-354-9598 The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Therapy may be new option for hard-to-treat blood cancer
A new oral agent under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is safe and effective in treating relapsed and treatment-resistant multiple myeloma, according to a multicenter, Phase II study presented by Mount Sinai School of Medicine researchers at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting. The meeting is taking place December 8-11, 2012 in Atlanta.
A multi-center research team evaluated 113 patients with multiple myeloma who had received at least two prior therapies and had subsequent disease progression to determine safety and efficacy of pomalidomide, a new immunomodulatory drug under review by the FDA. They found significant increases in progression-free survival and overall survival.
"When multiple myeloma no longer responds to two major classes of drugs the average patient survival is only nine months and progression-free survival only five months, representing a significant unmet need for patients with advanced disease," said Sundar Jagannath, MD, Director of the Multiple Myeloma Program and Professor of Medicine at The Tisch Cancer Institute at The Mount Sinai Medical Center and first author on the trial, who presented the trial in an oral abstract session at ASH. "Pomalidomide represents an exciting development for our patients."
Patients were administered four mg/day of pomalidomide plus 40 mg/week of dexamethasone, a steroid used in standard treatment, for 21 days of a 28-day cycle. Progression-free survival was 4.6 months and overall survival was 16.5 months.
The scientists also conducted a subanalysis of this group based on age, as treating older people with multiple myeloma is especially difficult. Progression-free survival was 4.7 months in people under 65 and 3.7 months in people over 65, and overall survival was 19.7 months in people under 65 and 11.8 months in people over 65.
"We have made great strides in prolonging the lives of people with multiple myeloma, increasing overall survival from three years to as high as seven years in less than a decade," said Dr. Jagannath. "These results show that pomalidomide in combination with dexamethasone is a promising new option to extend survival even longer, including in older patients."
Pomalidomide was well-tolerated, with patients experiencing side effects common to this drug class, including low white blood cell count, anemia, pneumonia, and low blood platelet count.
The FDA is expected to decide whether to approve pomalidomide in early 2013.
Dr. Jagannath leads one of the largest multiple myeloma research and treatment programs in the world. He and his team, which includes Ajai Chari, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology and Oncology, seek to explore new treatments for this deadly cancer and extend survival in patients such that it becomes a chronic disease.
The Multiple Myeloma Program at Mount Sinai is one of the leading programs in the country for the diagnosis and treatment of multiple myeloma and sees patients from around the world. The interdisciplinary approach to patient care means that patients are seen by a team of specialists with expertise in the care of patients with multiple myeloma and other hematologic malignancies. The program conducted clinical trials with Lenalidomide and Bortezomib, two novel drugs that are now standard of care. As a result, multiple myeloma patients now have access to highly promising clinical studies and the latest treatment breakthroughs.
Dr. Jagannath receives compensation from Celgene Corporation as a scientific and clinical advisor.
###
About The Mount Sinai Medical Center
The Mount Sinai Medical Center encompasses both The Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Established in 1968, Mount Sinai School of Medicine is one of the leading medical schools in the United States. The Medical School is noted for innovation in education, biomedical research, clinical care delivery, and local and global community service. It has more than 3,400 faculty in 32 departments and 14 research institutes, and ranks among the top 20 medical schools both in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding and by US News and World Report.
The Mount Sinai Hospital, founded in 1852, is a 1,171-bed tertiary- and quaternary-care teaching facility and one of the nation's oldest, largest and most-respected voluntary hospitals. In 2011, US News and World Report ranked The Mount Sinai Hospital 14th on its elite Honor Roll of the nation's top hospitals based on reputation, safety, and other patient-care factors. Mount Sinai is one of 12 integrated academic medical centers whose medical school ranks among the top 20 in NIH funding and US News and World Report and whose hospital is on the US News and World Report Honor Roll. Nearly 60,000 people were treated at Mount Sinai as inpatients last year, and approximately 560,000 outpatient visits took place.
For more information, visit http://www.mountsinai.org/.
Find Mount Sinai on:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mountsinainyc
Twitter: @mountsinainyc
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/mountsinainy
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
New multiple myeloma drug shows promise in treating people with advanced diseasePublic release date: 10-Dec-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Christie Corbett christie.corbett@mountsinai.org 646-354-9598 The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Therapy may be new option for hard-to-treat blood cancer
A new oral agent under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is safe and effective in treating relapsed and treatment-resistant multiple myeloma, according to a multicenter, Phase II study presented by Mount Sinai School of Medicine researchers at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting. The meeting is taking place December 8-11, 2012 in Atlanta.
A multi-center research team evaluated 113 patients with multiple myeloma who had received at least two prior therapies and had subsequent disease progression to determine safety and efficacy of pomalidomide, a new immunomodulatory drug under review by the FDA. They found significant increases in progression-free survival and overall survival.
"When multiple myeloma no longer responds to two major classes of drugs the average patient survival is only nine months and progression-free survival only five months, representing a significant unmet need for patients with advanced disease," said Sundar Jagannath, MD, Director of the Multiple Myeloma Program and Professor of Medicine at The Tisch Cancer Institute at The Mount Sinai Medical Center and first author on the trial, who presented the trial in an oral abstract session at ASH. "Pomalidomide represents an exciting development for our patients."
Patients were administered four mg/day of pomalidomide plus 40 mg/week of dexamethasone, a steroid used in standard treatment, for 21 days of a 28-day cycle. Progression-free survival was 4.6 months and overall survival was 16.5 months.
The scientists also conducted a subanalysis of this group based on age, as treating older people with multiple myeloma is especially difficult. Progression-free survival was 4.7 months in people under 65 and 3.7 months in people over 65, and overall survival was 19.7 months in people under 65 and 11.8 months in people over 65.
"We have made great strides in prolonging the lives of people with multiple myeloma, increasing overall survival from three years to as high as seven years in less than a decade," said Dr. Jagannath. "These results show that pomalidomide in combination with dexamethasone is a promising new option to extend survival even longer, including in older patients."
Pomalidomide was well-tolerated, with patients experiencing side effects common to this drug class, including low white blood cell count, anemia, pneumonia, and low blood platelet count.
The FDA is expected to decide whether to approve pomalidomide in early 2013.
Dr. Jagannath leads one of the largest multiple myeloma research and treatment programs in the world. He and his team, which includes Ajai Chari, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology and Oncology, seek to explore new treatments for this deadly cancer and extend survival in patients such that it becomes a chronic disease.
The Multiple Myeloma Program at Mount Sinai is one of the leading programs in the country for the diagnosis and treatment of multiple myeloma and sees patients from around the world. The interdisciplinary approach to patient care means that patients are seen by a team of specialists with expertise in the care of patients with multiple myeloma and other hematologic malignancies. The program conducted clinical trials with Lenalidomide and Bortezomib, two novel drugs that are now standard of care. As a result, multiple myeloma patients now have access to highly promising clinical studies and the latest treatment breakthroughs.
Dr. Jagannath receives compensation from Celgene Corporation as a scientific and clinical advisor.
###
About The Mount Sinai Medical Center
The Mount Sinai Medical Center encompasses both The Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Established in 1968, Mount Sinai School of Medicine is one of the leading medical schools in the United States. The Medical School is noted for innovation in education, biomedical research, clinical care delivery, and local and global community service. It has more than 3,400 faculty in 32 departments and 14 research institutes, and ranks among the top 20 medical schools both in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding and by US News and World Report.
The Mount Sinai Hospital, founded in 1852, is a 1,171-bed tertiary- and quaternary-care teaching facility and one of the nation's oldest, largest and most-respected voluntary hospitals. In 2011, US News and World Report ranked The Mount Sinai Hospital 14th on its elite Honor Roll of the nation's top hospitals based on reputation, safety, and other patient-care factors. Mount Sinai is one of 12 integrated academic medical centers whose medical school ranks among the top 20 in NIH funding and US News and World Report and whose hospital is on the US News and World Report Honor Roll. Nearly 60,000 people were treated at Mount Sinai as inpatients last year, and approximately 560,000 outpatient visits took place.
For more information, visit http://www.mountsinai.org/.
Find Mount Sinai on:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mountsinainyc
Twitter: @mountsinainyc
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/mountsinainy
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Originally published on Sat December 8, 2012 7:38 am
Weekend Edition Saturday host Scott Simon talks to Michigan Rep. Hansen Clarke about the city of Detroit's financial situation. The city is facing the possibility of municipal bankruptcy as its debt becomes insurmountable.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. economy added 146,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent, the lowest since December 2008. The government said Superstorm Sandy had only a minimal effect on the figures.
The Labor Department's report Friday offered a mixed picture of the economy.
Hiring remained steady during the storm and in the face of looming tax increases. But the government said employers added 49,000 fewer jobs in October and September than it initially estimated.
And the unemployment rate fell to a four-year low in November from 7.9 percent in October mostly because more people stopped looking for work and weren't counted as unemployed.
The report "is something of a mixed bag but, on balance, it's a positive," said Paul Ashworth, an economist at Capital Economics.
Sandy's effect on the figures was much smaller many analysts had predicted. The government noted that as long as employees worked at least one day during a pay period - two weeks for most people - its survey would have counted them as employed.
Still, there were signs that the storm disrupted economic activity. Construction employment dropped 20,000. And weather prevented 369,000 people from getting to work - the most for any month in nearly two years. These workers were still counted as employed.
Stock futures jumped after the report. Dow Jones industrial average futures were down 20 points in the minutes before the report came out at 8:30 a.m., and just afterward were up 70 points.
As money shifted into stocks, it moved out of safer bonds. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note, which moves opposite the price, rose to 1.63 percent from 1.58 percent just before the report was released.
Since July, the economy has added an average of 158,000 jobs a month. That's a modest pickup from 146,000 average in the first six months of the year.
The job growth suggests that most employers aren't yet delaying hiring because of the "fiscal cliff." That's the combination of sharp tax increases and spending cuts set to take effect next year unless the White House and Congress reach a budget deal before then.
There is "no obvious impact from the looming fiscal cliff yet," Ashworth added, "but it could still have a greater effect on December's figures."
In November, retailers added 53,000 positions. Temporary help companies added 18,000 and education and health care also gained 18,000.
Auto manufacturers added nearly 10,000 jobs.
Still, overall manufacturing jobs fell 7,000. That was pushed down by a loss of 12,000 jobs in food manufacturing that likely reflects the layoff of workers at Hostess.
Sandy forced restaurants, retailers and other businesses to close in late October and early November in 24 states, particularly in the Northeast.
Ashworth noted that hiring by companies was actually better in October than the government first thought. The overall job figures were revised lower that month because governments cut about 35,000 more jobs than first estimated.
The U.S. grew at a solid 2.7 percent annual rate in the July-September quarter. But many economists say growth is slowing to a 1.5 percent rate in the October-December quarter, largely because of the storm and threat of the fiscal cliff. That's not enough growth to lower the unemployment rate.
The storm held back consumer spending and income, which drive economic growth. Consumer spending declined in October and work interruptions caused by Sandy reduced wages and salaries that month by about $18 billion at an annual rate, the government said.
Still, many say economic growth could accelerate next year if the fiscal cliff is avoided. The economy is also expected to get a boost from efforts to rebuild in the Northeast after the storm.
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Public release date: 10-Dec-2012
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