In May 2013, in Bangladesh, the Rana Plaza building, in which clothing manufacturing workshops were located, collapsed. A tragedy whose final human toll was 1,138 victims, textile workers. A year later, the NGO Sherpa, ActionAid France and the Collectif Ethique sur l’Étiquette filed a complaint against the Auchan group after labels “In Extenso”, the group’s clothing brand, were found in the rubble. . But ten years later, the various procedures failed and the plaintiffs took note on Tuesday that Auchan would never be prosecuted.
Sherpa, ActionAid France and the Ethical Label Collective have gone as far as cassation to try to get Auchan to answer in court for what they describe as “deceptive commercial practices”. In vain, the court having considered on Tuesday that it could not examine the request of the three associations. “A few days after the historic protest movement of Bangladeshi textile workers, Auchan has definitively escaped any prosecution for its involvement in the collapse of Rana Plaza,” deplores Salma Lamqaddam, responsible for women’s rights at work campaigns for ActionAid France .
Two dismissals pronounced in 2022
For its part, Auchan says it is “very satisfied with the decision of the Court of Cassation”. According to a spokesperson for the group, “this confirms what we have been saying from the start, namely that we have never used a supplier from Rana Plaza,” we explain to 20 minutes. The group maintains that the “In Extenso” brand clothing model found in the ruins of the building was the result of “uncontrolled subcontracting” from one of Auchan’s two suppliers.
In April 2014, the three associations therefore filed a complaint against Auchan. They maintained that “Auchan’s ethical commitments, through which it prided itself on ensuring respect for workers’ rights” constituted a “deceptive commercial practice” in view of the “working conditions prevailing at Rana Plaza”. The open judicial investigation concluded, in 2022, with a dismissal of the case due to “insufficient evidence”. Same thing, eight months later, before the court of appeal. This time the magistrates highlighted the “social audits” put in place by Auchan and the “contractual arrangements” made with the group’s suppliers to “respect satisfactory working conditions”.
“We have learned a lot from this disaster, and have signed and implemented the protocol”Agreement 1” [accord sur la sécurité des entreprises textiles]from 2013”, assures a spokesperson for the Auchan group, specifying that they have “achieved 100% of the objectives” and even extended this protocol linked to textiles to non-food goods.