The Baldia fire case

The scars of the Baldia Town factory fire are still raw for the families of its victims. Referred to as Pakistan’s ‘Industrial 9/11,’ the horrific incident took the lives of almost 270 workers after they were left trapped inside a garment factory when it caught fire – later found to have been a case of arson. Questions have also loomed over the failure of the factory administration to follow security protocols. It was only last year – six years after the tragedy – that German company KiK, which was the main buyer from the factory, accepted the demand for compensation and deposited $5.15 million with the International Labour Organization (ILO). However, the matter has not ended here. After numerous delays, in 2015, around six of the victim’s families filed a case in the German legal system against the clothing supplier. The case made a simple argument: it was KiK’s responsibility to ensure that the security protocols in the factory were met. For its part, the German company has continued to shirk responsibility, claiming it was a case of arson and that adhering to security protocols for workers was not its responsibility. The families fighting the corporation in German courts are challenging this.

If the case goes in their favour, this would be a landmark case for the international workers’ rights movement. International companies have often been able to hide behind the mask of offshore production to claim that they are not responsible for the working conditions in the outsourced country. One such claimant is Saeeda Khatoon who has made it to the courts in Dortmund, Germany for the hearing, but her voice has not found a place in the German legal system. The court has yet to rule on the maintainability of the case. The second hearing is due in January.

If the German court finds it to be maintainable, it would be the first major legal victory in the matter. The petitioners have provided a computer simulation of the fire to show that it was the absence of escape routes and flaws in the building design that led to the death of so many workers. The argument will rest over whether KiK owed workers a ‘duty of care’. As it stands, there are apparently limited legal grounds for arguing that such a right exists in national and international law. But this also reveals an issue that should be legislated on. In an age of outsourced production and global trade, there are strong laws to protect the rights of companies in international agreements. However, there has been no legislation to protect the rights of workers – the essential cog in the global matrix of trade – in third-party international contacts. The hope is that the Baldia Town factory fire case could be one step towards creating such a legal framework for workers. This would be a step towards getting their families some justice.