Leading fashion brands are redoubling their commitments to responsible global supply chains by entering into a new Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh with global trade unions. IndustriALL Global Union, UNI Global Union, together with brand representatives from C&A and LC Waikiki, announced the new agreement at the OECD Global Forum on Responsible Business Conduct in Paris. 

The agreement has so far been signed by Kmart Australia, Target Australia, Primark, H&M, Inditex (Zara), C&A, Otto, KiK, Aldi South, Aldi North, Lidl, Tchibo, LC Waikiki and Helly Hansen. A further eight brands: Esprit, Hüren, Bestseller, Wibra, Schmidt Group, N Brown Group, PVH, Specialty Fashion Group Australia have committed to signing. It means that over a thousand Bangladeshi garment factories supplying signatory brands will be covered under the new Accord.

Signatory brands of the current Accord met yesterday in Amsterdam to consider the new agreement. IndustriALL and UNI are signatories to the new Accord, while four non-governmental organisations including the Clean Clothes Campaign and the Worker Rights Consortium were witness signatories.

Rana Plaza collapse

This three-year agreement builds on the achievements of the first Bangladesh Accord signed in May 2013 in response to the Rana Plaza building collapse. It continues the first Accord’s ground-breaking legally binding framework and commitment to transparency. It also adds new worker protections and ensures that many more factories will be inspected and renovated, as signatory brands add suppliers.

The Rana Plaza collapse in April 2013 claimed the lives of more than 1,100 workers, injuring 2,500 more. Six weeks later, unions, non-governmental organisations and brands announced the first Bangladesh Accord. Currently, the Accord covers more than 2.5 million workers. The new Accord goes into effect after the 2013 Accord expires in May 2018.

“Brands' renewed commitment to factory safety in Bangladesh is a vote of confidence in the Accord. The Accord is, at present, the only credible option for health and safety in Bangladesh garment factories. It shows that industrial relations can be used to save lives and improve global supply chains,” commented IndustriALL General Secretary, Valter Sanches.

Independent safety inspections

The new agreement extends independent, expert building safety inspections for three more years for all covered factories, ensuring that safety improvements achieved under the first Accord will be maintained and that new problems in any factory will be addressed.

Under the first Accord, engineers carried out fire, electrical, and structural safety inspections at more than 1,800 factories, identifying 118,500 hazards. Seventy-nine per cent of workplace dangers identified in the Accord’s original round of inspections have been remediated.

“Over the past four years, unions and worker safety organisations have worked together with global brands within the Accord to find a solution to the seemingly intractable problem of dangerous factories in Bangladesh. Many said that change was not possible. We’ve proven them wrong. Our aim is to create a global economy which respects the lives and dignity of all workers, and the Accord is a big step along that path. The 2018 Accord will continue the forward motion,” said Christy Hoffman, Deputy General Secretary of UNI Global Union.

Emphasis on workers’ rights

Since the Rana Plaza tragedy, the Bangladeshi garment industry has grown. The new agreement puts greater emphasis on the right of workers to organise and join a union, recognising worker empowerment is fundamental to assuring workplace safety. It includes enhanced protections for workers whose factories are closed or relocated due to the implementation of the agreement. It also aims to present the possibility to expand the Accord to sectors other than the readymade garment industry.

“I am glad that we have reached agreement to extend the Accord. The IndustriALL Bangladesh Council of trade unions has zero tolerance of unsafe workplaces that threaten workers’ lives. The Accord is extremely important to workers who now know about the safety issues in their factory and can do something about them,” said Amirul Amin, from IndustriALL Bangladeshi affiliate, the National Garment Workers Federation.

Further reading

Rana Plaza tragedy: Do you know who made your clothes?

www.industriall-union.org

www.uniglobalunion.org