The new Bangladesh worker safety pact – the ‘2018 Accord’ or ‘Transition Accord’ – is now in effect but has fallen short of its goal of retaining 100% of its original signatories, including brands such as Abercrombie & Fitch and Australia’s Pacific Brands.
The 2018 Accord came into effect on 1 June, extending the work already carried out by the original five-year Accord. Intended as a three-year arrangement, it will run for rolling six-month periods until a national regulatory body is ready to take over its work.
The new agreement extends the legally-binding commitment to factory safety in Bangladesh. It also strengthens the original Accord by expanding the work to other related facilities where there are significant safety issues, such as knitting, spinning and weaving; washing, dyeing and printing facilities; embroidery and accessories; home textiles; leather and footwear. In addition, the 2018 Accord includes new references to Freedom of Association and a complaints protocol to cover the right of workers to protect their own safety.
Yet while pressure on more brands and retailers to commit to the ‘2018 Accord’ appears to have paid off, with 176 companies having done so to date, labour rights groups say there are still brands that were part of the initial Accord – signed by over 220 apparel companies – that have not yet renewed their commitment to the programme.
Among the biggest omissions are Australia’s Pacific Brands and Abercrombie & Fitch. The new Accord now also welcomes producers of home textiles and fabric and knit accessories. As such, the Clean Clothes Campaign is calling for home furnishing giants such as Ikea to join.
Signatories include some of the main companies sourcing from Bangladesh such as Primark, H&M, C&A and Aldi. This covers more than 1,300 factories and around 2m workers, according to the labour rights body.
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By GlobalData“Ikea, Abercrombie, VF Corporation and any other company that has thus far refrained from joining the Accord are doing themselves and their customers a disservice and are knowingly putting the lives of the workers producing for them at risk by sticking to opaque systems that so woefully failed in the past,” Christie Miedema, campaign and public outreach coordinator at CCC, recently said.
