CPD RMG Study Stitching a better future for Bangladesh
Published in The Guardian on January 22, 2018
Photo: Munir Uz Zaman/ AFP/ Getty Images/ The Guardian
Landmark deal means multinational apparel brand will pay up following delays over fixing hazards at its factories
Unions representing Bangladeshi textile workers have reached a landmark $2.3m settlement with a multinational apparel brand after it was accused of delays in remedying life-threatening hazards at its factories.
The settlement was agreed after a two-year arbitration process under the legally binding Bangladesh Accord for Fire and Building Safety. The accord was set up in the wake of the fatal collapse of the Rana Plaza textile factory complex in 2013, which killed 1,135 people in what is considered the world’s worst textile industrial disaster.
Many of the world’s largest brands, including Adidas, H&M, Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Top Shop and Uniqlo are signatories to the accord. There is no evidence that any of these brands is the company involved in the settlement.
The brand, which cannot be named under the terms of the settlement, has agreed to pay $2m to fix issues at more than 150 garment factories in Bangladesh. A further $300,000 will be paid to the two unions that brought the case, IndustriALL Global Union and UNI Global Union, to fund their joint “supply chain worker support fund”, an initiative that supports union-backed efforts to improve pay and conditions for workers in global supply chains.
Christy Hoffman, UNI Global Union’s deputy general secretary called the settlement “ground breaking”. “This proves the validity of the arbitration process. It’s a turning point for business and human rights,” she said.
The case, heard at the permanent court of arbitration in The Hague, was brought after the unions complained that basic safety features at the factories, such as the presence of locked gates, structural faults and a lack of fire doors and sprinkler systems, had not been addressed despite pledges to the contrary.
The case’s filing in October 2016 did, however, spur action. One factory went from a remediation rate of 56% in October 2016 to more than 90% in October 2017. But other factories supplying the brand continued to lag far behind and serious structural and fire safety issues were left unresolved.
IndustriALL’s general secretary, Valter Sanches, said: “This settlement shows that the Bangladesh Accord works. It is proof that legally binding mechanisms can hold multinational companies to account. We are glad that the brand in question is now taking seriously its responsibility for the safety of its supplier factories in Bangladesh. Their financial commitment serves as an example for other brands to follow.”
This is the second arbitration case to be settled under the accord. In December 2017, IndustriALL and UNI reached another agreement with a brand using more than 200 factories in Bangladesh. However, that settlement was reached under an even tighter confidentiality agreement and even the amount of the settlement was kept under wraps.
Accord inspectors have so far carried out inspections on more than 1,800 factories supplying more than 200 brands and identified over 118,500 fire, electrical and structural hazards.
A 2016 report by the Asia Floor Wage Alliance found little progress had been made to improve labour conditions for garment workers since the Rana Plaza disaster. Child labour remains rampant and protests over pay and conditions have led to strikes in Bangladesh, which ranks behind only China as a supplier of clothes to western countries. But Hoffman said that despite remaining issues the accord agreement has had a significant impact. Some 83% of workplace dangers identified in the accord’s original round of inspections have now been addressed.
“There has been a significant level of change,” said Hoffman. “However, we are pushing for 100% and we want to make sure that the funds are there for us to get over the finishing line.”
The collapse of the Rana Plaza complex, which supplied clothes to retailers including Benetton, Primark and Walmart, triggered a global outcry over the treatment of workers in Bangladesh.
A second accord agreement was signed in June of this year. It goes into effect when the original agreement expires in May 2018 and extends the accord’s protections until 31 May 2021.
