U.S. Retailers Divided Over Safety Pact

As of Tuesday, more European retailers and brands have either committed to signing or have signed the “Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh,” a pact created by IndustriALL Global Union (Geneva, Switzerland), UNI Global Union (Nyon, Switzerland) and several other nongovernmental organizations, according to Women’s Wear Daily.

Some companies include Marks & Spencer (London), Bennetton (Treviso, Italy), Mango (Barcelona), Carrefour (Boulogne Billancourt, France), Primark (Dublin, Ireland), Tesco (Cheshut, Hertfordshire, England) and H&M (Stockholm, Sweden). Out of the 15 who have signed thus far, only one is a U.S. retailer: PVH Corp. (New York), the company which owns Tommy Hilfiger (New York) and Calvin Klein (New York). According to WWD, U.S. companies are still attempting to make solid decisions as the midnight Wednesday deadline to sign the pact approaches.

Walmart (Bentonville, Ark.), for example, has laid down its own set of internal rules, wherein they agreed to conduct in-depth inspections at all of the 279 factories that produce its goods, and will complete the inspections within six months. They also stated in a press release that they would be conducting follow-up visits to “failed” factories every two months.

The agreement with the labor unions, according to WWD, requires companies to pay for repairs and renovations to keep the factories within the bounds of safe working conditions. Arbitration will be used to solve disputes, while other stipulations include terminating business with a factory that refuses to make “necessary safety upgrades.”

This agreement has come to fruition, in part, following the April 24 collapse of a factory building in Savar, Bangladesh where 1127 people were killed.