The Rana Plaza tragedy, with a building collapsing near Daka killing nearly 1,100 employees working for textile subcontractors operating for European and American companies, is probably going to have a lasting effect on corporate social responsibility practices. Now that emotion is gone, initiatives continue. On top of the highly concrete implementation of the global agreement on security in the textile industry in Bangladesh signed by over 70 western companies, the EU has decided to use all its influence – the European area is Bangladesh’s biggest trade partner – to get the Bengali public powers to engage labor law reforms. (Ref. 130471)
Implementation of the Safety Accord in Bangladesh. The global agreement signed by over 70 clothing and retail brands and IndustriAll Global Union and Uni Global, under the ILO’s authority, following the Rana Plaza tragedy (see articles No. 130323, 130338 and 130364) goes well beyond mere theoretical commitments. It also provides for the introduction of a program for inspecting and improving textile plans (and a related fund) in Bangladesh over the next 5 years.
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