As of Thursday morning, May 16, 31 companies had signed up to the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh which was drafted by IndustriALL and UNI Global and supported by a coalition of NGOs. All but three of the companies which signed were European. Walmart and Gap refused to sign, and they are under a lot of pressure both in the US and from the outside. However, until now, the fear that this global agreement will lead to uncontrollable source of court cases in the US is stronger than any other concern. (Ref. 130338)
The deadline for signing the agreement was May 15. on that day, 31 businesses (see below) had made very serious and binding commitments in terms of employee safety in subcontracting firms in Bangladesh (for the content of the agreement, read article 130323). All but three of the companies which signed were European. Two were American, Abercrombie & Fitch and PVH, the parent company of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, and the Canadian company Loblaws. The international sentiment following the collapse, last month, of a multi-story building in Bangladesh housing clothing factories which left more than 1,200 people dead is definitely the source.
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