Abrar Hussain: A new accord for safety of millions of factory workers took effect yesterday as Swedish furniture giant IKEA and American music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs’ clothing were among the companies sourcing from Bangladesh that had failed to sign it, reports The Daily Star.
The new pact is a three-year extension of the Bangladesh Accord, a legally-binding agreement drafted between global brands and trade unions in the aftermath of the Rana Plaza collapse, one of the worst industrial accidents in modern history.
It established a fire and safety program for the country’s $28 billion a year textile industry, which employs about 4 million people.
According to the Clean Clothes Campaign, 175 of the 220 companies in the original accord have so far signed, but high-profile brands including Abercrombie & Fitch, Combs’ Sean John apparel and Britain’s Edinburgh Woollen Mill have not.
“(They) are doing themselves and their customers a disservice and are knowingly putting the lives of the workers producing for them at risk,” said Christie Miedema of the Campaign, which lobbies to improve workers’ conditions.