A Possible Breakthrough on Global Garment Worker Safety

The news media have continued to run stories about garment worker safety in Bangladesh and other minimal-wage countries, but despite outrage, little real change seemed likely.

It's still a long ways from certain, but there are glimmers of hope. Last Friday's New York Times carried a Steven Greenhouse article on the coalition of religious groups and investors who were "pressing major American retailers to join a sweeping plan to improve safety in Bangladesh apparel factories".

A letter, drafted by the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, called on "brands and retailers to collectively pledge to implement the internationally recognized core labor standards of the International Labour Organization (ILO)."

Specifically, according to a statement released through Inside Investor Relations, "the investors are calling on companies to commit to strengthening local trade unions, publicly disclose the identities of all of their suppliers and divulge the health and safety programs they have in place, as well as their progress in meeting health and safety objectives. They also call on companies to ensure a living wage for workers, to make sure their suppliers have the means in place to address worker grievances and to join the Accord on Fire and Building Safety sponsored by the ILO and others."

Fire killed 112 Bangladeshi garment workers last November, and a building collapse outside the capital, Dhaka, killed more than 1,100 workers last month.

Swedish retailer H&M, which has made its name with "fast fashion" which relies on rapid turnaround from order to delivery and continual downward pressure on costs, was one of the first major signatories to the plan that will require companies to invest in improving worker safety. How much they will have to invest will depend on the relative size of the company.

To date, only two US-based firms have signed on, Abercrombie & Fitch, and PVH, parent company to Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger.

According to today's New York Times, "the American retail giants Wal-Mart Stores and Gap have declined to endorse the pact, citing legal concerns. Both say they will continue pursuing their own worker safety programs." (Full article, by Liz Alderman, here) Nor have other major retailers like Target and J.C. Penney signed on.

Without pressure from consumers, those retailers may continue to resist, saying that their own efforts will be plenty. But they won't be.

So it's up to us to stick to our guns. Read the labels. Demand accountability. No dress, no matter how flattering, is worth a worker's life.