Dive Summary:
- A building and fire safety accord for Bangladesh, designed to prevent another garment factory disaster, was criticized Wednesday by National Retail Federation CEO Matthew Shay. Shay claimed that the pact was too friendly to labor interests.
- Provisions of the agreement include a binding arbitration process in companies' home countries and a requirement that companies signing on fund safety inspectors, trainers, and a steering committee to oversee implementation of the agreement.
- Several companies have already signed on to the safety accord, including H&M, Arcadia Group (parent company of TopShop) and Inditex (parent of Zara). However, Gap Inc. and Walmart Stores have announced that they will not sign on.
From the article:
"While the proposal put forth by the labor unions addresses a number of shared concerns, the accord veers away from commonsense solutions and seeks to advance a narrow agenda driven by special interests," NRF CEO Matthew Shay said in a statement.
Wednesday is the deadline for retailers to decide whether to sign the agreement, which is designed to prevent a repeat of another disaster in Bangladesh's garment industry.
