Bangladesh: 176 investors sign statement calling on brands in their portfolios to renew and expand commitment to worker safety around the world with legally binding agreements with unions
“With Work Remaining and COVID19 Still raging, Investors Caution Against the Bangladesh Accord for Fire and Building Safety to Expire”, 22 April 2021
A statement endorsed by 176 global institutional investors representing over $2.2 trillion USD in assets under management calling on companies to re-commit to the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety (the Accord) was released today…
As the Accord is currently set to expire on May 31st, 2021, investors say a new agreement between global unions and brands that includes the essential elements of the Accord must be in place…
Specifically, the investors, which hold many of the global brands sourcing in Bangladesh as portfolio companies, are urging brands to endorse a new, legally binding agreement with global unions that preserves the essence of the Accord by:
- Including enforceable obligations for brands that ensure worker health and safety is protected;
- Maintaining the role of the Accord secretariat as an independent mechanism of accountability for the RMG Sustainability Council, and is;
- International in scope, providing a framework to expand the Accord’s lifesaving inspection and remediation program to other countries where garment workers’ lives are at risk from fires and structural failures.
The investors point to the many achievements of the Accord, a first-of-its-kind multi-stakeholder initiative including brands, retailers, unions, and non-governmental organizations as signatories…