Fashion chains line up to sign safety contracts in Bangladesh

The move comes after H&M, the Swedish chain that is the largest clothing buyer in the country, said it would sign the same five-year legally binding factory safety contract.

Within hours, C&A, Tesco and Primark, and Spain’s Inditex, owner of Zara, followed. The announcements come ahead of a deadline imposed by worker rights groups that said they would increase pressure on brands that did not sign the agreement.

The agreement requires that the companies conduct independent safety inspections, make their reports on factory conditions public and cover the costs for needed repairs. It also calls for them to pay annually toward the effort, to stop doing business with any factory that refuses to make safety upgrades and to allow workers and their unions to have a voice in factory safety.

The six companies join two other retailers that signed the contract last year: PVH, which makes clothes under the Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and Izod labels, and German retailer Tchibo.

Wal-Mart, the second-largest clothing buyer in Bangladesh, is among the firms which has so far not joined the pact. Gap, which had been close to signing the agreement last year, said a deal is “within reach,” but the company is concerned about the possible legal liability involved.

Labour groups applauded the retailers that agreed to the pact. They say the agreement goes a long way toward improving working conditions in Bangladesh’s garment industry, which long has been known to be dangerous.

The agreement comes as the working conditions of Bangladesh’s garment industry have come under increased scrutiny. Since 2005, at least 1,800 workers have been killed in factory fires and building collapses, according to research by the advocacy group International Labour Rights Forum.

The two latest tragedies have focused international alarm over worker safety. The building collapse at Rana Plaza on April 24 was the industry’s worst disaster in history. It came months after a fire in another garment factory in Bangladesh in November killed 112 workers.

Following the latest tragedy, Walt Disney announced that it is stopping production of its branded goods in Bangladesh. Most retailers have vowed to stay and promised to work for change.

Only a few companies, including Primark and Canada’s Loblaw, which owns the Joe Fresh clothing line, have acknowledged that suppliers were making clothes for them at the Rana Plaza site and have promised to compensate workers and their families.

Benetton labels were found at the site, and the Italian fashion brand acknowledged that one of its suppliers had used one of the factories. The company said that before the collapse, the factory had been removed from its approved list.

Thousands of mourners gathered at the wreckage of the yesterday to offer prayers for the 1,127 people who died.

The Islamic prayer service was held a day after the army ended a painstaking search for bodies among the rubble.

Recovery workers got a boost last Friday when they pulled a 19-year-old seamstress alive from the wreckage but most of their work entailed removing corpses.

Bangladesh has about 5,000 garment factories and 3.6 million garment workers. It is the third-biggest exporter of clothes in the world, after China and Italy.

Working conditions in the industry are grim, a result of government corruption, desperation for jobs, and industry indifference.