"Brands accused of obstructing Accord’s expansion", 7 September 2022

A new report from the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) has accused leading fashion firms, such as H&M, Inditex, Bestseller and C&A, of obstructing the expansion of the International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry to Pakistan.

The workers’ rights organisation believes the time is now for the expansion, which it’s hoped would address persistent factory hazards, such as those which led to the factory fire at Ali Enterprises in Karachi, where 250 people lost their lives...

Earlier this year, the CCC commissioned researchers at the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data (WISERD) and Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, to research garment and textile workers’ safety and health in Pakistan.

A tracker had recorded more than a dozen incidents resulting in deaths and injuries over the past 18 months alone in Pakistan where more than four million workers are employed in the garment, textile and footwear sectors.

To understand what changes were needed, the CCC conducted a survey of almost 600 workers covering issues including workplace harassment, workplace health and safety, and worker wellbeing.

Some 85 per cent of workers reported no access to proper exit stairwells in the case of a fire, one in five workers reported that their workplace lacked fire drills, and one in four did not have access to unobstructed escape routes.

...the campaign group has reiterated its calls for the International Accord to be expanded to Pakistan, having proven successful in various forms since its launch in Bangladesh in 2013.

The International Accord is governed by an Accord Steering Committee which is comprised of 50 per cent brand representatives and 50 per cent union representatives. Labour rights NGOs (including Clean Clothes Campaign) are signed on as witnesses and participate in the steering committee as observers.

That said, the CCC’s report alleges that brand representatives have delayed progress “to the point where their posture suggests not caution, but wilful obstruction”...

A spokesperson for Bestseller told us: “We agree with the CCC's premise that there is a pressing need for an expansion of the International Accord to Pakistan, and we are working with our partners in the accord’s steering committee collectively and actively towards exactly this.

C&A’s representative added: C&A refutes claims in the report that brands in the steering committee are acting in "wilful obstruction" to this goal. Research and consultation among unions and brands but also with national stakeholders is no "wilful obstruction" but are key steps in building a successful and functioning business case in order to secure broad support for the Accord model.

Inditex stated that it is committed to the expansion of a country-specific health and safety programme for Pakistan, adding: “The experience in Bangladesh clearly shows that only through close collaboration between brands, manufacturers and trade unions we can achieve the common goal of building a successful model, and that’s the way Inditex is trying to boost.”

Finally, H&M Group’s Masarrat Quadar, who manages stakeholder engagement, public affairs and industry relations, said: “H&M Group remains committed to contributing to fire, building and electrical safety in our supply chain and we are positive to an expansion of a system that will create systemic change. Together with other companies, global trade unions, suppliers and governments we will continue to engage and push the work forward.” 

The CCC has stressed that brands have the power to lead remediation efforts across Pakistan, which is one of the world’s leading garment exporters.

“We call on brands in the steering committee that have failed to meet their obligation to expand the Accord to stop delaying the expansion process and immediately expand it to Pakistan, initiating independent inspections of their Pakistani supplier factories in line with accord standards.”