Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), Bangladesh, has announced that the two landmark cases against the multinational fashion brands under the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety have been officially closed. The cases were brought by the trade associations named IndustriAll and UNI Global Union.
It is worth noting here that the arbitrations were filed in July 2016 and October 2016 to bring unethical brands into compliance with the terms of the Accord. These brands did not want the contracted factories to work towards the unsafe working conditions so as to prevent any hazard, leaving thousands of workers’ life in danger.
The unions also claimed that the brands knew about the current financial condition of the contracted factories, yet the factories did not take any safety measures to fix the issues.
In a statement, Christy Hoffman, General Secretary, UNI Global Union, explained, “These cases validate the Accord’s power to hold companies responsible and make workplace safer across the supply chain.”
Now, when the brands have met all the terms of settlements and are also paying more than US $ 2.3 million towards the betterment of Bangladesh RMG factories, they will also distribute the respective amount to the eligible factories.
Markedly, the first brand reached a settlement in December 2017, and the second in January 2018. Both the settlements were made possible by pro bono representation provided to IndustriALL as well as UNI Global Union.
