European, U.S. retailers split on Bangladesh reform plan
Source: Reuters
(Reuters) - Major U.S. retailers, including Gap Inc, declined to endorse an accord on Bangladesh building and fire safety backed by Europe's two biggest fashion chains, a trans-Atlantic divide that may dilute garment industry reform efforts.
Three weeks after the collapse of a building housing garment factories, which killed more than 1,100 people, Western brands that rely on Bangladesh to produce clothing cheaply disagreed over how best to ensure worker safety.
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Sweden's H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB and Spain's Inditex SA, the world's two largest apparel brands, topped a list of predominantly European companies signing an agreement led by the International Labour Organization, trade unions and other lobby groups.
Major brands and retailers set a May 15 deadline to join the agreement after talks in Germany last month. As of late Monday U.S. time, the only well-known U.S. company to announce it had signed on was PVH, which owns brands including Calvin Klein.
Read more: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/05/14/uk-bangladesh-building-safety-idUKBRE94C11120130514
H&M and Zara to sign Bangladesh safety accord.
European retailers, including Hennes & Mauritz and Inditex which owns Zara, have said they will sign an accord to improve safety conditions in factories in Bangladesh.
The move comes three weeks after a garment factory building collapsed, killing more than 1,100 people.
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The government has since announced steps aimed at improving conditions.
That includes raising the minimum wage for industry workers and making it easier for them to form unions.
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