For Immediate Release
Global Labor Justice-International Labor Rights Forum Executive Director Jennifer (JJ) Rosenbaum issued the following statement on news of the extension of the International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry to Pakistan:
“As a witness signatory to the original 2013 Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety, GLJ-ILRF applauds the expansion of the Accord framework to the country of Pakistan. Health and Safety is recognized by the ILO and therefore all governments, unions, and employers, as a fundamental right and this agreement provides for union-led training at factories and a process for workers to make complaints when conditions are unsafe.
“This announcement comes at a time when it’s clear how much it is needed in Pakistan after a gas leak at a Levi’s factory killed four workers earlier this year. National unions and the global labor movement have channeled the sorrow and anger at garment workers’s deaths into a powerful campaign to demand that the fashion industry commit to binding models before workers’ lives are at risk. Today’s announcement is the result of that campaign.
“Companies who claim that they are committed to decent work must be held accountable for those claim. A true commitment means sourcing from destinations with enforceable agreements in place, such as suppliers under the Bangladesh and Pakistan Accords and the Dindigul Agreement, signed earlier this year in Tamil Nadu, India.
“We will continue to work with labor allies to expand on these agreements to ensure unions have “a seat at the table” through global agreements covering the supply chain. This is critical to building union voices and people power in the global economy.”
Read the press release from the International Accord here: https://internationalaccord.org/updates#794ad50c-189a-4671-85bc-5157f2fe9cf1
Read the IndustriALL and UNI press release here: https://www.industriall-union.org/international-safety-accord-that-made-history-in-bangladesh-expands-to-pakistan
Read the Workers’ Rights Consortium release on the new agreement here: https://www.workersrights.org/press-release/labor-rights-organizations-hail-advent-of-the-pakistan-accord/
###
Global Labor Justice – International Labor Rights Forum (GLJ – ILRF) is a non-governmental organization that works transnationally to advance policies and laws that protect decent work; to strengthen freedom of association and workers’ ability to advocate for their rights; and to hold corporations accountable for labor rights violations in their supply chains.
