Protesters gathered outside GAP and Walmart stores in Toronto on Saturday, calling on the retail giants to sign a safety accord aimed at protecting garment workers in Bangladesh, reports CBC News.
In April more than 1,000 workers died when a building
housing a number of factories in Dhaka collapsed.The scope of the disaster prompted more than 20 companies, including Loblaw and Joe Fresh, to sign the Fire and Building Safety Accord, but Walmart and Gap opted out, saying they intended to work on their own to improve safety in their factories.
‘What they are opting for is a voluntary protocol that is enforced only by the companies,’ said John Cartwright, president of the Toronto and York Region Labour Council which organised the Saturday protest. ‘And if the companies want to close one eye, nobody is going call them on it.’
‘We should also be able to put some political pressures on the entrepreneurs there, in the less developed companies, and as well the government,’ said Victor Gomes, who has researched working conditions in Bangladesh.
The reason to do that, Gomes says, is ‘so the [Bangladesh] government thinks twice before they give permission and allowances to build constructions that may not be so safe.’
-With New Age input
