AMERICAN EAGLE SIGNS ON: American Eagle Outfitters Inc. has chosen not to side with the majority of its U.S. retail counterparts in addressing safety issues in Bangladesh’s garment industry. Instead, it is set today to join the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh led by IndustriALL Global Union and more than 70 mainly European brands and retailers, according to Unite Here and other labor groups. There are four North American brands and retailers that have signed the IndustriALL accord.
“American Eagle did not source from the factories where the calamities occurred, but as a significant buyer of Bangladeshi apparel, the company can play an important role in protecting worker safety and preventing future tragedies,” read a press advisory from Unite Here, the International Labor Rights Forum and the National Garment Workers Federation of Bangladesh.
American Eagle has chosen the five-year, legally binding accord over a separate plan launched by a group of North American retailers and apparel brands called the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, which unveiled its own accord in Washington on Wednesday.
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