115th company signs Bangladesh safety accord

Good news from Stronger Unions Last "Tuesday, Edinburgh Woollen Mill (EWM) - which runs stores across Great Britain under its own name and as Peacocks – finally signed the union-sponsored Bangladesh Fire and Safety Accord, becoming the 115th company to do so. It was a big win for months of campaigning by unions and NGOs, including another push planned for this weekend, the first anniversary of the Tazreen Fashions factory fire which killed over a hundred people....."

The Evil Ones - 1 down 4 to go: Bench, Bank Fashion, Republic and Mexx.

On Tuesday I posted here on the campaign by the TUC "Going to Work" website about handing in letters of protest on Saturday (tomorrow) to branches of Peacocks about the refusal of their parent company, Edinburgh Woollen Mill to sign the Bangladesh Fire and Building safety Accord.

This Accord is trying to stop the senseless slaughter of garment workers in Bangladesh. See here, here and here.

West Ham Labour Party TULO had agreed on Tuesday that trade union activists will hand in letters of protest to Stratford and Green Street Peacock stores before and after Labour canvassing sessions.

Great news! We have now been told that after months of refusing EWM have now signed the Accord!!!! So the protest tomorrow is called off although we are still pressing EWM to pay compensation for workers injured in the horrific Tazreen factory fire.

The pressure will now be on the 4 "evil ones" retail stores "Bench, Bank Fashion, Republic and Mexx" who are still refusing to sign the Accord. I hope that "Going to work" will be asking us to do similar stuff with this irresponsible mob in the near future.

(hat tip picture Banksy)

Edinburgh Woollen Mill / Peacocks: 23 Nov Day of Action on Bangladesh

I got this email this morning from the TUC website "Going to Work". I have printed off the letter and will be popping into my local Peacocks store on Saturday.

I hope many others will do the same. We will be discussing this at the West Ham TULO meeting tonight as well.


"Dear John,
On Saturday 23 November, the day before the anniversary of the Tazreen fashions fire, in which over a hundred people lost their lives, we are calling out Edinburgh Woollen Mill and their subsidiary company Peacocks for their continued inaction on their deadly factories in Bangladesh.

Please help us to take the message right into their branches near where you live by printing out and signing a letter, and delivering it in person. We need them to join the overwhelming majority of their competitors in signing up to the fire and building safety plan for their factories in Bangladesh, and to pay compensation to victims of the Tazreen disaster.

Retailers are always concerned about their image locally, and getting a lot of letters passed over the counter around the country, on an important Christmas trading date, will send a very strong signal to the company that their customers won't let them just brush people's lives under the carpet.

To make this a bit easier, we've mapped their branches online, and there's likely one near you. Choose a branch in your area, and click to visit the store. We'll give you a letter to download and print out.

First step is to choose a branch that you could visit on Saturday 23 November...

NB: This action is supported by the TUC, War on Want, People and Planet, Labour Behind the Label, SumOfUs.org, SEAD, STUC and WTUC, so you'll be in good company!"

UPDATE: Great news - EWM have signed the Accord!!!!! check out here

Roll of Retail Shame: River Island, Matalan, Bench, Bank Fashion, Peacocks, Jane Norman, Republic and Mexx.

I've just sent an email via the TUC Going to Work website to the shameful 8 UK retailers who have refused to sign the international "Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh".

I am sure that most people will remember the Rana Plaza building collaspe in April when over 1200 workers were crushed to death.

"The Accord commits companies to fund an independent safety inspection body that will involve workers in the process, through their unions, and to make long term deals with suppliers, offering more secure employment and training for workers. As such it represents a big deal for Bangladeshi workers".

The website has some clever software by which you can email the Shameful 8 and ask them to sign the Accord. There is a standard message you can send but you can also personalise it which may prove more effective. This is what I sent :-

"Dear Sir/Madam

I am a Councillor in the London Borough of Newham and I have also worked in Tower Hamlets for the past 20 years. Both boroughs have large Bangladesh communities.

I am horrified that your company has not signed the UNI accord and you are exploiting workers in Bangladesh and putting them at risk by making your clothes in potential death traps.

I understand that you are a private company but I will be contacting the Pension funds of Newham and Tower Hamlets Council to see if they have any investments in your company. The reputational damage and risk to your brand by not signing the Accord is huge.

I hope you reconsider your immoral and economically damaging decision".

Please click here to send your own message and encourage the sharing of this information. Also next time you go shopping just think about these brands and remember the rows of dead and disfigured bodies you saw on TV after the collapse. If your friends or family wear clothes from those stores who refuse to sign up to the Accord just remind them of the true cost of cheap fashion.... River Island, Matalan, Bench, Bank Fashion, Peacocks, Jane Norman, Republic and Mexx.

The President of the Bangladeshi National Garment workers Federation Amirul Haque Amin is speaking tomorrow at the start of the TUC Congress.