DHAKA - Trade unions have given notice that they will pull out of the new tri-partite body which has taken over responsibility for garment factory safety in Bangladesh unless brands agree to back it with a legally binding agreement.
They say that their departure would strip away the credibility of the Readymade Sustainability Council (RSC) - which is controlled three ways by factory owners, brands and trade unions - as an effective worker safety organisation.
Global unions IndustriALL and UNI, as well as local unions, are concerned that the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, which has been credited with hugely improving factory safety since the Rana Plaza disaster, is set to end.
