Washington, DC – Top US companies are now in negotiations to agree on new safety standards for their clothing-producing contractors in Bangladesh, after a garment factory’s collapse in Dhaka killed more than 1,100 workers in April.

The move comes after these companies, most prominently including Walmart and Gap, refused to sign on to a fire and safety standards agreement, announced weeks ago, that has received wide backing among European companies. Yet labour advocates are disparaging the new talks, suggesting the results will likely not be binding and thus will not be able to ensure worker safety.

“Walmart is … undermining the constructive efforts of other companies,” said Jyrki Raina, general-secretary for IndustriALL Global Union, an umbrella of unions with 50 million worldwide members that has led the European agreement process. “The kind of voluntary initiative being put forward by Walmart and Gap has failed in the past and will again fail to protect Bangladeshi garment workers.”

The new discussions, announced last Thursday, are being sponsored by the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC), a Washington-based think-tank, and are co-chaired by two respected former US senators, George Mitchell and Olympia Snowe. The negotiations also include several US and Canadian trade associations.

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