The accord comes in the wake of Rana Plaza building collapse (pictured at right), which killed 1,129 workers and injured another 2,500 workers in April 2013. Prior to that, some 300 workers died in factory fires in Bangladesh and other countries. Most of the workers died because of the absence of properly constructed fire exits or from being trapped behind locked doors and windows.
“Cornell is taking this step to ensure that workers who make Cornell logo apparel do not have to work in buildings that are structurally unsound, lack proper fire safety measures or both,” said Cornell president David Skorton. “We believe the accord is a fair, transparent and unbiased approach to factory inspection and remediation. It is clear that the inspection practices that have been in place for years have not been effective in preventing these types of tragedies.”
To date, more than 130 companies have signed the accord. Collectively, those companies conduct business with more than 1,600 Bangladeshi factories employing more than 2 million workers.
Mike Powers, chair of Cornell’s Licensing Oversight Committee and a board member of the Worker Rights Consortium, noted that five of the 18 Cornell licensees that have disclosed sourcing goods from Bangladesh already have become signatories to the accord. They include industry giants Adidas and Fruit of the Loom, which owns Russell Athletic.
Licensees that have not signed the accord have received letters informing them of the university’s new requirement, Powers added.
Cornell is the sixth university to add the accord to its licensing requirements. The others are Duke, NYU, Penn, Temple and Penn State.
