L.L.Bean joins Bangladesh factory safety pact
Freeport-based L.L.Bean is one of 17 major U.S. retailers to join a pact aimed at ensuring better safety at the factories of suppliers in Bangladesh, the site of the deadliest disaster in the history of the garment industry, which killed 1,100 people.
The Portland Press Herald reported the pact calls for the retailers to establish common factory safety standards within three months, create an anonymous hotline for workers to report unsafe conditions and set up a fund for safety improvements.
Former U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe and George Mitchell, who were involved in negotiating the pact, say it is a step forward for improving factory safety but both have received strong criticism from the Maine AFL-CIO over the deal. The labor organization campaigned during the negotiations for American companies to join a European pact that has stricter requirements for funding safety efforts.
In a press release, AFL-CIO President Don Berry said the U.S. agreement led by retailers Wal-Mart and Gap "will only mask the fact that (American retailers) are not committed to real change in factories in Bangladesh."
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