As the global human rights community implores us to “build back better” in the wake of COVID-19, we must reflect on existing business models and human rights frameworks and analyze whether they are properly supporting the workers whose human rights they are designed to respect, particularly in times of crisis such as the current pandemic. In our previous columns, we detailed the 2013 Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, the two “historic” arbitrations that labor unions subsequently brought under it, and the Transition Accord that appeared to flourish in its wake.
Eight months later, and amid a global pandemic, we now have heightened insights into the status of the garment sector in Bangladesh and globally, and whether such mechanisms are truly fulfilling their responsibility to respect workers’ human rights.
Background on the Bangladesh Accord & the Transition Accord
The Bangladesh Accord is an agreement amongst over 200 global brands and retailers, labor unions and private companies, which holds the signatories accountable to developing a fire and building safety program in Bangladesh. It was developed following the disastrous building collapse in Bangladesh’s Rana Plaza on April 24, 2013, which killed more than 1,100 garment workers and injured 2,000-plus others, and previous fires that had

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