The Clean Clothes Campaign says the International Accord, with its inspections, remediation programme, complaint mechanism and worker training, will ensure factories making Levi’s products in Pakistan are safe for its workers.
The International Accord was first launched after the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh and was designed to protect workers from unsafe conditions. It has since expanded into Pakistan.
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The scheme aims to ensure garment factories supplying brands that signed the agreement are inspected and safety hazards are identified are remediated.
The Clean Clothes Campaign claims Levi has been the target of campaigning from unions in Pakistan and Bangladesh, as well as campaign groups around the world in recent years.
It explains that in 2022 four workers died at one of its Pakistan-based supplier factories, which contributed to the Accord being extended into Pakistan.
The campaign group said a worker was killed, and four others injured, in an explosion at a garment factory in Pakistan that was known to supply Levi as recently as 14 October 2024.
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By GlobalDataLevi says its long been invested in strengthening safety policies
A Levi spokesperson tells Investment Monitor: “At Levi Strauss & Co, we believe that workers who make our products should work in a safe and healthy environment and be treated with dignity and respect. We have therefore long been invested in strengthening safety policies across our supply chain.
“After monitoring its progress since inception, we are joining the Pakistan Accord alongside peer brands to strengthen worker safety within our supply chain in Pakistan. We will continue to work to enhance our building, fire and electrical safety efforts in all sourcing countries.”
The Clean Clothes is calling for more major brands to sign the Accord, as it says it can only cover all workers with support from companies that so far have not signed up.
Zehra Khan, general secretary of the Home-Based Women Workers Federation in Pakistan, said: “We’re happy that Levi finally listened to voices of workers and activists around the world telling the company to take responsibility for their workers safety.
“But our minds are also with the workers who died, were injured or feared for their lives while Levi was still refusing to join the Accord, including in the deadly incident this week. Other brands should learn from this: there is no time to waste, sign the Accord now and make sure that your unsafe Pakistani supplier factories are inspected and fixed.”
Levi urged to sign International Accord in Bangladesh
The Clean Clothes Campaign is also calling on Levi to sign the corresponding Accord for workers in Bangladesh.
In 2023, Levi was one of more than 55 international brands that joined the Nirapon initiative, which provides a hotline for workers to report concerns.
Levi said in a statement that the scheme would “create and sustain a culture of workplace safety in Bangladesh factories,” building on its existing programmes.
However, the Clean Clothes Campaign says the Nirapon scheme is a softer alternative to the Accord, which has a more binding nature and includes strong union participation. Campaign coordinator Christie Miedema commented: “Workers and activists welcome the fact that Levi now has come around and signed the International Accord and its Pakistan country programme.
“We hope that the company will take this opportunity to also sign the Accord’s Bangladesh programme and leave the opaque and industry-led Nirapon initiative behind.”
Edgar Romney, secretary-treasurer at Workers United-SEIU, a union representing Levi’s workers, which has campaigned for the brand to sign the Accord alongside the Clean Clothes Campaign, said: “We congratulate the company on demonstrating a commitment to making its supplier factories in Pakistan safe, and we urge the company to do the same in Bangladesh.”
In April workers at a Levi supplier in Türkiye were alleged to have faced harassment and dismissal for choosing their own union representatives, however the brand told Investment Monitor at the time it would continue to work with management subject to “a detailed remediation plan”.
