Wibra signs Bangladesh agreement

Garment chain store, Wibra, signed an agreement involving the safety in garment factories in Bangladesh after all. 'Although the agreements needs improvement and clarification on several points, there a positive development,' stated a media release from the Epe based company. Last year November the company came under fire, together with Coolcat and Prenatal, when Foreign Trades Minister Ploumen publicly criticized the chain stores for not signing the agreement.

The Minister publicly accused the stores for not taking responsibility for textile laborers who work for little or no money and under poor conditions. The companies didn't want to sign the agreement, because there were still too many unanswered questions. Since then, Prenatal signed the agreement late November, followed a few weeks later by Coolcat, and now Wibra. Minister Ploumen wanted Dutch companies to sign the Bangladesh safety agreement, because on April 24 a textile factory in Bangladesh collapsed in what is considered the deadliest garment-factory accident in history, killing over 1,000 people. 'It is of the utmost importance that as many as possible Dutch companies sign the agreement and make an important contribution in making workplaces for millions of textile workers in Bangladesh safer. Every store, large or small, has a responsibility to do so,' said Ploumen, who is pleased Wibra signed the agreement.