International

SP Member of Parliament Sharon Gesthuizen, together with Christian Union MP Joel Voordewind and representatives of the pressure group the Fashion Rebels, paid a visit today to the head office of clothing brand Mexx. Their intention was to ask them to sign the Bangladesh Safety Agreement, a pact to protect workers from fire and other potentially lethal factory hazards. Unfortunately the firm was unwilling to discuss the matter with the MPs and even threatened to call the police, refusing also to agree to a further meeting on the issue.

Mexx continues to refuse to sign the Bangladesh Safety Agreement. By signing, a company commits itself to allowing all of its Bangladeshi factories to be subject to inspection and monitoring and to depositing financial guarantees that any dangerous situations uncovered will be immediately addressed and necessary adjustments made.

‘I find Mexx’s reaction truly unbelievable,’ says Gesthuizen. ‘I can’t understand why such a major and well-known clothing brand, with such a respectable image, won’t accept its responsibility to improve the working conditions of the people who make their clothes. A lot of companies have recently signed the agreement, and I hope that Mexx will take its example from them. If not, we’ll continue to organise actions and to tell people about Mexx’s poor trading standards.’