Hugo Boss and LPP urged to rejoin Pakistan Accord on Rana Plaza anniversary

Today, on the 13th anniversary of Rana Plaza, the deadliest yet preventable disaster to occur within the apparel industry to date, campaigners from Labour Behind the Label and the Rana Plaza Solidarity Collective are calling on Hugo Boss to rejoin the Pakistan Accord. 

The German fashion brand and Polish fashion group LPP, which was directly connected to Rana Plaza, are among the companies that did not renew their membership with the Pakistan Accord this year. Hugo Boss is a signatory to the International Accord.

Among the fashion companies that did opt to renew their membership are Danish group Bestseller, which noted that the country is one of its main sourcing hubs and states the accord agreement “goes beyond audits,” prioritising risk prevention, local collaboration, and joint work with bodies such as the International Labour Organization.

Thirteen years after Rana Plaza, Hugo Boss and LPP step back from factory safety agreement

Labour Behind the Label hosted a protest outside a Hugo Boss store in London earlier this morning, to coincide with the anniversary of Rana Plaza, which saw 1,134 people killed in a factory collapse in Bangladesh, urging Hugo Boss to re-sign the accord. 

What is the Pakistan Accord?
The Pakistan Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry is a legally binding agreement between over 100 global garment brands, retailers, and trade unions (UNI Global Union and IndustriALL) created to ensure safety in Pakistan’s textile and garment industry. Initiated in January 2023, it focuses on factory inspections, remediation, safety training, and complaint mechanisms. It is a country program under the International Accord. Extended until December 31, 2026, the Accord will be automatically renewed until the end of 2029, in line with the International Accord framework.

The Accord is widely seen as the most effective tool for improving factory safety in Pakistan, pairing independent inspections, mandatory prevention plans, safety training, and a worker grievance system with binding commitments from brands. These tools are "key to identifying risks, preventing workplace accidents and ensuring the health and safety of workers" in the country's textile and garment sector. 

“Textile and garments factories have shown criminal negligence in matters concerning workers’ health, safety, and protection of life, and international fashion brands are fully complicit in this crime,” said Nasir Mansoor, General Secretary of the National Trade Union Federation of Pakistan, in a statement. “No lessons have been learned from tragic disasters such as Rana Plaza and Ali Enterprises. The greed for profit has turned workplaces into death traps for workers. The need of the hour is to make workplaces safe for work. A safe workplace is a right, not a privilege.”

Now, campaigners from Labour Behind the Label and the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) highlight that Hugo Boss is withdrawing despite ongoing safety risks flagged in its Pakistan supply chain, including locked or blocked exits, unsafe escape routes, and poor fire protection. According to information from the Clean Clothes Campaign, recent data shows that LPP works with more than 100 suppliers in Pakistan, while Hugo Boss is working with eight Tier 1 factories in the country based on its public supplier list. 

Many of these factories fail inspections, according to the CCC. For example, at Mount Fuji Textiles, a supplier to LPP, inspectors reportedly found several lockable gates that could trap workers inside during an emergency. The same problem was flagged at Hugo Boss supplier Kamal Mills, where lockable gates and stored goods were blocking exit routes. Public Corrective Action Plans show these issues remain unresolved.  

“By failing to renew their commitment to the Pakistan Accord by the intended deadline, brands are knowingly refusing to participate in the necessary remediation to ensure safe working conditions for workers producing their clothes, said Nasir Mansoor of the National Trade Union Federation in Pakistan, in a statement.

Campaigners from both Labour and the CCC are urging Hugo Boss to re-sign the Pakistan Accord and fix all safety risks identified in its supplier factories. They reject the company's argument that internal audits and multi-stakeholder initiatives are enough, pointing out that audits alone have repeatedly failed to address systemic risks. Binding agreements like the Accord, they say, remain the most credible way to deliver real change. 

“It is the worst type of cut-and-run, where these brands have identified the risks, but refuse to prevent, mitigate and remedy them through a trusted and proven human rights due diligence process, as provided by the Accord,” added Ineke Zeldenrust from CCC in a statement. “We are not talking about small brands with only a few factories - this can potentially affect tens of thousands of workers.”

Labour Behind the Labour has planned additional protests against Hugo Boss in Belgium and Germany as part of a broader campaign.

FashionUnited has reached out to Hugo Boss for additional commentary.