On the Line is a weekly roundup of sourcing and labor quick hits in the apparel and footwear industry, from worker protests to boardroom maneuvering, tracking the developments shaping conditions on the factory floor and beyond.

Milestone for safety

A record 300 global brands and retailers have signed the International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry, the 2021 successor to the Accord for Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh that expanded its focus from fire and building risks to broader workplace safety.

By signing the Accord, companies such as H&M Group and Zara owner Inditex commit to disclose supplier factories in countries covered by International Accord programs, ensure those facilities undergo inspections, address identified safety hazards and take part in worker-safety training, help finance remediation and contribute to the programs’ operating costs.

But while many brands, in partnership with their suppliers, have taken what Joris Oldenziel, the Accord’s executive director, called “very concrete steps” to identify, prevent and mitigate safety risks, accidents and fires still occur regularly in garment factories. A third-degree fire at a used-clothing and garment factory in Karachi’s Landhi Export Processing Zone on Sept. 7, for instance, caused a partial building collapse and injured at least seven people. That makes brands’ continued commitment to the Accord as important now as it was a decade ago, Oldenziel said, “for the workers themselves, of course, but also for the brands to fulfill their human rights due diligence responsibilities.”

“Under the Accord, we implement a program at 2,000 factories covering 3.4 million workers in both Pakistan and Bangladesh,” he said in a video statement. “We look forward to welcoming even more brands joining the Accord in the near future in Pakistan, in Bangladesh and in the future in other countries, so that collectively we can work toward a safe and sustainable garment and textile industry.”

Remedy achieved

The Worker Rights Consortium worked with Fanatics to agree on remedies for Hoosier Manufacturing, a garment factory in Guatemala that supplies the sportswear retailer with Nike-branded collegiate apparel, after the factory dismissed 367 workers in August 2025 despite a labor court’s ruling that the layoffs were unlawful.

While many of these rulings were overturned on appeal, the Washington, D.C.-based labor organization concluded that the legal loopholes and justifications higher courts used to permit the firings directly violated the strict labor codes and ethical standards universities require of brands producing their apparel.

Despite Hoosier maintaining that the dismissals were legal after consulting external legal counsel before the terminations, the factory ultimately agreed to offer comparable positions and provide 11 months’ back pay to the 66 workers who filed court claims challenging their dismissals. It also committed to pay two months’ back wages to the other 301 laid-off workers, who did not seek reinstatement but were dismissed two months before the court order was lifted.

“The WRC finds that these positive commitments by the factory successfully remediate the violations of university labor standards that occurred during the August 2025 dismissals,” WRC said in a statement.

Double-edged sword

As H&M Group nears completion of the Myanmar exit it announced three years ago, phasing out clothing production and orders from local factories, the anticipated layoffs are now underway. According to local media, Chinese-owned manufacturer Teng Hui plans to permanently close its five Yangon factories at month’s end, putting more than 3,000 garment workers out of work.

The decision to stay or go has complicated matters for brands that do not want to be seen as supporting an authoritarian regime but are also concerned about the livelihoods of workers with few other employment alternatives. While Teng Hui Myanmar cited declining orders from H&M, its main buyer, as the reason for the closure, calls from labor organizations such as IndustriALL Global Union for brands to exit Myanmar responsibly, along with the International Labour Organization’s Article 33 measures over persistent worker-rights violations, have prompted businesses to reevaluate their ties to the country.

A factory manager told The Irrawaddy that workers will be compensated according to their employment contracts and length of service but declined to share further details. Under Myanmar labor law, employers are required to give workers 30 days’ notice before termination and compensation based on years of service.

Still, the effect on workers cannot be overlooked. “I was devastated by the sudden news of the factory closures,” a garment worker who has spent the past 10 years at Teng Hui Myanmar, told the Irrawaddy. She added that laid-off workers worry they will be unable to find new jobs.