The ridiculously cheap prices we now expect to pay for fashion puts garment industry workers in extreme danger.
They work in structurally unsound buildings, with poor ventilation, in extreme heat, carry heavy loads, inhale dust and toxins, and are exposed to harmful chemicals.
They’re also harassed, threatened with violence, and risk facing dismissal if they refuse to do as instructed. All for poverty wages.
Building collapse
In April 2013, more than 1,134 Bangladeshi workers lost their lives in the deadliest incident in the garment industry, when the eight storey Rana Plaza building came crashing down - just a day after the building was evacuated due to cracks.
Survivors endured horrific and life altering injuries with many requiring long-term care.
These lives would not have been lost, had these workers not been pressured to work in this unsafe environment.
The Covid pandemic
While in western countries we’ve had the luxury of working from home, or working in environments geared towards limiting the spread of Covid, garment industry workers were required to continue working even when they experienced Covid symptoms - so they could meet targets.
In fact, Sri Lanka’s worst Covid-19 outbreak originated in a garment factory creating clothes for big brands including, Gap and Marks & Spencer. And in an attempt to control it’s spread, the military was called in to round-up workers, and forcibly take them to makeshift quarantine centres.
Garment workers killed in factory fires
In 2012, in two separate incidents in Bangladesh and Pakistan workers were trapped inside factories when fires broke out, as exits were locked or blocked and windows were barred.
In November 2012, a fire in the Tazreen factory in Bangladesh, led to 123 deaths and the injury of more than 150 workers. Many were forced to leap out of windows on the upper stories to escape.
In the blaze at the Ali Enterprises factory in September 2012, of the 500 workers present on the day, 264 died and 60 were injured.
In both cases, loss of life could have been avoided if workers were able to access exits.
Deadly Jeans
The practice of sandblasting jeans to create a distressed look continues, even though it has been banned by western brands. This extremely dangerous process involves the use of pressurised air and sand, and causes fatal silicosis and other respiratory diseases.
We can’t continue creating fashion while putting the lives of the most vulnerable communities at risk.
Take Action
Put pressure on brands to sign The Bangladesh Accord, and stop supporting them if they don’t.