A headline that really struck me on the day of the tragedy in Bangladesh was 'Living on 38 euros a month'. That is what the people who died were being paid. This is called slave labour. Pope Francis
What happened at Rana Plaza
On the morning of 24 April 2013, the Rana Plaza building in Dhaka, Bangladesh collapsed, killing 1,134 people. More than 2,600 workers were injured with many sustaining life changing injuries. It is considered the deadliest structural failure accident in modern human history and the deadliest garment factory disaster in history.
For weeks workers had been complaining about cracks in the building, with authorities finally stepping in the day before the collapse, and evacuating the entire building. The eight storey building housed shops and a bank on the lower floors, and five garment factories. The garment workers were told that the factory was safe and ordered back to work the next day.
The building collapsed shortly after the day began - only the ground floor remained intact. Rescue efforts were abandoned a week after the collapse. For many their rescues were more traumatic than the collapse - with horrific stories of being trapped in the rubble and limbs being amputated to be freed.
I don’t need my hand, save my life. Anna Akhter (age 16), Rana Plaza garment worker
Compensation for Rana Plaza victims
The five garment factories were producing clothes for global brands including Primark and Benetton.
Some of the brands contributed towards compensation for families affected by the collapse after extreme pressure from organisations like the Clean Clothes Campaign, but many never accepted any responsibility.
Bangladesh Accord
In the aftermath of the collapse, brands finally signed a contract to make factories safe.
The Bangladesh Accord made factories safe for more than 2 million workers.
It is a five-year independent, legally binding agreement between global brands and retailers and trade unions designed to build a safe and healthy Bangladeshi garment industry.
In the past few years, the Accord has carried out inspections, overseen repairs and trained workers in the field of safety covering over 1,600 factories supplying more than 200 brands.
Brands continue to place huge pressure on factories in Bangladesh and other countries with cheap labour, to produce increasingly cheaper clothes on short deadlines or risk losing work to competitors.
Brands need to be put under pressure to renew their contracts.
Find out how you can get involved: https://cleanclothes.org/campaigns/protect-progress