Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety

Fast fashion still comes with deadly risks, 10 years after the Rana Plaza disaster – the industry's many moving pieces make it easy to cut corners

Retrieved on: 
Saturday, April 22, 2023
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On April 24, 2013, a multistory garment factory complex in Bangladesh called Rana Plaza collapsed, killing more than 1,000 workers and injuring another 2,500.

Key Points: 
  • On April 24, 2013, a multistory garment factory complex in Bangladesh called Rana Plaza collapsed, killing more than 1,000 workers and injuring another 2,500.
  • It remains the worst accident in the history of the apparel industry and one of the deadliest industrial accidents in the world.

Shamed into action?

    • While the government had stringent building codes “on the books,” they were rarely enforced.
    • Most workers lacked the information and power to demand safe working conditions.
    • The coalitions conducted factory inspections to identify structural and electrical deficiencies and developed plans for factories to make improvements.
    • Member companies set aside funds for inspections and worker training, negotiated commercial terms and facilitated low-cost loans for factory improvements.

The record since

    • At the end of five years, both initiatives reported that 85%-88% of safety issues were remediated.
    • In addition, more than 5,000 beneficiaries, including injured workers and dependents of victims, were compensated through the Rana Plaza Arrangement, receiving an average of about US$6,500.
    • Overall, I believe that these initiatives have been successful in bringing safety issues to the forefront.

Clothes yesterday and today

    • In the 1960s, the average American family spent 10% of its income on clothing, buying 25 pieces of apparel – almost all of it made in the United States.
    • Over these decades, low-income countries in Asia and Latin America started producing more garments and textiles.
    • Apparel production is labor-intensive, meaning these countries’ lower wages were a huge attraction to brands and retailers, who gradually started shifting their sourcing.
    • To meet the rapid growth of the apparel industry, however, many buildings were converted to factories as quickly as possible, often without requisite permits.

Everyone and no one

    • This can translate into exploitative labor practices or unsafe conditions that violate local laws, but enforcement capacity is weak.
    • The supply chain’s opaqueness, especially when brands do not source directly, makes it difficult to investigate and remediate these practices.
    • This complex system makes it hard to assign ethical responsibility, because everyone, and therefore no one, is guilty.

Rana Plaza: ten years after the Bangladesh factory collapse, we are no closer to fixing modern slavery

Retrieved on: 
Friday, April 21, 2023
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The owner, Mohammed Sohel Rana, had allegedly been told by an engineer the day before that the building was not safe and should be evacuated.

Key Points: 
  • The owner, Mohammed Sohel Rana, had allegedly been told by an engineer the day before that the building was not safe and should be evacuated.
  • Ten years on, the murder trial against him and another 35 defendants has still not been concluded.
  • The tragedy shed a light on the appalling conditions that sometimes exist in the global retail supply chain.

The response to Rana

    • These focused on things like increasing building fire and safety audits and inspections, with some success in factory safety for workers.
    • Without getting into the fine detail of exactly where this applies, it arguably includes Rana Plaza.
    • Many wealthier jurisdictions including the UK, France, Germany, the EU and Australia have enacted legislation to tackle forced labour.
    • There are also proposals for a mandatory due diligence directive across the EU, though it’s not yet clear whether this will go ahead.

Our findings

    • Indeed, the situation was aggravated by COVID 19.
    • Yet no suppliers took customers to court for cancellations or refusing to pay for goods.
    • Three-quarters of factories were still selling to brands at the same prices as in March 2020.

The situation today

    • In Bangladesh, unions are demanding that the legal minimum wage for garment workers be almost tripled, but so far with no success.
    • Garment exports have increased more than 35% since the start of the pandemic yet wages and employee numbers have stayed the same.
    • When Misguided went under, this meant not getting paid at all, leading to hundreds of workers being made redundant.
    • Until a regime is in place with genuine teeth to ensure retailers toe the line, the modern slavery behind high-street fashions will only continue.