Rana Plaza news and archive

How useful are grievance mechanisms for garment workers? Insights from Bangladesh’s Amader Kotha helpline

After the Rana Plaza building collapse on 24th April 2013 in Savar near Dhaka in Bangladesh, two initiatives emerged that were tasked with improving situations in the country’s ready-made garment (RMG) sector: the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety (Accord) and the Bangladesh Alliance for Worker Safety (Alliance). The loss of more...

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Business|Interview

Eleven years after Rana Plaza, where is the fashion industry in terms of transparency?

Eleven years ago today, on 24th April 2013, the Rana Plaza building in Savar, Bangladesh collapsed, killing more than 1,100 garment workers and injuring more than 2,500, many of them severely. All of those deaths and injuries could have been prevented had the five garment factories housed in the building evacuated on time like the other...

Featured

Fashion

Fashion Revolution Week turns 10, extends to 10 days

From 15th to 24th April, Fashion Revolution Week will be held again worldwide to raise awareness about those who make our clothes and under what conditions. Established in 2014 after the Rana Plaza disaster, this year marks the tenth anniversary of what non-profit Fashion Revolution calls “the world’s largest fashion activism movement”....

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Business

Rana Plaza - ten years later

How many times have we rolled our eyes when there was an emergency drill, maybe at school, work or college? Happening at the most inopportune times (just like a real emergency) - we may get up grudgingly, follow a dedicated co-worker or fellow student to an emergency meeting point and from there to the nearest exit. Grumbling about the...

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Business

Rana Plaza - nine years later

Sunday marked the ninth anniversary of a collapse that shook not only the foundations of the Rana Plaza building but also those of the fashion industry, as the tragedy in Savar, Bangladesh highlighted grievances in other manufacturing countries as well. Safe workplaces were unveiled as a myth, supported by everyday occurrences such as blocked...

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Business|INTERVIEW

Bangladesh: "Our garment industry is one of the safest in the world today"

Faruque Hassan is the new president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers Association (BGMEA). The country has been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, and with the looming expiration of the Bangladesh Accord, a new tug-of-war has begun between brands, factories, unions and NGOs over responsibilities and accountability for the health and safety...

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Fashion

The Bangladesh safety accord expires in May. What next?

Bangladesh in 2021 remains a garment manufacturing hub for the world’s leading high street and mid-market brands. It is also a region with a well-documented history of factory incidents and unsafe workplaces for its garment workers. After the Rana Plaza factory collapse in 2013, which killed over 1,100 workers, the Accord on Fire and Building...

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Business|COMMENTARY

7 years later, has Rana Plaza prepared the industry for Covid-19?

Once again, it is the sad anniversary of the collapse of the Rana Plaza structure in Savar near Dhaka, Bangladesh, a building that housed various garment factories, the constant humming of their sewing machines, operating on two illegally constructed top floors, that made the building collapse on 24th April 2013, burying 1,132 workers and...

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Fashion

Just one in eight Bangladesh garment factories pass international safety inspection

The president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has said that only 200 out of 1,500 garment factories in the country have met safety requirements for workers set out by an international accord, Reuters reports. According to the news organisation, Rubana Huq accused members of the accord on Sunday of...

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Business

Rana Plaza: a tragedy remembered

Six years ago, on 24th April 2013, 1,138 garment workers in Bangladesh lost their lives, ultimately because of an industry that placed deadlines and profits before human lives. Rana Plaza, the building that housed five garment factories among other establishments, had not evacuated those who toiled for the least: garment workers barely making...

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Fashion

How to convince friends to quit fast fashion for good

We’re caught in a loop: H&M, Forever 21, Target, Zara…Fast fashion is still the default setting for many shoppers. It provides a quick fix that can be hard to break free of, and the hardcore addicts know that the perfect pushback to shut well-meaning friends up is: if we stop buying fast fashion what happens to all the garment workers who depend...

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Business

Local government not ready to take over Bangladesh Accord’s responsibilities

Bangladesh’s safety inspection agencies are not ready to assume responsibility for the 1,688 garment factories under the purview of the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety, according to a report published this week by the Clean Clothes Campaign, the International Labor Rights Forum, the Maquila Solidarity Network and the Worker Rights...