remembering Rana Plaza together
On 24 April 2013, the Rana Plaza building collapsed with thousands of people inside. At least 1,138 people died and thousands more were injured. This is the worst industrial disaster the garment industry has ever seen and it was entirely preventable. Workers were forced to enter a building they knew was unsafe under threat of losing their wages. We can never forget this terrible disaster and the people whose lives were ended and upended by it. We want to show to the world that they are not forgotten. We remember Rana Plaza here, by sharing your messages in their memory.
We also want to make sure that a tragedy like Rana Plaza can never happen again. After the collapse, the realisation that this could and should have been prevented led to the creation of the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh. Over 200 brands signed a contract to commit to improving workplace safety in Bangladesh. Under this contract brands can be sued in court by unions if they break their promise. This programme has made over 1600 factories safer for two million workers. It took long and hard campaigning from many stakeholders to ensure a new International Accord was signed that preserves the work in Bangladesh and allows for expansion to other countries. Now we need to ensure that all brands sign this agreement.
Which brands still need to sign the International Accord?
While over 170 major brands have signed the International Accord, from major fast fashion brands and low cost retailers to more upscale fashion brands, a group of brands continue to refuse to sign this binding agreement to make factories safe. The full list is available here. Some of the most well known signatories and hold-outs are mentioned below.
Brands which don’t care about their workers’ safety
Asda
Auchan
Disney
Gap
IKEA
Levi’s
Target US
The Children’s Place
VF Corporation (Vans, The North Face)
Walmart
full list here
Brands which signed the Accord
American Eagle Outfitters
Fast Retailing (Uniqlo)
Fruit of the Loom
H&M
Hanesbrands
Inditex (Zara, Bershka)
Lidl
Primark
PVH (Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein)
Target Australia
full list here
Tell Brands: Keep workers safe
Make your voice heard. Send a message to tell Brands to KEEP WORKERS SAFE. Put your own message in the form below or copy and paste this:
I urge you to sign the new International Accord to ensure the factories you source from in Bangladesh will be made safe, as well as to make the programme’s inspection, remediation, and complaint mechanism available to workers in other countries. Many of your competitors have signed on and it is high time that you also take responsibility for your workers’ lives.
Leave a commemorative message
Leave your words of commemoration and sympathy here to remember the people killed in the Rana Plaza collapse.
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- Family members of Missing workers from Rana Plaza collapse are waiting for DNA test at Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh. 5th May 2013. Credit Taslima Ahkter.
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- Relatives of Rana Plaza’s workers are demanding justice. Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh. 24th October 2013. Credit Taslima Ahkter.
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- Missing worker Shanta (18). After her father had died, she became sole breadwinner of her family, supported her mother and younger brother with her wages from the garment factory. Her mother, Shahida, does not know the name of the factory where she worked and has begun selling their furniture to pay the house rent. Still Shanta’s photo is proudly displayed on the wall. Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh. 14th June 2013. Credit Taslima Ahkter.
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- Both of them are named Khadiza and were working at Rana Plaza with their husbands. They lost their husbands in the collapse. They have gone to the graveyard to find one of theirs husband’s grave. Jurain Graveyard, Dhaka, Bangladesh. 7th November 2013. Credit Taslima Ahkter.
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- Rana Plaza a nine-story commercial building at Savar, Dhaka collapsed on 24th April 2013. More than 1134 garment workers died and several hundreds are missing in the collapse. Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh. 25th April 2013. Credit Taslima Ahkter.
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- Collage of missing workers, believed to have died in the Rana Plaza collapse. Credit Taslima Ahkter.
What is the international accord?
The legally binding Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh (“Bangladesh Accord”) between apparel brands and global trade unions has done very important work since the Rana Plaza collapse of 24 April 2013 to make factories safer for workers. Voluntary initiatives have in the past been unable to prevent mass casualties, and that is why the work of the Accord remains so important so many years since the programme started. It started its third mandate on 1 September 2021 as the International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry. The International Accord has committed to expand to other countries before November 2023.
learn more
More information about Rana Plaza
More information about the Accord
Pictures on this website are by Taslima Akhter, unless otherwise noted.
