Rana Plaza news and archive

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...

Apr 25, 2022

Business |INTERVIEW Featured

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...

Jun 3, 2021

Fashion Featured

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...

May 12, 2021

Business |COMMENTARY Featured

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...

Apr 24, 2020

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...

Aug 5, 2019

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...

Apr 26, 2019

Fashion Featured

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...

Apr 16, 2019

BusinessFeatured

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...

Apr 3, 2019

Fashion Featured

Police clash with garment factory workers in Bangladesh

Bangladesh police used rubber bullets, water cannons and tear gas against thousands of garment factory workers this Wednesday, after they tried to block a road leading to Dhaka’s international airport on the fourth consecutive day of protests demanding an increase in the minimum wage. Yesterday, one worker was fatally shot and dozens of others...

Jan 9, 2019

BusinessFeatured

Decision about Bangladesh Accord further stalled

As FashionUnited reported a week ago, a restraining order by the government of Bangladesh has been placed on the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh (Accord), which was due to take effect on 30th November, then 6th December and now 17th December. In other words, the future of the Bangladesh Accord is still in limbo. In the...

Dec 11, 2018

BusinessFeatured

Update: What is happening with the Bangladesh Accord?

At the beginning of the year, international brands were urged to join the new Transition Accord 2018, the successor of the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, which has run out after its five-year duration in May of this year. The new Accord was to guarantee a smooth transition. However, in the meantime, the government of...

Dec 3, 2018

Business

Bangladesh raises minimum wage for garment workers

The minimum wage for Bangladeshi garment workers will rise by 51 percent from December, the country’s Ministry for Labor and Employment is quoted by Reuters as saying. According to the news agency, the new minimum wage has been set at 8,000 taka (approximately 95 dollars) a month, up from 5,300 taka (63 US dollars). The last time garment workers...

Sep 14, 2018