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On April 24, 2013, the biggest accident in the textile industry took place in Bangladesh. 1,134 people died when an illegally built 8-story building collapsed. Most of the victims were workers who made clothes for Western brands such as Benetton, Gucci and Zara.
With RFI’s correspondent in India, Sebastien Farcis, and Jelena Tomic.
The Rana Plaza drama caused widespread outrage in 2013. It forced international brands and local factories to agree to create an independent inspection structure for Bangladeshi factories.
The Agreement, as it was called, is quite innovative. It forces brands to pay for repairs to their subcontractors’ buildings. “And there have been no serious accidents in 10 years,” Kalpona Akter, president of the Bangladesh Garment Workers Federation, tells RFI.
“Our textile factories are much safer today. We no longer fear another Rana Plaza”, says Akter.
175 brands signed this Agreement, which covers more than 2 million Bangladeshi garment workers, that is, half of the country’s total. But in the last three years, the structure has changed.
“The board of directors is no longer equal: there are 12 members for the industrialists and 6 for the unions, and the factory owners oppose this control system. So we fear that it will be questioned, ”he says.
“lThe workers continue to be exploited”
The 2013 tragedy was the result of multiple negligence as well as corruption by local officials. Nayla Ajaltouni, general delegate of the “Ethics in the label” collective, indicates that little progress has been made in terms of workers’ rights.
“Bangladesh continues to be the epicenter of very low-cost production. In the garment industry, they continue to exploit workers. Today they earn about 8,000 taka on average, that is, a little less than 70 euros per month. What has not changed either is the excessive working hours, working 7 days a week, and the violation of freedom of association, because the Bangladeshi State prevents workers from organizing themselves into a union to defend their rights”, he highlights.
“Following the Rana Plaza tragedy, we succeeded in promulgating a pioneering law in France: the law on the duty of vigilance. It makes it possible to hold large multinationals accountable before the French courts. This fight continues on a European scale, but it is facing lobbies that clearly do not want to change their economic model”, says Nayla Ajaltouni, from “Ethics on the label”.
Nayla Ajaltouni, general delegate of the collective “Ethics in the label”
The Rana Plaza trial is still ongoing, 10 years later. Some of the survivors and relatives of the deceased have received compensation of less than $10,000, which does not cover medical expenses or the psychological trauma of the tragedy.
