Take Action in Honor of Bangladeshi Garment Workers
After last week's Rana Plaza building collapse in Bangladesh, which killed at least 377 garment workers, United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) started a petition calling on three of the leading users of Bangladeshi garment workers—Walmart, the Gap and H&M—to demand that factories in the country be made safe for workers. The building collapse is already the deadliest garment factory disaster in known history and the death toll is not yet final. USAS says the deaths could have easily been prevented, as cracks appeared in the structure the day before it collapsed. Workers were ordered to work in the building anyway, under threat of losing a month's pay.
The Rana Plaza tragedy is not the first in Bangladesh in recent history. The Tazreen Fashions factory fire in November 2012 burned 112 workers to death. Survivor Sumi Abedin jumped from the third floor of the factory, realizing she was likely to die, but didn't want to be burned alive. “I jumped to save my body, not my life.” She says she wanted her family to be able to recover her body.
Bad conditions are common in Bangladeshi factories used by U.S. corporations. While it is not yet known which companies used the Rana Plaza building, USAS is calling upon the biggest U.S. corporations in Bangladesh to improve safety for workers. Sign the petition here.
Read the AFL-CIO report: Responsibility Outsourced: Social Audits, Workplace Certification and 20 Years of Failure to Protect Worker Rights.


