The biggest disaster that happened in the fashion world and caused by the sick logic of the system, how the industry evolved
2013-2023: the Rana Plaza collapse
The Rana Plaza collapse is commemorated as one of the biggest disasters in the fashion industry. Located in Bangladesh’s Dhaka region, along with the series of factories that produce clothing, it marked a before and after in the field. The catastrophe left 1,138 people dead and more than 2,600 injured and disabled. For the first time, the fashion industry and its sick mechanisms came into the light for many of the consumers.
The fast fashion and Western-style industries, in particular, took responsibility over the incident, and some agreements and legislation attempted to regulate the market. The accident, which was avoidable, saw a series of local and non-local protests to have justice with respect to the lives lost or destroyed in the collapse.
The foretold disaster of the Rana Plaza – the Spectrum-Sweater factory collapse
In the aftermath of the disaster a number of errors were noticed and made explicit that could have prevented it. First of all, some of the workers had noticed cracks inside the structure, but they were still forced to go to work.
On the official website commemorating this tragic event, ranaplazaneveragain.org, there is a timeline chronicling the pre and post collapse of Rana Plaza. This attempts to trace, starting several years earlier, the stages up to the accident. Back in 2005, the Spectrum-Sweater factory collapse had occurred in Savar, Bangladesh.
Here, under circumstances similar to those at Rana Plaza, sixty-four people lost their lives, given the inadequacy of facilities designed for workers. It was not until 2011 that the Spectrum damage was repaired and repaid through victims’ families support.
Other deaths and injuries among employees inside factories in the Dhaka region
In 2010, on the other hand, a fire caused deaths and injuries among employees inside the factories, also in the Dhaka region, and the same events again continued in the following years in different buildings. In the same year a series of protests to ensure a decent wage were carried out by the workers themselves with clashes and arrests as a result. Last relevant event reported happened in 2012, before the collapse of Rana Plaza, is the controversial murder of labor activist Aminul Islam, organizer of several struggles and protests for workers’ rights.
Post Rana Plaza collapse: the actions
After the disaster, given the lack of protections and care at work within the factories, it was also complex to establish the calculation of lives, recognize them and bring all victims to safety. Alongside the local protests carried out by the families of the victims themselves, a wave of support was unleashed from around the world. The most urgent demand was for fire and building safety in Bangladesh, and the petition to reach these agreements, and get fashion brands active in the area to mobilize, reached over one million signatures.
Along with citizens around the world, a number of organizations directly concerned with protecting workers’ rights asked brands to take responsibility for the disaster by signing an agreement that would prevent other similar disasters. In addition to the status of buildings in Bangladesh, more transparency was demanded with respect to the treatment of workers and more attention was paid with respect to education about possible dangerous activities in the factories.
The Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI)
Following the Rana Plaza disaster and situation assessments, brands involved in production in Bangladesh were required to sign a covenant as early as May 15, 2013. In fact, despite inspections of the Rana Plaza facilities by the Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) and the brands themselves in some cases, the precarious conditions of the buildings had not been identified.
Since 2005 there have been a total of about 1,700 fatalities in Bangladesh caused by fire and illegal factory structures, so the agreement focused on fire and building safety and was signed by nearly 250 brands and retailers.
The struggle for factory improvements to be implemented
Although there was an alliance among the different stakeholders, factory improvements struggled to be implemented in the following years. Many of the brands involved were providing a general status of the factories and not detailed and transparent.
Some were also not regularly submitting building assessments and not updating the requirements of the aforementioned agreement on the spot. In this state of poverty and instability new protests started from the workers, also focused on the issue of wages, and once again suppressed by the police and authorities.
Accomplishments after Rana Plaza
After the September protests, November 2013 saw the first effective action regarding the wage situation for factory workers in Bangladesh. A floor wage, that is, a wage capable of meeting the average worker’s lifestyle, was established, going beyond the minimum wage usually set by the authorities. Although some brands tried to escape the balance of reparations for Rana Plaza victims, in June 2015 the collection goal of $30 million, the estimated amount to cover the costs of the factory collapse, was reached.
This money was mainly allocated to the families of the victims and to them for medical treatment and any health needs. Over the years, actions followed demanding health insurance and medical care for factory workers in Bangladesh, including those affected by the 2013 massacre.
Agreements in addition to previous ones were signed so as to consistently ensure greater safety within workplaces in the region. And consistently there have been times when brands have not complied with them, revolted to have them secured, and devising new and more comprehensive agreements.
The actions in favor of garment workers
In recent years, various organizations have struggled alongside garment factory workers and, in particular, those in Bangladesh. Clean Clothes Campaign, active since 1989 has been supporting workers in union battles as it has and still does in the Dhaka region.
Justice for employees and victims of legalized exploitation in the fashion system, along with demands on health security and flanking in the protests implemented in the different areas most affected by labor exploitation, are some of the movement’s actions.
Good Clothes Fair Pay campaign – a Fashion Revolution and Clean Clothes Campaign partnership
Together with the Fashion Revolution organization, which focuses on the development of a sustainable and ethical fashion system, both in production and in its approach to workers, it is carrying out the Good Clothes Fair Pay campaign. This, specified Clean Clothes Campaign, is a call for a living wage as standard for all garments’ brands that import their products into the European market.
The supply chain has not yet solved its problems with transparency and worker exploitation, even more so when it comes to brands that decide to produce according to the logic of fast fashion. Certainly the Rana Plaza tragedy has given a boost in the field of agreements between companies to improve the precarious conditions of employees in factories, but the solution is still far away.
Why does the Rana Plaza collapse have a relevant role in the fashion system?
End consumers have always tended to be unaware of the supply chain behind their clothes. The operations of the system, often connected to fast fashion companies, have allowed some widespread practices to be kept hidden and still unfortunately occur today. Consumption, continuous collection creation and the low prices promised by some companies mean that workers are victims of an exploitative system.
Rana Plaza has made this scandalous environment in which many are forced to work more evident. Today, thanks in part to the use of media and constant global connectivity, consumers are more aware of the costs of this industry.
Even when those paying them are people on the opposite side of the world. Sadly, Rana Plaza has not caused companies to operate only in a clear and transparent way, building an ethical relationship with their workers. The exploitations continue, and it is the workers in the factories, purposely placed far from the West, who pay the cost of the clothes sold for a few bucks.
Clean Clothes
The Clean Clothes Campaign is the garment industry’s largest alliance of labour unions and non-governmental organizations. The civil society campaign focuses on the improvement of working conditions in the garment and sportswear industries.
