News for May 2013

Following the deaths of over 1000 people, mostly women garment workers, in a factory collapse in Bangladesh, an international campaign was launched to force the big clothing brands to take action.

In response, many of the top high street brands have now signed the Accord on Fire and Building Safety, which is a huge achievement. However, ASDA and Gap are still refusing to sign.

Primark is so far the only company involved that has agreed to pay compensation to the victims, so you can still take part in the campaign by urging other companies to make this commitment, and calling on Gap and ASDA to sign the accord.

Follow the link below to take action.

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The appalling tragedy of the garment factory collapse at Rana Plaza in Bangladesh is yet another reminder of how thousands of a garment workers’ health and lives are put at risk in the relentless pursuit of profit.

Sharan Burrow, ITUC General Secretary, said
“The Bangladesh government must face up to its responsibilities to protect people from exploitation, ensure safe workplaces and support workers who want to join unions. But the commercial pressures from multinationals who continually seek to drive down costs, cut corners and speed up production times are also responsible. Workers did not want to enter the Rana Plaza building this week, but without a union, the company bosses were able to force them to enter a death-trap,”

Amirul Haque Amin, President of the National Garment Workers Federation in Bangladesh, said “This negligence must stop. The deaths of these workers could have been avoided if multinational corporations, governments and factory owners took workers’ protection seriously.”

Join the campaign and add your voice of protest on the Labour Start campaign calling to make garment factories in Bangladesh safe.

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