“This is a remarkable moment for justice,” Ineke Zeldenrust of the Clean Clothes Campaign said of the $30 million awarded on Monday to victims of the 2013 Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh. The deadliest incident in the history of the garment industry killed over 1,100 workers, and groups from around the world have staged demonstrations and petition drives over the last two years to demand that brands pay to cover workers’ lost income and medical expenses. In April, activists targeted The Children’s Place shops across the country in a Global Day of Action for Rana Plaza victims, including in DC. Some of the organizations involved include DC-based United Students Against Sweatshops, and the International Labor Rights Forum, as well as the Bangladesh Solidarity Centre, an affiliate of the AFL-CIO. Organizers emphasize that the next step forward is to ensure that workers can receive compensation and justice right away, and to prevent collapses from happening in the first place. “We now need to look at ways to ensure that access to such remedy is provided by brands and retailers as a matter of course, and not only when public outrage makes doing nothing impossible,” said Zeldenrust.
photo by friends of the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity: students, organizers, and a Rana Plaza survivor outside of The Children's Place headquarters prior to their arrest.
Includes reporting by Clean Clothes Campaign. Full story here
photo by friends of the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity: students, organizers, and a Rana Plaza survivor outside of The Children's Place headquarters prior to their arrest.
Includes reporting by Clean Clothes Campaign. Full story here