MASS INDUSTRIAL HOMICIDE

In April 2013 the deadliest catastrophe ever took place in a fashion factory in Bangladesh: people worked in terrible conditions but no one cared about this. Some years later they received a small compensation but the situation is still the same; although a lot of brands signed an agreement to improve the status of employees and the facilities, they didn’t adopt any change.   

The Rana Plaza was a building in Savar (a district in the division of Dhaka, Bangladesh) and the owner was Sohel Rana. In 2006-2007 the first 4 floors were built on a pond without any permission, substandard construction material were used also; then between 2008 and 2012 other 4 storeys were added without any supporting walls. The building contained 6 clothing factories but it was planned for banks, shops and apartments, so it wasn’t strong enough to support the machinery vibration and weight. 5000 people were employed and they produced cloths for brands like Benetton, Bonmarché, the Children's Place, El Corte Inglés, Joe Fresh, Monsoon Accessorize, Mango, Matalan, Primark and Walmart. On 23^rd April 2013 workers noticed a crack across the building and evacuated. Some architects commanded to close the structure but the textile staffs was forced with violence to go back to work and was threatened not to receive their monthly salary; moreover the managers were under pressure to complete orders within short deadlines. Sohel Rana declared that the edifice was safe.

On  24^th April 2013 at 8.45 a.m. the electricity went out and the workers heard a loud explosion: the Rana Plaza collapsed with 3000 people inside; more than 1000 people died. It is considered the deadliest garment-factory accident in history.  

A few days after the collapse of Rana Plaza factory, Sohel Rana the owner of building had been arrested while running to India; with him other 42 people were accused to be guilty by the authority, among some factory officials and government inspectors who confirmed that the edifice was safe.

In January 2014 the Donors Trust Fund was established to collect money to compensate the victims and to cover health care expenditure. Rana Plaza Coordination Committee announced that 30million dollars were necessary  . Clean Clothes Campaign started immediately the campaign to collect this amount from international brands; thanks to the pressure from the consumers around the world the fund reached 2,4 million dollars. An anonymous donation afforded to arrive at 30 million dollars expected.  CCC will continue to help the victims who await further compensation for the pain and suffering inflicted and does his best to intervene promptly in the event there are other tragedies. 

Two years on, the only visible memorial to the devastation are two giant granite fists clutching a hammer and sickle, erected by the Workers Party of Bangladesh. Neighborhood talk is that a new factory will soon be built on the site, as global demand for cheap clothing continues to grow.

The majority of brands involved didn’t take on their responsibility and didn’t help the victims; in spite of the protests of the workers the reality didn’t change.

All the world should realize the seriousness of this event and avoid another one; everyone should feel a bit responsible of the exploitation in the garment factory and do something to change this situation.    (Here you can have a look to an interactive guide)

USEFUL LINKS:

http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/apr/23/rana-plaza-factory-collapse-history-cities-50-buildings

http://www.theguardian.com/world/rana-plaza

http://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2014/mar/17/rana-plaza-factory-collapse-compensation-interactive-guide  

Written by: Giulia Abati and Debora Spolaore