Rana Plaza protesters on why they’re still showing up 10 years later

On April 24 2013, an eight-story garment factory in Bangladesh caved in on itself, leaving 1,134 workers dead and more than 2,500 injured. The tragic events of Rana Plaza were entirely avoidable, and ten years on, the collapse serves as the consummate reminder of the human costs bound up in fast fashion. As survivors campaign for April 24 to be declared a national day of mourning and fashion activists protest the industry’s continued mistreatment of garment workers, we map the legacy of Rana Plaza and the work still required to redesign a fashion system that feeds on exploitation. Should you be unable to attend demonstrations in person, a list of petitions and relief funds can be found here.

The 2013 Rana Plaza factory collapse was, and remains, the deadliest disaster in manufacturing history. The building took a mere 90 seconds to collapse, and it took 1,134 lives with it. 2,500 more people were injured, and countless others were impacted by the trauma of rescue efforts and losing loved ones. 

A decade has now passed since the disaster and the optimistic amongst us would like to imagine that we live in a different world – one where garment workers are safe, and no one dies for fashion. In some respects, this is true. The establishment of the legally binding Bangladesh Accord (now the International Accord) means over two million workers are safer thanks to independent safety inspections, a proper complaints mechanism, and a requirement for brands to be financially and logistically active in remedying safety issues. But the Accord addresses one issue (building and fire safety) in one location (Bangladesh, although it is soon to be expanded into Pakistan) in a global industry facing numerous social and environmental issues. Verbal and physical abuse, sexual harassment, low wages, union busting, dangerous working conditions, and deaths are still common within the industry.

On April 12, almost exactly ten years on from Rana Plaza, a factory fire in Karachi, Pakistan, left four firefighters dead. It’s clear that the industry is far from fixed, so on Sunday (April 23) people took to the streets of Manchester and London to mark the anniversary of Rana Plaza, remembering the dead and fighting for the living. Below, they share why they’re still showing up, 10 years on.

“Learning about the fashion industry was one of the first things that led me to a career in the environmental sector. I remember hearing about the Rana Plaza disaster, and the outcry that it was time to reform the industry and protect garment workers. 10 years on, we have seen fast fashion morph into ultra-fast fashion and workers are still being exploited. It’s important to show brands that we aren’t going to let them continue with impunity. 

I hope our action catches people’s attention and prompts them to learn more about the fashion industry and the impact it’s having. People have a right to understand the true cost of the clothes they are buying. I hope it pushes brands to make the changes we are calling for – to pay garment workers fairly and ensure they have safe and healthy working conditions. People power and direct action are key to holding them accountable.”

“Demonstrations come in so many forms, but loud, bold, disruptive action has a special place in my heart: naming and shaming brands, exposing what they spend huge portions of their budget hiding from consumers and putting pressure on them for real, progressive change” – Yalda Keshavarzi

“It’s important for me to show up for respect and remembrance. I also hope that by aligning our public action with those in Bangladesh and the Global South, we are showing them that their deaths have not gone unnoticed, that we really do stand in solidarity with them, and that we are listening and striving for drastic, lasting change. 

Rana Plaza highlights a very real and dangerous system that is incredibly deep-rooted in our society. Although governments, legislators, and brands have the ultimate responsibility, play a part as consumers. It’s important for me to remind myself why we continue to fight, to cut through all the glossy images, clever marketing and buzzwords, and remember there are real people at the heart of this. 

Demonstrations come in so many forms, but loud, bold, disruptive action has a special place in my heart: naming and shaming brands, exposing what they spend huge portions of their budget hiding from consumers and putting pressure on them for real, progressive change. Take the recent payout from PVH to their garment workers, this would never have happened without years of dedication from individuals, from groups coming together, from collective action, from speaking out relentlessly and exposing their practices. When you couple that with the reach of social media, the impact is huge.

Pressure has to be maintained until a significant switch is made in how brands carry out their business. It goes beyond the fashion industry and feeds into Western society enslaving the Global South for its own profit and corporate greed. This is why every demo and every protest needs to be intersectional, and this is why collective action is so important. This isn’t an isolated issue, they all stem from the same mindset.”

Ledger: “Public-facing action forces people who are not concerned by the damage of fast fashion to face the truth. We can’t continue to disengage from issues that don’t negatively impact us personally or the country we live in directly. The UK has shifted the damage of our own overconsumption onto other countries that aren’t partaking in the problem. We can’t keep ignoring the damage we are responsible for.

Rana Plaza was an awful event that highlights the corruption at the core of the fast fashion industry. The fact that others working in the building were advised not to enter after the cracks were spotted, but the garment workers were encouraged to go to work highlights the inhumane reality of the industry. People need to be aware of Rana Plaza and the other realities of fast fashion that brands hide from us.

I am Manchester-based and I see a lot of mega fast fashion stores populated by thousands every weekend. There are a few fast fashion brand HQs here, so it feels like we’re bringing the issue to the doorstep of those who are still choosing to exploit people in the name of profit.”

Winn: “Thanks to the work of unions, global campaigners and the Bangladesh Accord, factories and those working within them have become safer, saving thousands of lives. Rana Plaza should have been such a shocking moment that it changed the fashion industry forever. It should have been enough to stop fast fashion CEOs from valuing profits over people’s lives. Yet, all we have from brands is sustainability marketing [rather than] actions around degrowth and restructuring of business models.

We’re still here, having to protest ten years on because fast fashion is still here ten years on. This part of the industry is built upon exploitation. It couldn’t exist without it. Garment workers (mostly women supporting families) are being forced into poverty to generate more profit for business owners and supply us with more clothes than we need at prices that make us buy more. Fast fashion often gets defended for being an affordable option, but affordable for who? Not the women paid $75 a month, struggling to feed their families. We are still protesting because garment workers are shot dead in the streets when they protest to be paid for their work.”

“Fast fashion often gets defended for being an affordable option, but affordable for who? Not the women paid $75 a month, struggling to feed their families. We are still protesting because garment workers are shot dead in the streets when they protest to be paid for their work” – Callum Winn

“Rana Plaza was my first introduction to the sustainable fashion movement. Images of the rubble still circulate online today, reminding me every time of how many died needlessly, and how much work we still have to do to clean up the fashion industry. It’s important to remember such a tragic event, pay respects to the ones we lost, and show solidarity with those who are still being exploited for profit.

Brands have been aware of the exploitation and dangerous working conditions in the fashion industry for years but have always chosen to look the other way. Until we get regulations in place from governments. It’s hard to change that. Brands are far more worried about public perception than their garment workers. It’s a sad reality, but we can use this power to affect change. Showing up to factories or HQs in person, blasting them on social media, and increasing awareness about bad practices in the industry will hopefully get them to take notice.”

“I used to be that fast fashion girl, ordering mindlessly from online sites for night-out outfits that honestly didn’t stay in my wardrobe for very long. I didn’t know what my clothes were made of, or who made them, and to be honest, I didn’t care. Once I learnt about the environmental and ethical issues within the industry, I couldn’t unlearn it. I also couldn’t understand why more people weren’t acting. Education is the most powerful tool we have, and by sharing shocking events, facts, and actions I hope to start other people’s sustainability and activist journeys. 

There have been a lot of developments in the fashion industry over the last 10 years. Within Remake, we have worked on numerous campaigns and bills such as #PayUp, SB62 (the Garment Workers Protection Act) and The Accord. We have seen hundreds of brands join, develop and change, acknowledging their responsibility to protect people and the planet. On the other hand, there have been [fast fashion] giants taking over the industry that overwork and underpay their workers. The industry is moving in two directions at the moment, so it is our responsibility to drive it towards sustainability.”

“Workers in the Global South at the bottom of supply chains are dehumanised by corporations and treated as ‘collateral damage’ whenever something like this happens, as if these are one off instances and not a systemic issue, and as if their lives needed to be scarified to ensure our lives can be fulfilled and complete. As if there is literally no option but for these workers to be exploited” – Mayisha

“I have a platform and some exposure, and I think when people like me and reality TV folks (Staniland previously appeared on Love Island) show up, it can empower others to do the same as well as show them that there can be a different route in the form of influence they have on people. 

By taking part, I hope to achieve an increased reach in awareness as well as increase the pressure on brands that were involved and continue to be involved in producing in factories and in ways which put people and the planet in harm’s way. 

Not enough has changed. Not enough has been done to hold brands accountable. Not enough has been done to ensure [Rana Plaza] never happens again. We have to protest so that the topic reaches the front pages and main news outlets – so that the climate crisis is taken seriously, especially how it pertains to the fashion industry, and so we can continue to grow the community of activists that care about these things.”

“For me, protesting is about ensuring we pay tribute to the workers who died in a dignified, respectful way. We have become so accustomed to the ‘1,138’ statistic (some sources say estimate the death toll to be 1,138), and talking about the devastation, it is easy to forget that behind that statistic, behind the headline-grabbing horror stories, there were people with their own lives, dreams, ambitions, and hopes for the future, completely shattered in the collapse. This is a wider issue where workers in the Global South at the bottom of supply chains are dehumanised by corporations and treated as ‘collateral damage’ whenever something like this happens, as if these are one off instances and not a systemic issue, and as if their lives needed to be scarified to ensure our lives can be fulfilled and complete. As if there is literally no option but for these workers to be exploited. 

While health and safety in Bangladeshi factories have shown improvement over the last 10 years, the practice of driving down costs by brands and retailers – the root of the awful working conditions we have continued to see over the past ten years – has persisted, and in many respects, intensified. Corporations continue to profit off the systematic exploitation of workers largely based in or descending from the Global South because extracting wealth from their labour is literally the basis of their business model and capitalism. As we start to think about a just transition environmentally, we need to imagine more radical solutions in collaboration with workers and unions to transition into a system that is driven to protect and nurture workers, while redistributing the wealth equally.”