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Accord signatories raise fears about RSC

Published: October 27, 2020

Amidst Covid-19 Crisis, Untested Industry Group Assumes Safety Responsibilities for Bangladesh Garment Factories despite Concerns

Published: October 26, 2020

On Monday, June 1, the Bangladesh office of the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh (Accord), the factory inspection program that has achieved historic progress in protecting the lives of the country’s garment workers in the years since the 2013 Rana Plaza disaster, transitioned its functions to a recently established local organization, the…

L&Y Embroidery

Published: May 28, 2020

The WRC’s investigation found that L&Y, a subcontractor to college logo cap factory, Han Apparel (Han), violated Bangladeshi labor law and university codes of conduct by terminating at least seven employees without providing them legally required notice and severance benefits. After engagement by the WRC with Han’s buyer for collegiate products, university licensee Zephyr Headwear…

Two crises, one flawed supply chain model: How the imbalance of power in global supply chains harms workers

Published: April 23, 2020

On April 24, 2013, the Rana Plaza factory collapse claimed the lives of 1,137 garment workers in Bangladesh and injured thousands more. The tragedy, which was the deadliest disaster in a manufacturing facility in human history, put a spotlight on the grossly unsafe labor conditions plaguing Bangladesh’s garment sector and catalyzed fundamental reform. The international…

Abandoned? The Impact of Covid-19 on Workers and Businesses at the Bottom of Global Garment Supply Chains

Published: March 27, 2020

This report, authored by Pennsylvania State University’s Center for Global Workers’ Rights, in collaboration with the WRC describes the results of a survey of more than 300 garment suppliers in Bangladesh and has just reported the results. The survey found that 80 percent of apparel suppliers have been forced to slash employment as a result of buyers canceling orders—with nearly 60 percent reporting they have shut down most or all of their operations. Meanwhile, four out of five fired workers have not received the severance pay mandated by law. The survey found that almost none of the buyers had offered suppliers any financial support to help pay workers.

To Create a Better Everyday Life for Some People

Published: February 4, 2020

There are few research studies on the labor conditions of home textile factory workers. This report aims to fill this gap and to test the supply chain labor standards of the brands that are driving the growth of Bangladesh’s home textile industry against the actual conditions of workers in the factories that produce these goods. Workers interviewed for this report revealed violations of Bangladeshi labor law and brands’ codes of conduct related to building safety, payment of wages, working hours, freedom of association, and abuse.

Panorama Apparels

Published: November 25, 2019

In February 2016, Panorama Apparels (“Panorama”) illegally dismissed workers who were officers of a proposed union and engaged in a sophisticated campaign to ensure that the worker leaders would not return to the factory, further violating the workers’ associational rights. At the time that the WRC launched its investigation, Panorama, which employs 1,500 workers, was…

Banning Hope: Bangladesh Garment Workers, Seeking a Dollar an Hour Face Mass Firings, Violence, and False Arrests

Published: May 17, 2019

The government and apparel factory owners in Bangladesh have carried out a brutal crackdown on garment workers in retaliation for largely peaceful protests against the country’s extremely low minimum wage. Since December of 2018, at least 65 workers have been arrested and subjected to baseless criminal charges, brought at the behest of factories that supply brands like H&M, Mango, and Next.

Amidst Wave of Deadly Fires, Bangladesh Government Threatens to Expel the Only Credible Building Safety Programme in the Country and Further Suppress Workers’ Rights

Published: April 23, 2019

On the sixth anniversary of the Rana Plaza building collapse, labour rights groups are calling on the government of Bangladesh to cease attempts to expel the Accord on Fire and Building Safety from Bangladesh and to urgently increase safety efforts for the buildings currently under the government’s oversight, which include tens of thousands of factories…

Bangladesh Government’s Safety Inspection Agencies Not Ready to Take Over Accord’s Work

Published: April 17, 2019

The government of Bangladesh is using proceedings before the Supreme Court of Bangladesh to prevent the Accord on Fire and Building Safety from operating, thereby putting workers’ safety at risk. A ruling on 7 April 2019 in Bangladesh’s Appellate Court could require the Accord to close its Dhaka office and operations without taking into account whether national agencies would be ready to take up the work. The government’s justification for trying to end the Accord’s work depends entirely on its claim that the government is ready to assume responsibility for the 1,688 factories under the Accord’s purview, but our research shows a shocking level of unreadiness.