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Garment factories

warning: graphic / distressing

Rana Plaza Collapse Documentary:

The Deadly Cost of Fashion

The New York Times    15 April 2014

Rana Plaza Collapse Documentary: The Deadly Cost of Fashion

Video    Op-Docs | The New York Times    15 April 2014

WARNING: GRAPHIC

A photojournalist who covered last year's

deadly collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh

draws connections to New York from clothing labels

he found in the rubble.

Produced by Ismail Ferdous and Nathan Fitch

YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
9Fkhzdc4ybw&list=PL4CGYNsoW2iCb4uQUNgWK6TJJgNVp-MpP

Illustration: Mitch Blunt

Fair Trade for the Global Garment Industry

NYT

MAY 20, 2015

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/21/
opinion/fair-trade-for-the-global-garment-industry.html

The body of a garment worker

at Rana Plaza. April 25, 2013.

Photograph: Abir Abdullah

European Pressphoto Agency

Rebuilding Lives After a Factory Collapse in Bangladesh

By James Estrin        NYT        Lens        Apr. 23, 2015

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/04/23/
rebuilding-lives-after-a-factory-collapse-in-bangladesh/#
 

Jesmin, a 25-year-old survivor

from the collapsed Rana Plaza Building,

lies on a bed

at the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP)

in Savar, Bangladesh on June 4.

Jesmin suffers from a spinal injury

and is waiting for surgery.

The April 24 collapse of the Rana Plaza complex,

built on swampy ground outside Dhaka

with several illegal floors,

killed 1,132 workers

and focused international attention

on sometimes lax safety standards

in Bangladesh's booming garment industry.

Photograph: Andrew Biraj

Reuters

Boston Globe > Big Picture

Industry's Victims in Bangladesh

August 16, 2013

http://archive.boston.com/bigpicture/2013/08/
industrys_victims_in_banglades.html  - broken link

A Bangladeshi man holds on to a woman,

both victims of a building collapse,

in the debris of Rana Plaza garment factory

in Savar near Dhaka, Bangladesh,

April 25, 2013.

The collapse of Rana Plaza in Dhaka

that killed 1,129 people.

Photoraph: Suman Paul

AP

Boston Globe > Big Picture

2013 year in pictures: Part I

http://archive.boston.com/bigpicture/2013/12/2013
_year_in_pictures_part_i.html - broken link

global garment industry        USA

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/21/
opinion/fair-trade-for-the-global-garment-industry.html

fashion industry        UK

https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2020/feb/18/
can-the-fashion-industry-ever-be-sustainable

factory        UK

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2006/apr/23/
ethicalbusiness.globalisation

garment factories        UK

https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2020/jul/09/
the-leicester-garment-factories-exposed-by-covid-19

garment factories        USA

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/
can-garment-factories-pay-living-wage-still-compete - Feb 18, 2014

South Africa >

garment factories in Maseru, the capital city of Lesotho > jeans        UK

https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2020/sep/10/
women-fighting-sexual-abuse-factories-jeans-podcast

Bangladesh > garment workers        UK / USA

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/nov/15/
bangladesh-garment-workers-fighting-for-pay-face-brutal-violence-and-threats

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/apr/28/
a-nightmare-i-couldnt-wake-up-from-
half-of-rana-plaza-survivors-unable-to-work-10-years-after-disaster

https://www.npr.org/2020/06/05/
869486297/for-bangladeshs-struggling-garment-workers-
hunger-is-a-bigger-worry-than-pandemi

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/24/
business/international/40-million-in-aid-set-for-bangladesh-garment-workers.html

Bangladesh > Garment factory safety        USA

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/26/
business/international/stalemate-over-garment-factory-safety-in-bangladesh.html

Bangladesh > garment factories / garment industry        2013-2014

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/22/
business/international/battling-for-a-safer-bangladesh.html

https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2014/apr/
bangladesh-shirt-on-your-back 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/23/world/asia/bangladeshi-
factory-owners-charged-in-fatal-fire.html

Bangladesh > Rana Plaza factory collapse        2013        UK / USA

eight-storey building

on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/apr/28/
a-nightmare-i-couldnt-wake-up-from-
half-of-rana-plaza-survivors-unable-to-work-10-years-after-disaster

the collapse of a building in Bangladesh

killed more than 1,100 garment factory workers

and left many others with grave injuries.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/21/
opinion/bangladeshi-workers-long-wait.html

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/apr/28/
a-nightmare-i-couldnt-wake-up-from-
half-of-rana-plaza-survivors-unable-to-work-10-years-after-disaster

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/24/
10-years-on-
bangladesh-rana-plaza-disaster-safety-garment-workers-rights-pay

http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2017/04/30/
525858799/4-years-after-rana-plaza-tragedy-
whats-changed-for-bangladeshi-garment-workers

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/06/01/
411173397/murder-charges-in-bangladesh-over-2013-garment-factory-collapse

http://www.npr.org/blogs/goatsandsoda/2015/04/24/
401917197/2-years-later-garment-factory-collapse-has-sparked-little-change

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/04/23/
rebuilding-lives-after-a-factory-collapse-in-bangladesh/

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/19/rana-plaza-bangladesh-
one-year-on

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/15/
opinion/the-deadly-cost-of-fashion.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/24/
business/international/40-million-in-aid-
set-for-bangladesh-garment-workers.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/19/world/asia/
after-collapse-bleak-struggle.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/21/opinion/bangladeshi-
workers-long-wait.html

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/05/09/
182737557/bangladesh-factory-collapse-death-toll-crosses-1-000

Bangladesh > minimum wage for workers

in the country’s clothing factories        USA        2013

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/13/
opinion/a-living-wage-in-bangladesh.html

Boston Globe > Big Picture

Industry's Victims in Bangladesh        USA        August 16, 2013

International attention

has been focused

on workers' safety in Bangladesh

since the disaster at Rana Plaza,

a garment factory complex

which collapsed in April,

killing 1,132 workers.

As concern runs high

about the safety of garment workers,

Reuters photographer Andrew Biraj

spent time photographing survivors

of the Rana Plaza collapse

and also documenting the lives of workers

in other industries in Bangladesh,

where conditions can be hazardous.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2013/08/industrys_victims_in_banglades.html

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2013/08/
industrys_victims_in_banglades.html - broken link

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/23/
business/international/us-retailers-decline-to-aid-factory-victims-in-bangladesh.html

Bangladesh > garment factories        8 May 2013

Bangladesh earns nearly $20bn a year

from exports of garment products,

mainly to the United States and Europe.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/08/bangladesh-
factory-collapse-death-toll

Dhaka: many dead

as garment factory building

that supplied west collapses        25 April 2013

Hundreds of workers

feared to have died at plant in Bangladesh

where staff were 'told to return to work'

despite crack in wall

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/08/bangladesh-factory-collapse-death-toll

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/24/bangladesh-building-collapse-shops-west

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/09/
business/global/fair-trade-movement-extends-to-clothing.html 

Cambodia > garments factories        USA

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/18/
opinion/workers-of-the-world-faint.html

Pakistan garment workers        UK

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/dec/22/
boohoo-selling-clothes-made-
by-pakistani-workers-who-earned-29p-an-hour

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/dec/22/
hungry-and-afraid-
life-for-factory-workers-meeting-uk-demand-for-cheap-clothes-boohoo-claims

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/may/27/
fast-fashion-pakistan-garment-workers-fight-for-rights-amid-covid-19-crisis

One of the world’s

biggest clothing buyers,

the United States government spends

more than $1.5 billion a year

at factories overseas,

acquiring everything

from the royal blue shirts

worn by airport security workers

to the olive button-downs

required for forest rangers

and the camouflage pants

sold to troops on military bases.

(...)

American government suppliers

in countries including Bangladesh,

the Dominican Republic,

Haiti, Mexico, Pakistan and Vietnam

show a pattern of legal violations

and harsh working conditions,

according to audits and interviews

at factories.

Among them:

padlocked fire exits,

buildings at risk of collapse,

falsified wage records

and repeated hand punctures

from sewing needles

when workers were pushed

to hurry up.        USA

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/23/world/americas/
buying-overseas-clothing-us-flouts-its-own-advice.html

miserable labor conditions

in the international garment industry        USA        29 April 2013

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/30/
opinion/bangladeshs-are-only-the-latest-in-textile-factory-disasters.html

workers        USA

https://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2017/02/28/
a-glimpse-of-the-workers-who-make-your-clothes/

the human cost of cheap clothing        USA

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/12/12/
whos-responsibile-for-worker-safety-abroad/

International Labour Organisation (ILO)        UK

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2006/apr/23/
ethicalbusiness.globalisation

textiles industry > UK factories        UK

http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2014/feb/15/
britains-rag-trade-revival-marks-and-spencer

ethical fashion        UK

http://www.npr.org/2015/04/24/
401764329/slow-fashion-shows-consumers-what-its-made-of

sewing machine        UK

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/apr/28/
a-nightmare-i-couldnt-wake-up-from-
half-of-rana-plaza-survivors-unable-to-work-10-years-after-disaster

Corpus of news articles

Clothing > Industry > Garment factories

Bangladeshi Workers’ Long Wait

December 20, 2013

The New York Times

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD

It has been nearly eight months since the collapse of a building in Bangladesh killed more than 1,100 garment factory workers and left many others with grave injuries. But most of those victims and their families have yet to receive adequate financial help or medical care.

Some families of workers killed in the building, Rana Plaza, have had to send their children to work to make ends meet, according to a recent report by Jim Yardley in The Times. Workers who lost limbs or suffered other grave injuries have received substandard treatment. Many survivors have become burdens on their struggling families.

The catastrophe led to an outpouring of grief in Bangladesh and around the world. At the time, the government of Sheikh Hasina announced that it would take care of victims and their families, a promise that it has yet to fulfill despite having collected private donations for that purpose. The Bangladesh High Court is expected to decide how much money victims and their families will get, though many have been told that they won’t get the full amount until every dead body has been identified, a needless delay.

Much of the clothing industry has also failed workers and their families. An association of Bangladeshi garment factory owners has provided compensation amounting to a just few months’ salary to some victims. The factories in the building were making clothes for big Western retailers like Children’s Place, Benetton and Primark. Primark, a British chain, has been paying the salaries to the wounded and the families of the dead, and the Canadian company Loblaw, which also had clothes made at Rana, has announced that it, too, will make payments. But most other companies have not provided any compensation.

The government and the clothing industry say they are making changes to how garment factories are inspected and regulated. But their words will remain hollow if they continue to ignore the needs of this tragedy’s victims.

Bangladeshi Workers’ Long Wait,
NYT,
20.12.2013,
https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/21/
opinion/bangladeshi-workers-long-wait.html

arts > clothing, fashion

fast fashion vs sustainable fashion

countries > Bangladesh

countries > Pakistan