^{Photo: Rina's mother waits for her missing daughter by Rana Plaza debris (July 2013, Taslima Akhter).}

Dear friends,

Today marks the tenth anniversary of the tragic and preventable Rana Plaza disaster, in which at least 1,138 garment workers were killed and more than 2,500 were seriously injured when the building housing five garment factories collapsed. We stand in solidarity with the survivors and families of those who died as they honour and remember their loved ones. 

Global labour rights network calls on brands to sign legally-binding Accords

Garment and textile workers in Bangladesh, and the global network of trade unions, women’s and labour rights organizations that support them, are calling on major apparel brands and retailers to sign onto the International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry and the more recent Pakistan Accord.

A factory fire in Pakistan earlier this month points to the urgency for companies sourcing from that country to take responsibility for the safety of workers in their supply chain and sign the Pakistan Accord. On April 13, in Karachi, Pakistan, four fire fighters were killed and 13 people were injured when a factory building that caught on fire suddenly collapsed. This tragedy could have been prevented had there been adequate safety measures in place, such as those required under the International and Pakistan Accords.

To date, 197 companies have signed onto the International Accord and 49 companies have signed onto the Pakistan Accord.

In this email, we share a series of actions coordinated by the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) in solidarity with Bangladeshi unions, survivors, and families of those who died in the Rana Plaza collapse. This includes a petition calling on brands to sign the Accords and a webpage to leave a commemorative message.

We also share a petition organized by the Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability (CNCA) calling on Canada to enact meaningful human rights due diligence legislation, a Rana Plaza 10th anniversary solidarity statement from major Canadian unions, and an online graphic novel, Made in Rana Plaza.

Lynda Yanz, for the MSN team

^{Photo: Relatives of Rana Plaza's workers demand justice (October 2013, Taslima Akhter).}

View and share the Rana Plaza Never Again Timeline, documenting major factory safety incidents and labour movement demands in Bangladesh since 2005.

Photo: Benoit Debaix, Unslpash

Quebec and Canadian organizations commemorate Rana Plaza, call for due diligence legislation

In solidarity with Bangladeshi workers, Quebec and Canadian civil society organizations are holding two major events commemorating the Rana Plaza anniversary, urging brands to sign the International Accord and calling for the Canadian government to enact mandatory human rights due diligence legislation.

“Weak laws that merely require reporting will not protect the human rights of workers and women in the global garment trade, or make corporations accountable. However, if you pass due diligence laws to make sure that every company has to identify, prevent and mitigate human right risks in its whole value chain, including the company’s own purchasing practices, you can help save and improve many millions of lives.”- Kalpona Akter, Founder & Executive Director of the Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity

On April 24, community-based, international solidarity and labour organizations, many of whom are members of the Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability (CNCA), are holding a rally in Montreal to commemorate the Rana Plaza tragedy. They are calling on Canadian companies to sign the International Accord and respect the rights of garment workers, including the rights to freedom of association, a living wage, and healthy, safe, and equitable working conditions. They are also demanding that Canada adopt human rights due diligence legislation. More here (in French and English).

On April 25, the CNCA will hold meetings with Members of Parliament in Canada’s capital city of Ottawa to deliver a petition, with over 42,000 signatures so far, calling for due diligence legislation and to discuss steps Canada needs to take to prevent human rights abuses and environmental destruction linked to Canadian companies abroad.

The commemorations and actions this week send a clear message to global apparel companies and governments in major sourcing countries: It should not take another tragedy like Rana Plaza or this month’s fire and building collapse in Pakistan, for companies to take responsibility for the harms that occur in their global supply chains. Companies’ profits and those of their CEOs and shareholders should not trump safe working conditions and workers' right to a living wage.

• Never again: Canada’s unions mark 10 years since the Rana Plaza factory collapse - solidarity statement from the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), representing 3 million workers in Canada.
  
  
• Short graphic novel, Made in Rana Plaza (Fabriqué au Rana Plaza) written by François Simard and coordinated by the Quebec Association of International Cooperation Organizations (l’AQOCI in French).
  
  
• Sign the Petition to the House of Commons of Canada (link below, closes today at midnight). Tell Parliament to adopt human rights and environmental due diligence legislation.