Protesters call on Abercrombie & Fitch to join new Accord ahead of Rana Plaza anniversary

A coalition of American consumers, students and workers have called on retailer Abercrombie & Fitch to recommit to garment worker safety in Bangladesh in a nationwide protest ahead of the fifth anniversary of the Rana Plaza collapse.

News Deskbdnews24.com
Published : 22 April 2018, 04:15 AM
Updated : 22 April 2018, 04:15 AM

Demonstrations were held at 20 Abercrombie & Fitch stores in the US, with protesters chanting ‘Garment workers demand their rights / We will show and we will fight!’ while holding signs that read ‘Worker Lives Are at Stake’ and ‘No One Should Die for Fashion’.

The protests were organised by the International Labor Rights Forum, United Students Against Sweatshops and Service Employees International Union affiliate Workers United.

A rescue worker takes a break as he tries to rescue garment workers trapped in the Rana Plaza building which collapsed, in Savar, 30 km (19 miles) outside Dhaka April 24, 2013. Reuters

The National Day of Action protest is part of a Global Week of Action calling on brands sourcing apparel from Bangladesh to sign a legally-binding workplace safety programme with global unions Industriall and UNI and eight Bangladeshi unions.

Abercrombie & Fitch, alongside other apparel retailers, joined the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh in 2013 after the Rana Plaza building collapse that year, where 1,134 garment workers died in the deadliest disaster in manufacturing history.

Abercrombie & Fitch had also sourced apparel from the That’s It Sportswear factory in Bangladesh, where 29 workers were killed in a fire in 2010.

The five-year Accord, which is to expire soon, “made factories safer for 2.5 million garment workers across 1,600 factories by adding fire doors, creating safe exit stairwells, and training workers to identify safety issues before they cause catastrophe”, according to a statement from the International Labor Rights Forum.

But Abercrombie & Fitch has refused to join 147 other brands, including American Eagle, H&M and Zara, in signing a new three-year agreement on worker safety.

“Abercrombie clearly hopes to get a free ride from the brands that are continuing their commitment to worker safety by signing the 2018 Accord,” said Sarah Newell of the International Labor Rights Forum.

“Their desire to benefit from safer factories without contributing to that effort is reminiscent of the brand behaviour that led to the Rana Plaza collapse five years ago, and we will continue to fight to change that.”

“USAS will not settle for Abercrombie putting workers in danger. The lives and work of those sewing A&F apparel are worth no less than ours,” said April Lopez, a sophomore at Gonzaga University and leader of a local USAS chapter.

“Personally, my family has faced dangerous conditions as migrant workers in agricultural fields. We’ve experienced wage theft, retaliation for speaking up, and receive little benefits. Having witnessed the conditions in my own backyard motivates me to push for the rights of garment workers overseas as well - they are my family too,” she said.

“For these reasons, worker safety is a non-negotiable issue for us. We will continue organising around this issue until Abercrombie, and all the laggard brands who haven’t signed the 2018 Accord prioritise the safety of their workers.”