Ten years ago, more than 1000 garment workers in Bangladesh were killed in the Rana Plaza disaster. Over 190 companies, from H&M to Zara, scrambled to sign a safety accord to stop it from ever happening again.
One company that refused to sign? Levi's.
10 years later and the world's most famous denim brand continues to maximize profit by failing to guarantee basic health and safety rights for its workers.
But the anniversary gives us a chance to change that, as global media starts to examine brands' track record since the disaster. Let's do everything we can to put the spotlight on Levi's -- click below to sign, then share everywhere!
Levi's: treat your workers like people
Levi’s says it supports the spirit of this safety accord but its own audits and checks are better. But it’s questionable whether Levi’s is really making its factories safe for workers. Last year, one of the workers at a factory supplying Levi’s alleged that workers don’t have access to clean or cold water and often faint from the heat.
Levi’s sources from more than 60 factories in Bangladesh and Pakistan. By signing the Accord Levi’s would have to allow independent safety inspectors into those supplier factories as well as guaranteeing basic health and safety provisions for workers.
If the International Accord is good enough for big name brands like H&M, Zara and Calvin Klein, why isn’t it good enough for Levi’s?
Levi’s is not alone in putting its profits above the lives of garment workers in Bangladesh and Pakistan. They are one of a dozen brands that fail to prioritize workers’ lives since the Rana Plaza collapse, including: Amazon, ASDA, Columbia Sportswear, Decathlon, IKEA, JC Penney, Kontoor Brands, Target, Tom Tailor, URBN and Walmart.
Thousands died or were injured when Rana Plaza, a building housing five garment factories in Bangladesh, collapsed in 2013. In the aftermath, the Ekō community pressured massive fashion brands like H&M and Zara to back this new safety accord. Now we need to do it again, and push Levi’s to do the right thing.
Levi’s, IKEA, Amazon and others: protect workers in Bangladesh and Pakistan, not your bottom line!
More information
Bangladesh Apparel Industry Looks Inward As 10th Anniversary Of Rana Plaza Tragedy Nears
Forbes. 1 November 2022.
Forbes. 1 November 2022.
‘Give workers an equal seat’: pressure builds for Levi’s to protect factory employees
Guardian. 23 September 2022.
Guardian. 23 September 2022.