This day ten years ago, the enfeebled floors of an eight-storied sweatshop at the Savar upazila area of Dhaka district in Bangladesh caved in, first stifling and eventually crushing to death over 1,100 garment workers. All that these workers were doing in that accursed building was eke out for a pittance a livelihood for themselves and just that tad a better life for their families. For close to three weeks, the search for the dead continued, and by the time it ended the world was in abject shock, unmitigated anger and utter despair.
The fashion industry had all this while been notorious for its sweatshops in the Global South, and much had been documented too hithero. But the sheer scale of that ghastly disaster—in times of the Internet and 24/7 television—meant that the world could no longer keep turning a Nelson's eye to the exploitative nature of this arguably callous and insensitive industry.
Ten years later, the frantic screams of those workers will still ring in your dreams. The undying wails of tens of thousands in Bangladesh who lost their loved ones that day will still waft in from somewhere. Ten years later, much work has been done. The garment industry in Bangladesh has made commendable progress, more fashion houses are willing to own up or pay up or both, more people are aware of the imperilled lives of garment workers. But still a lot remains to be done.
An instance. Only the other day, there was a report about over 50% of the Rana Plaza survivors still not having a job. Yes, you read that right. They still don't have one. And, workers are still demanding wage hikes, and the figure they now get is one-third of what they are asking for. In spite of the laudable progress in the country and trenchant activism in the Western world, workers are still having to take to the streets for a salary that gives them a decent and respectable life.
But, there's more. Take this extract from a news report:
Four writ petitions filed by several rights organisations seeking compensation to families of the deceased workers and the survivors and ensuring the workers’ safety have been pending with the High Court for 10 years while nine civil cases relating to violation of workers’ rights and noncompliance workers’ safety by factory owners remained pending with the labour tribunals in Dhaka for 10 years.
The remaining three criminal cases, two of which relate to killing and maiming [of] Rana Plaza workers, are pending with the Dhaka District and Sessions Judge’s Court since December 2016 because of non-appearance of prosecution witnesses.
The other case relates to violation of the building code by the owners of Rana Plaza is pending with the chief judicial magistrate court in Dhaka.
If justice delayed is the same as justice denied, then justice has surely eluded the workers of Rana Plaza. All those working for worker rights and safety in the apparel industry need to start demanding justice. Vociferously.
We can't let 1,134 just be an official toll.
