Even as Bangladesh remembers at least 1,138 people who lost their lives in the tragic Rana Plaza disaster, garment workers and labour unions called upon the brands and the Government to do more towards ensuring workers’ safety.
Reports underlined this while adding amongst their key demands, was the freedom to form unions, fundamental to achieving safe working conditions.
Speaking to the media, General Secretary of the Garment Workers Solidarity Federation (GWSF), Srity Akter, who spent days at the Rana Plaza site digging through rubbles to rescue the trapped workers, reportedly claimed, ‘If there was a trade union, this incident would never have happened.’
Reports further underlined the day before Rana Plaza building collapse occurred — Rana Plaza, an eight-storey building at Savar, on the outskirts of capital Dhaka, which housed five garment factories, collapsed killing at least 1,138 people, mostly apparel workers, and injuring over 2,000 — structural engineers reportedly found cracks so severe in the building that they advised no one to enter it.
For many of the workers who survived the industrial disaster, the injuries they sustained were so debilitating that they were unable to work again and support their families.
Bharat Tex Special Report 2026 
