It’s been 12 years since Rana Plaza. Why is Amazon still refusing to protect Bangladeshi garment workers?

On 24 April 2013, in Savar, just outside Dhaka, the building known as Rana Plaza collapsed. The day before, the banks and shops on the lower floors had closed because the walls were cracked. But the garment factories above were kept open. The next morning, the building collapsed: over 1,100 workers died; thousands more were injured and scarred for life. The hunt for survivors under the wreckage lasted 19 days.

For us in Bangladesh’s garment industry, Rana Plaza is not just a symbol— it is a wound. The women and men who died went to work that day because they had no realistic choice. They felt the cracks in the walls. They heard warnings. But the threat of losing wages, of being told they were “lucky to have a job”, kept them inside. 

In the aftermath, workers’ unions and global union federations such as UNI Global Union and IndustriALL Global Union fought for something more than press-releases. We fought for a legally binding agreement, one that would force brands sourcing from Bangladesh to pay for safety, allow independent inspections and give workers a genuine role in protecting their own lives. 

The result was the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety: legally enforceable, with transparency and duties placed on brands rather than just factories. More than 200 brands signed.

And it worked. In the factories covered by the Accord, glaring hazards—locked exits, overloaded floors, unsafe wiring—were addressed. Workers could point out dangers and remediation followed. That is the power of legally binding commitments, not voluntary pledges.

Yet today, more than a decade later, some of the biggest, richest retail companies still refuse to sign. One of them is Amazon.

Amazon is now the biggest apparel retailer in the United States—selling more clothes than almost any name you recognise. Its logistics empire is hailed as revolutionary. Its founder became a billionaire many times over. And the clothes it sells? Many are made by our sisters and brothers in Bangladesh’s garment sector.

But when it comes to safety, Amazon has drawn a red line: it will not sign the Accord or its successor agreements. When Amazon refuses to sign, it tells the world: our safety standards stop where our profits begin. That message reaches deep into the supply-chain: if you want to keep supplying Amazon, you will work under cost-and-time pressure. Safety is optional. We know this because in Bangladesh, the horror came not from defects no one saw, but from warnings no one heeded. The day before Rana Plaza came down, there were large cracks. The shops and the bank closed. Management ignored it. Workers were told to come back. One factory threatened to hold back a month’s pay if they refused. 

I began working in a garment factory at the age of 11 and have seen the pressure, the exploitation, the fear. I now lead the Sommilito Garments Sramik Federation and serve on the council of the Progressive International. I speak for the tens of thousands of our members across factories in Bangladesh’s garment belt. We are joining the global day of action on Black Friday, 28 November 2025, under the banner Make Amazon Pay. Workers at Amazon warehouses, delivery hubs, and offices around the world will strike and protest—and we garment workers in Bangladesh will stand with them.

Why? Because our lives matter. Because the women who died so that a pair of cheap jeans could be bought in the US deserve more than memorials and empty slogans. Because signing the Accord is not a favour—it is the floor of decency.

Our demands are straightforward. Amazon must sign the Accord and commit to legally binding, enforceable safety standards in its apparel supply chain. Amazon must publish its supplier list and make inspection results publicly available. Amazon must pay a price for its goods that allows factories to invest in safety and pay living wages—not just the bare minimum, so the brand keeps margins high. Amazon must stop the suppression of unions in its supplier factories and respect workers’ right to organise and collectively bargain. Amazon must enforce zero tolerance for gender-based violence and harassment across its entire supply chain, in line with ILO Convention 190. This includes mandatory prevention policies and credible complaint mechanisms. Amazon must take responsibility for environmental safety, including occupational health and safety. 

Workers in Bangladesh know what “cheap” really costs. The minimum wage for garment workers is now $105 per month. We also know the pressure never goes away: if a brand demands ultra-fast turnaround, the factories must compress time, cut wages, reduce oversight, and outsource to unsafe buildings. That logic kills.

I am not asking you to stop buying clothes. I am asking you to demand better. You can write to Amazon, you can join the protests, and you can support unions. 

Amazon built a global empire of speed, convenience and sleek deliveries. We are building a global movement of solidarity, dignity and justice. On 28 November, we will make our voices heard: our lives are not disposable; our safety is not optional.

It’s time to make Amazon pay—not in vengeance, but in justice.

Nazma Akter is President of the Sommilito Garments Sramik Federation and Council Member of the Progressive International.

Photograph: Munir Uz Zaman/AFP/Getty Images