Today, we remember the Rana Plaza tragedy 12 years after it shook the world

On April 24, 2013, over 1,130 workers died and 2,500 were hurt in Bangladesh. This terrible event showed the world the ugly truth. The global garment industry has a reputation to put profits over people. Workers were forced into unsafe buildings. Their safety was ignored. They paid the ultimate price. The pictures from that day are burned in our minds. We saw the ruins, the injured, and the dead. These images remind us of the human cost. Cheap clothes should not cost lives. Rana Plaza was not just an accident. It was a failure of safety, a failure of responsibility. Companies did not do enough to protect their workers. Some changes have occurred since the tragedy. The Bangladesh Accord was created to improve factory safety, but there is still much more to do. We think many workers still face problems every day. They are paid too little. They have to work in harmful conditions. They need our support.

As union members in Nova Scotia, we have a duty. We must stand up for workers’ rights everywhere. We believe in safe jobs and fair pay. No worker should risk their life for a paycheck. Big companies have a lot of power. They must use it to make things better. They need to make sure their factories are safe. They must pay workers a living wage. They must respect workers’ rights to organize. Our governments have a role to play. They should push for strong labour standards in trade deals. They should hold companies accountable for their actions. They should support international efforts to improve worker safety.

We stand in solidarity with garment workers around the world. Their fight is our fight. An injury to one is an injury to all. We will not stop until all workers are treated with dignity and respect. Let us honour the memory of those who died at Rana Plaza. Let us work together to build a better, fairer world, a world where workers are valued, not exploited, and safety trumps profits. We can create lasting change by demanding better from companies and governments. We can educate others about the issues. We can support organizations that are working to improve workers’ lives. Together, we can prevent another Rana Plaza from ever happening again. The fight for justice continues.