Twelve years after the collapse of Rana Plaza, rights groups and trade union leaders called on global fashion brands to uphold their responsibilities to garment workers in Bangladesh by moving beyond vague promises and committing to enforceable obligations.

The Clean Clothes Campaign, a global alliance advocating for workers’ rights, renewed its appeal for brands to take concrete action to safeguard workers and ensure fair compensation for workplace injuries and deaths.

While the legally binding Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh—signed by over 260 global brands—had significantly improved factory safety, trade union leaders warned that the progress was at risk of being undermined.

Several major companies, including Kontoor Brands (Wrangler, Lee), Decathlon, Amazon, IKEA, Walmart, Urban Outfitters and Tom Tailor, are accused of either relying on ineffective voluntary audits or avoiding participation altogether, thereby putting workers’ lives in danger.

To preserve hard-won safety gains, the Clean Clothes Campaign and other signatories raised concerns about the growing influence of employers within the RMG Sustainability Council (RSC), the body overseeing the Accord’s implementation in Bangladesh.

They argue that the current governance structure threatens the independence and effectiveness of the safety programme.

Salahuddin Shapon, President of the Bangladesh Revolutionary Garment Workers Federation said: ‘Twelve years since the Rana Plaza collapse, it is vital that worker safety remains safeguarded. The safety committees at the factory level, trained by the Accord, are now in a weaker position because of the RSC. A 2022 labour code amendment reduced the rights of these committees while increasing factory owners’ power. This needs to be reversed.’

Though factory safety has improved, workplace injuries and fatalities have not been entirely eliminated.

A step forward came in 2022 with the introduction of an Employment Injury Scheme (EIS) pilot, allowing injured workers and families of deceased workers to claim compensation.

Rashadul Alam Raju, General Secretary of the Bangladesh Mukto Garment Sromik Union

Federation said that the EIS pilot must be turned into law so that all workers or their families have automatic and immediate access to compensation in the event of injury or death.

As the industry reflects on the legacy of Rana Plaza, workers and advocates stressed that real progress would depend not on voluntary commitments, but on enforceable mechanisms that prioritise worker safety, dignity and justice.

Labour advocates also demanded strong legal frameworks to prevent future tragedies in global supply chains.

Marking the anniversary of the 2013 Rana Plaza collapse, which claimed the lives of at least 1,138 workers, the European Parliament approved the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD).

The legislation marked a significant step toward holding companies legally accountable for human rights and labour violations throughout their global operations.

The directive was expected to be fully adopted by June 2024.

However, less than a year later, the directive came under threat. The European Commission proposed an ‘Omnibus proposal’ that would dilute the landmark law’s impact.

Kalpona Akter, founder of the Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity and president of the Bangladesh Garment & Industrial Workers Federation, expressed concern that the Rana Plaza collapse had occurred because brands ignored unsafe working conditions, poverty wages, and union busting within their supply chains.

She stressed that, twelve years later, it was clear real change would only be possible if brands were held accountable through legal obligations.

Kalpona warned that the CSDDD must not be weakened.