Intl_Solidarity_Bangladesh_textile_workerIn February 2016, CUPE participated in a multi-union delegation to Bangladesh. We were hosted by the Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity (BCWS), a center founded in 2001 by garment workers who were organizing for better working conditions, wages and labour rights in factories sourced by some of the richest corporations in the world.

Workers in Bangladesh, mostly women, are courageously organizing for better working conditions and to be able to join independent trade unions.

When the Rana Plaza building collapsed and killed over 1,200 workers in 2013, CUPE reached out to the BSWS to find out what we could do in solidarity with the workers and their families. In the following months, we learned that major global brands were sourcing from Rana Plaza. We were stunned to learn that some of the richest corporations in the world were refusing to compensate the victims and their families for their injuries. We joined the global campaign to hold these corporations accountable.

CUPE continues to support the efforts of these remarkable workers who are organizing in the face of intimidation and harassment.

On the 4th anniversary of the Rana Plaza clothing factory collapse we encourage CUPE members and their families to support a new campaign called No More Operating in the Dark. The aim of the campaign is to target Mark’s, Sport Chek and Canadian Tire and compel them to raise their human rights standards in the factories they source from Bangladesh.

  • Sign the petition here.

  • Retweet CUPE’s support for the campaign.

  • Join the Thunderclap campaign. All of the Twitter accounts that sign up will auto post on Monday, April 24th in memory of the 4th anniversary of the Rana Plaza disaster.