History is being made in the nation of Bangladesh this week. A tragedy that may have as much impact on the working conditions for garment workers in that country as the horrible Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire of 1911 had in the New York City garment industry.
Nearly 400 people died in a collapsed building last week where garment workers for Western apparel retailers worked. It’s the deadliest tragedy to ever occur in the garment industry.
In response representatives from major retailers convened in Frankfurt, Germany to discuss what can be done to improve factory safety, but it’s not clear that any progress was made.
Novelist M. T. Anderson recently wrote about the cyclical, unregulated, nature of the industry in an op-ed piece for our partner The New York Times. He’s the author of “Feed,” “The Pox Party” and other novels.