WE CAN STOP THIS TYPE OF TRAGEDY!! PLEASE DO YOUR PART AND SIGN THE PETITION

“It is a common misconception that the only way to produce cheap clothes is to use substandard conditions for garment workers... It is also a misconception that the only way to guarantee proper working conditions is to boycott clothes made in the developing countries.... The easiest place for clothing retailers to minimize production costs is labour..... But if consumers demand it loudly enough, companies will respond by providing better wages and working conditions.”- Globe and Mail, Apr 26^th, 2013

“Companies like Walmart and the Gap have offered some half-measures on safety for garment workers, but they can do much more. In addition to demanding and paying for safer factories, they need to put pressure on the owners and Ms. Hasina to allow unions and improve inspections. They are Bangladesh’s customers, and what they say carries real weight. It’s time they spoke up.”- New York Times, Apr 26^th, 2013

A building in Bangladesh collapsed and killed 100’s of workers... thousands more are suffering from the injuries they sustained in the collapse.... The people who lost their lives or were injured in this horrific tragedy were all there for ONE reason only...to earn an honest living.

The building had been condemned by government authorities a few days before the collapse, but the owners of the factory kept it open. Caring more for their bottom line than human life.  The workers were forced to make a difficult choice. Go to work in a death trap or lose their jobs. Really there was no choice for these unfortunate people who typically have extended families that rely on the meagre wages they earn to survive. This disaster clearly demonstrates that Government, factory owners, foreign buyers and related industry agencies do not have appropriate systems in place to ensure the safety of garment workers in Bangladesh.

We, the consumers of these products, demand that our retailers take action to improve the working conditions of the garment workers in the garment factories from which they source their products. 

We are not demanding that our retailers stop sourcing their products from facilities in  Bangladesh; all we are demanding is that our retailers exercise their moral responsibility to ensure, at a minimum,  a proper and safe work environment.  The hidden cost of $5 jeans or $1 t shirts is the unimaginable suffering of the families of these dead and injured workers and that price is too high. We must do our part to raise awareness of the working conditions in these factories and pressure all players in the supply chain from manufacturers to retailers to do all they can to change their practices so that  tragedies such as this one never happen again..

The retailers from whom we buy these products are worth billions of dollars. The amount of money and effort it would take for them to ensure a safe work environment for these garment workers is next to nothing. Please sign this petition and circulate it to as many people as you can. We can make those silent voices heard through our action. Please make it happen. We will send this petition to the clothing companies and demand immediate action from them.

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