By Emily Bruzzo, News Editor

Published in print Apr. 15, 2015

April 24, 2013, nearly three years ago, the collapse of the eight-story factory Rana Plaza near Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, became what is considered to be the worst structural disaster in the history of the garment industry, with over 1,130 people found dead and more than 2,500 injured.

The catastrophe incited protests from organizations and labor unions around the world, and within three weeks, The Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety (the Accord) was formed.

The Accord, in its initial days, attracted multibillion dollar heavy hitters like: Sweden’s H&M, Holland’s C&A and Great Britain’s Primark and Tesco— all retailing giants that source in Bangladesh.

The organization pledged to implement rigorous safety inspections of factories and to commit to the people of Bangladesh by agreeing to make the contract legally binding.

Organization members assured the world that transparency was the top priority and said public reports would be released and unions would be involved.

The organization was lauded for its efforts, and it has grown to represent over 190 companies.

Amidst the chaos of the Bangladesh tragedy and the Accord members’ rush to demonstrate a commitment to change, a silent war began to brew.

After increasing pressure from critics, mega-corporations such as Wal-Mart and Gap formed a separate organization, the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety (the Alliance), in July 2013, roughly three months after the Rana Plaza disaster.

Though unclear at first if the organization was also legally binding— such as its Accord counterpart— the Alliance promised to uphold the same values established by the Accord, and asserted that it was molded in the same way as the Accord, with elements such as diligent factory inspections, public reports and payments for factory renovations and workers funds.

The Alliance received immediate backlash from proponents of the Accord, with many arguing the organization was a mechanism for corporate giants to avoid accountability and maintain control.

The Alliance has now grown to represent 26 companies— all mostly based in North America— and it maintains that it is a legally-binding contract and it is in no way different from the Accord.

The United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS), and many organizations like it, feel differently.

USAS activists began protesting Alliance members, and soon targeted VF Corporation, the parent company to leading brands such as Wrangler, Lee Jeans, JanSport, Reef and The North Face.

VF Corporation has contracts with 90 factories in Bangladesh, employing roughly 190,000 workers. USAS members and other interest groups accuse VF Corporation of not only avoiding responsibility in Bangladesh, but also violating workers’ rights in other third-world countries.

USAS members at universities across the United States have demanded that VF products, such as JanSport, be pulled from campus bookstores.

Thus far, 16 universities have cut contracts with VF Corporation.

26 universities have agreed to stipulate Accord affiliation as a precondition for brands to contract with them in the first place.

UNC-Greensboro USAS members have made such demands of UNCG administration; however, Chancellor Linda Brady refused to cut ties with VF.

As the three-year anniversary for the Rana Plaza disaster approaches, protestors have become more energized, delivering a letter last Thursday to the VF headquarters (based in downtown Greensboro, NC) demanding that the corporation join the Accord, and requesting to speak with the CEO.

The Carolinian has researched the topic at hand extensivly, and has gathered multiple perspetives about this contentious issue. The news section has been devoted, in its entirety,  to the coverage of recent protests and interviews that are meant to elucidate both sides of the argument.