Dear friend,

Rescuers tried for 48 hours to free Rozina Begum from the rubble of the
Rana Plaza garment factory collapse. They failed. Then, they gave her a
saw. They told her she would have to saw her arm off to save her life. "I
didn't think about it," Begum said. "It took me hours. I kept passing out.
But in the end, I did it."^1

6 years after Rana Plaza, a Wall Street Journal investigation found that
Amazon is selling clothing from dozens of blacklisted Bangladeshi
factories that have been deemed too dangerous.^2

With Cyber Monday upon us, Amazon’s failure to commit to safety standards
literally puts lives in danger. Amazon may have overtaken Walmart as
America’s No. 1 clothing seller -- meaning if they agreed to the same
safety standards as other brands, Amazon could save lives. 

[ [link removed] ]Tell Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos: No one deserves to lose their life because
Amazon doesn’t want to do the right thing. Sign onto the Bangladesh Accord
on Fire and Building Safety before more people die.

Over 1,100 people died in the Rana Plaza factory collapse. After that,
major brands like H&M, Fruit of the Loom, and American Eagle Outfitters
agreed to commit to factory safety standards like fixing crumbling
buildings, fire alarms, and sprinklers.^3

But Amazon didn’t sign on. According to a Wall Street Journal
investigation, Amazon offers clothing from dozens of Bangladeshi factories
that have been blacklisted by other retailers as being too dangerous. 

Some of the clothing was sold directly by Amazon and others from
third-party sellers. Amazon doesn’t list much information about the
factories they source from and doesn’t require third-party sellers to
disclose their list of factories.

Other brands like H&M have committed to the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and
Building Safety, a legally binding agreement to building and worker safety
between worker unions, international monitoring organizations, and apparel
corporations. 

The Accord has undoubtedly saved lives -- which is why it’s so important
Amazon signs onto it.

[ [link removed] ]Tell Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos: Lives are worth more than corporate greed.
Sign onto the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety before more
lives are lost.

This isn’t the only case of Amazon running its platform in ways that can
put customers and workers in danger. Thousands of products listed on
Amazon have been deemed unsafe by federal agencies, are deceptively
labeled, or even banned by regulators -- including unsafe children’s toys
and recalled motorcycle helmets.^4

Amazon’s platform is too big to be managed responsibly by a single
mega-company that has its hands in everything. The unchecked monopoly
power of Amazon has resulted in a platform that allows the sale of
garments made under dangerous conditions.

Big tech companies like Amazon are literally putting lives in danger,
which is just one of the many reasons Demand Progress members like you
have been calling for a breakup of big tech monopolies.

Cyber Monday is coming up soon, which means more pressure on Amazon and
its third party sellers to sell products. We must demand Amazon signs onto
the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety before Amazon’s failure
to act results in more deaths.

[ [link removed] ]Tell Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos: Sign onto the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and
Building Safety before more lives are lost.

Thanks for speaking up for human rights,

Salma and the team at Demand Progress

[ [link removed] ]DONATE

 

Sources:
1. The Wall Street Journal, "A Year Later, Rana Plaza Survivors Struggle,"
[ [link removed] ]April 23rd, 2014.
2. The Wall Street Journal, "Amazon Sells Clothes From Factories Other
Retailers Blacklist," [ [link removed] ]October 23rd, 2019.
3. The Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety, "Accord
Signatories," [ [link removed] ]November 20th, 2019.
4. The Wall Street Journal, "Amazon Has Ceded Control of Its Site. The
Result: Thousands of Banned, Unsafe or Mislabeled Products," [ [link removed] ]August
23rd, 2019.
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