At least 314 garment workers burned or suffocated to death in two factory fires in Pakistan on 12 September.
Twenty-five people died in a shoe factory in the city of Lahore, when chemicals caught alight; 289 died in a garment factory in Karachi.
In the Karachi fire, workers were trapped inside the burning building because exits had been locked and they could not open security grilles at the windows.
Factory bosses and government officials, who have turned a blind eye to the flouting of health and safety regulations, are being prosecuted in the wake of this national scandal. But, equally, as the tragedy fades from the headlines, Pakistan's sweatshop bosses will be prosecuting their normal business of squeezing profits from workers slaving in unsafe conditions.
LabourStart have launched an international appeal, addressed to the Pakistani authorities: “Make textile factories safe”.
To support the work of Pakistani trade unions, we can also put pressure on clothing retailers who source from Pakistan.
