#enddeathtraps

Over 150 people marched through SoHo in NYC today to demand that US retailers take responsibility for safety conditions in factories that manufacture their products. Companies like Gap (which owns Old Navy, Banana Republic and Piperlime), American Eagle, Walmart and Target have refused to sign the Bangladesh Fire and Safety Accord, which provides an important first step toward assuring all workers a safe workplace.

“Mothers, sisters, daughters, wives, what’s the discount on their lives!” 1200 deaths in Bangladesh factories, and @PiperLime still won’t sign the Accord on Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety. http://enddeathtraps.org

25 activists affiliated with 99 Pickets and other local solidarity groups staged a demonstration inside the Target store at the Atlantic Center Mall in Brooklyn, NY, calling on the company to sign onto the recently negotiated Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety.

The action drew a heavy police and security guard presence that eventually forced the group from the store after about 15 minutes. As they reached the store exit, repeated attempts were made to deliver a letter to the store manager on this issue, but nobody on staff would receive the letter. The group continued the demonstration as they made their way to the mall exit, and along the way, a letter was successfully delivered to the Children’s Place, another company that sources apparel from Bangladesh and that has not signed the Accord.

At the mall exit, amidst some confusion, an incident occurred where one of the activists was arrested and taken to the nearby 78th police precinct. More news will be forthcoming as we get it.