Hi, this is Imran Ahmed, founder and CEO of the Business of Fashion, and this week on the

BOF podcast, we're pleased to share another inspiring talk from Voices 2018. By now, you all know about

the story of Rana Plaza. Five years ago, deep cracks appeared in an eight-story building just outside Dhaka,

Bangladesh, where thousands of garment workers made clothes for Western fast-fashioned brands.

That morning, workers begged the owners not to go into work that day. But with huge

multi-million dollar contracts to fill, to keep up with the pace of fast-fashioned consumers, managers

said that work had to go on. Just before 9 a.m., the building collapsed, and in less than 90 seconds,

1,134 people were killed. Unions called it a mass industrial homicide, and the plight of the

Bangladeshi garment worker was global news, but for all the wrong reasons.

Last year, I had the pleasure of getting to know Kalpona Akhtar, an inspiring woman who graced the cover of our special B.OF 500 print edition in September,

where we recognized her for her tireless work in the name of more than four million Bangladeshi garment workers.

Calpona has quite literally risked her life for this cause.

The night before our cover shoot, Calpona and I had dinner, and she told me some harrowing

stories about her experiences as a garment worker and as a union organizer.

And although some things have changed for the better,

the day-to-day lives of garment workers are still terribly difficult.

Here's Calpona Akhtar at Voices 2018.

Okay, thank you so much, Imran,

and Voisers, for this opportunity to bring me in here,

because with me, it is 4 million voice coming from Bangladesh

and many more millions from other production countries as well.

So first, let me introduce the Bangladesh Apparel industry to you.

...