Nearly one year has passed since more than 100 people burned alive in the 2012 Dhaka Fire in a clothing factory in Tazreen, Bangladesh.

In memoriam of the tragic event, members and supporters of the United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) chapter at WSU held a memorial and awareness service outside the CUB Thursday.

Rachael Beck, one of the formal members of USAS at WSU, said the factory fire is an event people still need to be thinking about.

“Not all the workers were able to escape, and many burned alive,” Beck said. “It’s been a year, and we haven’t really seen anything change.”

The students of USAS partnered with the Association of Bangladesh Students and Scholars at WSU to perform a short re-enactment and narration of the event to raise awareness of the disaster and working conditions in sweatshops in Bangladesh.  

Selina Akter, another formal member of the organization, said she did not know the significance of the event until she looked into it further.

“I felt really bad when it happened,” Akter said. “I felt hopeless that time, but I didn’t really know who was responsible.”

In the factory fire that on Nov. 24, 2012, about 120 people died and more than 200 were injured, which made it the most deadly fire in the history of Bangladesh. There were no sufficient fire exits in the buildings, and workers were told to go back to work despite the fire alarm.

Top apparel brands that contract with the sweatshops in Bangladesh include Disney, Sears and a fashion line at Walmart.

Merina Gordon, a sophomore at WSU who attended and participated in the memorial, said the event helped bring the problems of sweatshop conditions back into the light.

“I thought it was a good way to remember the people who had this tragedy happen to them,” Gordon said.

Gordon said she was unaware of WSU’s affiliation with some of the brands that contract with factories and their working conditions.

“I was actually kind of shocked at the conditions,” she said. “By participating, it was a good way to open my eyes to what’s happening.”

USAS is a national student group with more than 150 chapters nationwide. The organization is devoted to raising awareness of sweatshops and working conditions throughout the United States and worldwide.

“We truly are united,” Beck said.

Beck said the WSU student chapter is new, but that does not deter the students and supporters from spreading the word for their cause.

“We all wear the hats,” Beck said. “It’s a coordinated effort with a lot of teamwork.”

After the service, members delivered a letter to the office of WSU President Elson S. Floyd calling for all companies contracted with WSU to sign the Accord on Building and Fire Safety. The agreement is a contract for all companies involved to secure sound building structure in factories and adequate escape routes for workers if an emergency does occur.

“All should be responsible,” Akter said. “Brands, factories, everyone should be responsible for the workers’ safety.”