Two years since the Rana Plaza tragedy: victims still waiting for compensation
On 24 April it was two years since the Rana Plaza building collapsed in Bangladesh, killing more than 1,100 garment workers and injuring thousands more.
But despite a strong campaign by the international labour movement and its NGO partners, victims have still not been fully compensated and workers continue to be exposed to unacceptable risks. Unions say that not a single factory in the country can be called 100% safe.
The compensation fund established after the disaster is still missing US$6 million out of the targeted US$30 million needed to compensate the victims.
Those still to pay up in full include international brands such as Mango, Walmart and Benneton.
As for safety, unions say that while important progress has been made, the fact is that all remediation is currently behind schedule, some by over six months.
The unions say they will use every tool within the legal binding Bangladesh Accord to ensure that the brands and factory owners fix the factories.
UNI Global Union General Secretary Philip Jennings says:
“It's outrageous that families who lost their mothers and breadwinners have still not been fully compensated because a group of multinationals cannot find it in their hearts or deep pockets to pay the US$6 million missing from the compensation fund. All brands need to join forces to end the funding crisis by closing the funding gap and stepping up the remedial work on factories.”
