BSS, Dhaka :
Global labour rights groups demanded all brands associated with Rana Plaza pay up and ensure the survivors and victims families receive the much needed support before the first anniversary of the tragic building collapse on April 24.
IndustriALL and UNI Global Union and leading labour rights network Clean Clothes Campaign made the demand two weeks before the first anniversary of the devastating building collapse as the clothing brands contributions to Donor Trust Fund remain shockingly low.
The Donor Trust Fund, which provides a central coordinated approach to collecting claims and distributing the money, needs US$ 40 million in contributions to ensure that the 1,138 victims families and over 2,000 survivors receive much needed payments for loss of income and medical expenses.
To date just half the companies who have been connected to a factory in the building have made commitments, and the fund has just one third of the funds required.
“Currently 15 brands, including Benetton, Matalan, Adler Modemarkte and Auchan, have failed to even make an initial contribution to the Donor Trust Fund,” says Phillip Jennings of UNI Global Union, “we call on all of them to immediately make a significant donation to the Donor Trust Fund – the only inclusive, transparent and ILO-recognised compensation programme for Rana Plaza victims.”
Not all of the brands who have made donations have publicly stated how much they have contributed, however those that have typically donated between US$500,000 and US$1 million.
Ineke Zeldenrust, of Clean Clothes Campaign says “The 29 brands that sourced from factories within Rana Plaza either at the time of the collapse or in the recent past have combined profits of well in excess of US$22 billion a year, they are being asked to contribute less than 0.2% of these profits to go some way towards compensating the people their profits are built on – the Donor Trust Fund has been open for two months now and it is still a long way off the US$40 million that is required.
The Arrangement clearly has the necessary buy-in: the current donor list includes some of world’s biggest brand names, from both Europe and the US, but they are coming in frankly shockingly low levels given what they can afford.
It is clear that with two weeks to go and over two thirds of the money still needed even those brands who have made contributions need to make further donations, to bring their contributions up to a more significant level.
Only Primark have donated a more significant amount, with US$1 million directly to the Fund and payments made directly to workers in New Wave Bottoms, the factory they were sourcing from, implemented under the auspices of the scheme, taking their donation up to just under US$ 7 million.
The Donor Trust Fund is open to all brands to donate to, regardless of whether they were sourcing from Rana Plaza or not. The collapse of Rana Plaza was symptomatic of an industry wide problem and as such we encourage all brands with a sourcing relationship with Bangladesh to make a contribution. Already brands N Brown Group, Gap, and VF Corporation have made voluntary donations in this manner.
