IndustriALL to press global brands for funding Rana Plaza victims

Monira Munni | Published: February 24, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

Jyrki Raina

The IndustriALL Global Union will launch a special campaign to put pressure for funds on the global brands that sourced garment products from factories at collapsed Rana Plaza. The fund will be used for compensating the victims and their families, a top executive of the rights group said.
The IndustriALL is initiating the public campaign as more than 15 brands are yet to join an agreed fund. The fund emerged following an agreement signed earlier by the IndustriALL Global Union, the Clean Clothes Campaign, Bangladesh's unions, the government and Bangladeshi manufacturers and employers' association for the Rana Plaza victims, he said.
"We understood that we have to go for public campaign to put pressure on brands. We are going for public campaigning as people are suffering," Jyrki Raina, general secretary of the IndustriALL Global Union told the FE in an interview during his visit to Dhaka.
The $40 million fund has been set up on the basis of the internationally-recognised principles for compensation. It takes into account pain and suffering and loss of income for families of the dead and injured workers, he said. Only four brands have confirmed their contribution to the initiative, he informed.
"Now we are struggling for the next phase. The leading brands have been asked how much they will contribute to the fund but still they are yet to confirm," he said. He sought all-out support to this initiative for their strong influence over these image-conscious clothing companies through public campaigning like writing on their websites and facebook pages.
The union leader said that they want to see an end to the process regarding commitments of compensation before the anniversary of the Rana Plaza building collapse.
Replying to a question regarding the Primark that now wants to pay according to its own scheme, Mr Raina said due to an inordinate delay in response from the company, the whole initiative would face a blow.
Besides, the Primark's reluctance to join the initiative could discourage other major retailers as they are waiting for confirmation from the big ones, Mr Raina added.
"The brands are not used to working together, but because of the Accord they are coming together," he added.
When asked about the manufacturers' reservation on some standards including the use of sprinkler and inclusion of local engineers in the factory assessment programme, the union leader said, these are the issues related to credibility of the programme in the eyes of the world and for not compromising on human lives.
"Fire safety is urgent to make the industry sustainable," he said.
"I am confident to resolve all the issues through discussion," Mr Raina said. He said some questions might arise with launching of new ideas or programmes but "we will fix it."
He went on: "The Accord will allow time and flexibility for fixing the problems, but the high standards must prevail for the credibility of the programme in the eyes of the world, and for not compromising on human lives. We can't afford any more dead young women and men."
The sprinkler requirement is limited to tall buildings, and the Accord will seek solutions so that the burden also on small and medium-sized enterprises is not too big, he said quoting the brands' commitment to help financing in this regard.
Regarding local engineers, the IndustriALL Secretary General said, the Accord will recruit 25 local engineers with the overseas ones to asses the fire, electrical and building safety in the garment units.
The ground-breaking element of the Accord, initiated by the IndustriALL Global Union, along with the Uni Global Union, is the legally binding commitment of the brands and buyers to stay in Bangladesh during the five years of the project and do production for two years, he said. He said this while replying to the question over the withdrawal of orders from factories located at shared or rented buildings.
He, however, underscored the need for continuation of annual revisions of the minimum wage for RMG workers in order to reach a reasonable standard of wage in the country and Bangladesh would not lose its competitiveness for this.
Terming union registration during the last year as a positive sign, he also asked the government to continue to work on the labour law reform as per the ILO Convention as the issue is more linked with the GSP status.