Full payment demanded as Trust Fund falls short

Speakers at a programme Thursday reiterated the call for full payment of compensation money to the Rana Plaza victims and ensuring workers' rights in the apparel sector.
Recognising the progress made so far in the RMG sector, they also called for investigating anti-union activities, completing the remaining factory assessment under National Plan of Action, and continuation of the improvement work including corrective steps.
The observations came at a commemoration event 'Rana Plaza Two Years On: Towards a Safer RMG Sector for Bangladesh,' organised jointly by the government and the ILO to mark the second Rana Plaza anniversary held in a city hotel where State Minister for Labour Mujibul Haque Chunnu was present as chief guest.
A minute's silence was observed at the event in remembrance of the 1,136 people who lost their lives in the Rana Plaza collapse on 24 April 2013.
"First and foremost, we need to close the chapter on the compensation for the Rana Plaza victims with great urgency and transparency," said Martine van Hoogstraten, Charge d'Affaires of Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Bangladesh.
An amount of $6 million is still needed to make the full payments, she said stressing the need for identification of missing victims, coordinated efforts to minimise the discrepancies in the overall compensation framework.
"An urgent priority is to finalise the rules of the amended labour law, these are essential to guide the establishment of the occupational health and safety committee in factories," said Canadian High Commissioner Pierre Benoit Laramee.
Regarding factory remediation, he said this has only just begun and access to low-cost financing remains critical and they would follow the progress on remediation and implementation of corrective action plans closely in the coming year.
Calling to properly implement the EU Sustainability Compact, Pierre Mayaudon, Ambassador and Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Bangladesh urged the government to investigate the anti-union activities in the garment sector and bring necessary changes in the Export Processing Zones' law.
Terming the anti-union activities 'illegal and criminal acts', the US Ambassador Marcia Stephens Bloom Bernicat said "The government of Bangladesh has been slow or unable to respond."
"Significant progress has been made, but many challenges remain. Completing the remaining factory inspections is high priority and government must verify factories claiming to be closed as well as deal with those which will not cooperate," said Tomoko Nishimoto, International Labour Organization's (ILO) Assistant Director-General and Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific .
Meanwhile, the Rana Plaza compensation process has highlighted the need for an Employment Injury Insurance scheme that benefits workers and the industry alike, she said.
Commerce Senior Secretary Hedayetullah Al Mamoon, Laobur Secretary Mikail Shipar, British High Commissioner Robert Winnington Gibson, Bangladesh Employers Federation President Tapan Chowdhury, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association President Md Atiqul Islam, Chairperson, National Coordination Committee for Workers Education Abdul Mukit Khan, JatiyoSramik League President Sukkur Mahmud, and IndustriAll Bangladesh Secretary General Roy Ramesh Chandra, also spoke.
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