A year after the tragedy, the scheme backed by the ILO, has raised only $15mn, well short of the $40mn target
Guardian News Service/Dhaka
A UN-backed scheme to compensate victims of Bangladesh's Rana Plaza factory collapse is barely one-third full, despite pressure on dozens of western brands to assume some financial responsibility for one of the world's deadliest industrial accidents of modern times.
A year after the tragedy, which killed more than 1,100 workers and injured another 1,000, the scheme backed by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), a UN agency, has raised only $15mn (£9mn), well short of the $40mn (£24mn) target.
Of the 28 brands linked to the Rana Plaza factory complex by campaigners, only about half have paid into the fund. They include the British retailer Bonmarché, Canada's Loblaw and Spain's Mango and Inditex.
But pressure is intensifying on those brands who have not paid up, such as Matalan, the Italian brand Benetton and US retailer JC Penney. All are now thought to be considering making a contribution after months of stonewalling. Matalan is being asked for $5mn.
Sam Maher, of the workers' rights group Labour Behind the Label, said: "For Matalan and its owners, $5mn is pocket money. For those families struggling to survive after losing not only family members but much-needed income it means the difference between remaining destitute or being able to rebuild their lives."
Matalan says it was not working with suppliers within Rana Plaza at the time of its collapse but has nevertheless supported victims via a separate scheme run by the Bangladeshi development organisation BRAC. The company says: "Matalan is fully committed to its role as a responsible retailer."
However, such support schemes are not seen to provide full compensation for loss of earnings by injured workers and the families of those who died.
The biggest contributor is the British fashion chain Primark, which is paying out a total of $12mn in support for victims, $8mn of which is counted as part of the ILO-backed scheme. It began making payments directly to workers this month, while other applications for compensation from the communal scheme have only just got under way.
Benetton, which had sourced from within Rana Plaza for some time and has acknowledged that some unauthorised orders were in production at the time of the disaster, has chosen to back a separate victim support scheme led by BRAC. It says it did so because it wanted to move quickly to support those affected. However, the Clean Clothes Campaign has called on Benetton to pay $5mn into the ILO-backed scheme.
Retailers that have made a contribution to the fund, but at a low level, such as US chains Walmart and the Children's Place as well as Canada's Loblaw, are also being called on to pay more. Some have put as little as $200,000 into the pot.
As victims from Rana Plaza still await help, the massive scale of the disaster has prompted a global response from brands that were finally shocked into combined action after years of industrial accidents in Bangladesh, the world's second biggest clothing manufacturer.
More than 150 brands, including Primark, Marks & Spencer and Topshop's owner Arcadia, have signed up to a legally binding factory safety deal, the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety, which is employing engineers to check the structural integrity of more than 1,600 factories in the south Asian country.
Another consortium, the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, backed by US retailers including Walmart and Gap, is checking more than 700 factories while the Bangladeshi government, supported by funding from the UK and Dutch governments, is aiming to look at those which fall outside the two international agreements.
To date the Accord has checked more than 200 factories and 50 a day are now being examined by a team of 24 inspectors. So far eight factories have been temporarily closed for structural improvements such as strengthening columns and details of the latest surveys are expected to be published later this month.
Among the issues revealed in the first 10 reports published last month were locked fire exits, dangerous electric cabling and overladen buildings. Factory owners who say they cannot afford to carry out the work are supposed to be given financial support, such as soft loans, by the brands that use their facilities. Meanwhile factory owners and brands are also supposed to ensure workers are compensated while the factories are closed.
However, one factory, previously used by Tesco, Primark and Debenhams, was closed after the owner refused to carry out remedial work.