Originally published on the CGS blog on September 18, 2013.
The world’s worst garment factory disaster occurred this past April in Bangladesh when the Rana Plaza collapsed, killing 1,132 workers and injuring over 2,500. Months later, surviving victims and families of the deceased have yet to be compensated for their losses. While Bangladesh’s government, garment factories, and foreign retailers continue to skirt their social responsibility, grieving families and injured workers are left without income or medical assistance.
The facility owned by Sohel Rana was eight stories high, built on swampy ground, and constructed with shoddy materials. According to an investigating committee appointed by the Bangladeshi government, Rana had permission to build a six-story structure but illegally added two floors to rent out to garment factories. The site was not fit to support a building of this proportion, nor was the building stable enough to accommodate industrial work with heavy machinery. On the day before the collapse, some workers noticed cracks in the walls and pillars, causing the Plaza briefly to shut down. However, employees were called back to work under threat of docked pay or termination just hours before the collapse.
Initially after the disaster, both Bangladesh’s government and the trade group the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association promised to provide financial assistance. However, only a small fraction of the 4,000 families affected has received any aid whatsoever and none have received the full sum they were promised. The head of BGMEA claims the factory owners cannot afford compensation because of the financial setback the collapse has caused them. Maybe next time they’ll think of that before setting up shop in a deathtrap.
The International Labour Organization chaired a conference last week to discuss victim compensation and invited 29 different companies who sold clothing supplied by the Rana Plaza. A total of nine actually attended. Notably absent from the U.S. contingent were Sears, J.C. Penney, Kmart, and Wal-Mart. (Of course, given how little concern Wal-Mart apparently has for the welfare of its workers here in the US, I suppose we can’t expect them to take much more interest in its exploited laborers overseas). In the end, the British company Primark was the only one to commit to providing assistance, pledging to pay all of the workers and their families for three months on top of their earlier payments and food aid totaling $1 million.
Though the collapse of the Rana Plaza has a uniquely high death toll, this type of incident is not unusual. Bangladesh’s $20 billion garment industry often keeps costs down by underpaying workers (sometimes as little as 38 dollars a month) and skimping on safety standards, which has resulted in such tragedies as the Tazreen factory fire.
Almost all the parties involved in the Rana Plaza disaster are at fault: the building owner who violated construction codes despite warnings of danger; the factory owners who chose to conduct operations in the unsafe facility; the Bangladeshi government who failed to enforce its safety regulations; and the American and European retailers who neglected to ensure their products were ethically sourced. Compensating victims seems to be the very least they could do, yet most are not making much of an effort.
