For the first time, five global clothing brands and retailers have raised $40 million (over Rs 247 crores) for victims of the Rana Plaza factory disaster in Bangladesh. Activists are further campaigning to put pressure on other brands to gather funds for donations. The collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh on April 24 last year killed over 1,100 workers and was the deadliest disaster in the history of the garment industry. It attracted global attention to the unsafe working conditions in some Bangladeshi factories, the rock-bottom wages earned by workers, and the lack of accountability and oversight on the part of importing global brands.
The companies, who have raised funds to donate include El Corte Inglés, Inditex, which includes the brand Zara, Loblaw Mango and Mascot. Now labour groups are pressurizing companies like Walmart, Children's Place and Benetton, which were linked to Rana Plaza tragedy. International Labour Organisation, which is managing the fund, has established formulas and a claims process had been established to pay lost wages, medical bills and other compensation to roughly 4,000 victims, including survivors of the factory collapse, who were injured and the families of the dead.
Two other retailers, Primark and Bonmarché, have expressed their intent to contribute, and Primark has already spent more than 3 million dollars for short-term assistance to victims. But activists insist that those not linked directly to Rana Plaza, must also pitch in.
shop.mango.com
