US retailer Children’s Place, has contributed another $2 million to the Rana Plaza Donors Trust Fund, narrowing the shortfall to $2.7 million.
The fund was set up to provide assistance to victims of the 2013 disaster when 1129 workers were crushed to death when a multistorey building full of sweatshops collapsed.
The Children’s Place contribution followed another of $1.1 million by Italy’s Benetton earlier this month and $100,000 from H&M, which never actually sourced any clothes from the complex.
Last Thursday, Children’s Place working with the ILO convened a conference call of major brands and retailers in an attempt to fill the funding gap by the second anniversary of the Rana Plaza disaster. This call raised over $1 million in donations to the fund. In addition to those donations, Children’s Place contributed another $2 million to the fund, taking its total contribution to the compensation fund to $2.5 million.
“We have been calling on brands to work together to collectively resolve the funding crisis for months, and we welcome the initiative of The Children’s Place in doing so now,” said Sam Maher of the Clean Clothes Campaign.
This last minute initiative coincided with a Global Day of Action, for which activists participated in actions around the world, calling on all brands sourcing from Bangladesh to fill the current funding gap in compensation immediately, and to sign the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety. There were major events and demonstrations in at least 20 countries. Global actions included a mass demonstration held by trade unions and garment workers federations in Dhaka, a public art installation forming a concert of sewing machines in Genova, Italy, demonstrations outside stores including Mango, JC Penney, Zara, and Walmart in the US, and a flashmob outside stores in Berlin.
“There remains hope that brands and retailers will continue to step up and make additional contributions in order to fully fill the fund at $30 million, the amount required to provide the survivors and victims’ families with full and fair compensation,” said Maher.
“Over the past several months, there have been rumours of a forthcoming donation of around $4 million from the Bangladesh Alliance, which includes Walmart and a number of other US and Canadian brands with production in Bangladesh.
“The donations of The Children’s Place and others in the run up to the anniversary has brought us close to the target, but frustratingly, not close enough to finally complete this program.”
“For months Walmart has been delaying any further donation, claiming that instead the Alliance would be making a significant payment. With only $2.7 million left, the Alliance is presented with a unique opportunity to finally close the gap and we are calling on them to make good on this promise by May Day.”
The urgency and need for full compensation grows with each passing day. Many survivors have had to use their entirety of their compensation payments to date on medical fees and are living in abject poverty, awaiting the final installments. To date, claimants have only received 70 per cent of their calculated settlements.
* Image from USAS.org
