FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Families of workers killed making European sweaters still awaiting compensation

Action demanded at six-month anniversary of factory collapse

Amsterdam, October 11, 2005 - Adding insult to injury, survivors and families of the dead are STILL awaiting adequate compensation a full six months after the collapse of a garment factory in Bangladesh brought their lives to an abrupt and gruesome halt.

Shortly before 1 a.m. on the morning of April 11th workers in the Spectrum-Sweater factory built on top of a flood-prone former swamp in Savar, 30 km northeast of Dhaka, found their workplace, already the site of numerous rights violations, suddenly become even more nightmarish as the building came crashing down upon them. Sixty-four people died, at least 74 were wounded and hundreds were left jobless as a result of the collapse.

Spectrum, and the adjoining Shahriyar Fabric, produced orders for a wide range of European companies including Inditex (Spain), Carrefour, Solo Invest, CMT Windfield (France), Cotton Group (Belgium), KarstadtQuelle, New Yorker, Bluhmod (Germany), Scapino (Netherlands), and New Wave Group (Sweden). [For a complete list of buyers at Spectrum-Shahriyar please see http://www.cleanclothes.org/news/05-07-13.htm]

Not only did local public authorities fail to properly monitor safety at Spectrum Sweater, but the companies sourcing at this factory—many of whom claim to have policies and procedures in place to monitor labor practices at their supply facilities—failed to detect and remediate serious problems at Spectrum. Several are members of the Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI), which makes the dubious claims of “better code implementation then other monitoring systems”, “optimising working conditions” and “higher worker satisfaction” [source: BSCI website, http://www.bsci-eu.org/content/bsciflyerweb2.pdf].

"Negligence was the cause of the April 11 tragedy," said Shireen Akhter, of the Bangladesh women’s organisation Karmoijibi Nari. "This was a killing not an accident."

Just three days before the collapse a worker died, reportedly due to burns sustained from a boiler in the factory. Another worker was seriously injured three months earlier, when her clothing became tangled in wires and she was electrocuted. She remains hospitalized. The factory regularly violated Bangladesh labour law—ex. by paying workers under the minimum wage (just €10 per month), not giving them the one day off in seven they are entitled to, and having women work the night shift.

“It’s shocking that just prior to the collapse workers concerned about cracks in the walls were ignored by managers, who told them to continue working,” noted Ineke Zeldenrust, coordinator at the CCC International Secretariat. “Companies have to take more serious steps to see that the workplaces where they produce are safe, and that workers can organize and express their concerns, otherwise it’s workers who pay with their lives.”

For the past six months the CCC network has supported demands from Bangladesh unions and NGOs that appropriate relief and compensation be paid to the Spectrum-Shahriyar workers and their families and that structural measures to be taken in order to prevent future, similar incidents. However workers and families are still owed money and no long-term compensation agreement has been reached. [For a complete overview of this case see http://www.cleanclothes.org/appeals.htm]

Responding to local protests and international pressure, some companies have visited the site and have contributed emergency aid to the Spectrum workers; this has largely gone to cover the cost of medical care for the injured. However, none of the workers have received the severance pay they are legally entitled to and 50 workers are still owed wages (overtime payments). Compensation paid thus far through the local labour court and the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), reportedly from the owner, is insufficient and has primarily gone to families of the dead, not to those injured.

“My family has five members—my wife [also a worker at the factory], son, my sister and my mother. I was taking care of all of them. Some provisions will have to be made for me to live. We are both unemployed now. Now my wife has to take care of the family. I cannot do anything,” said a Spectrum-Shahriyar worker, whose arm was amputated after surviving 14 hours buried alive following the collapse.

Some companies have agreed to help set up and pay into a compensation trust fund, which is a significant step forward, however the details of how the fund will function and the amounts to be dispersed remain to be finalized. Importantly, there are still many companies who were sourcing at the factory that have made no concrete commitment to contribute.

“The BGMEA and some of the buyers have done something in response to this tragedy, but it is simply not enough” said Amirul Haq Amin, general secretary of the National Garment Workers Federation in Bangladesh.

The CCC continues to call upon all brands that sourced at the factories to:

(1) ensure that workers are paid what they are owed,

(2) make appropriate payments into the compensation trust fund, and

(3) participate in a comprehensive safety programme, including a structural review of multi-story buildings and the establishment of preventative safety measures in the garment sector, to ensure that a tragedy like this never takes place again.

The Clean Clothes Campaign, including trade unions and NGOs active in the network, will continue to follow-up on this case with the companies involved.

*** Shahida Sarker of the National Garment Workers Federation (Bangladesh), a union with members at the Spectrum factory, is in Germany Oct 12th – 30th and available to comment on this case.
Contact her at +49-163-3796920

For more on the Spectrum-Shahriyar case please contact:
Ineke Zeldenrust, CCC International Secretariat
Tel: +31-20-412-2785
E-mail: ineke@cleanclothes.org

The Clean Clothes Campaign is an international network of trade unions and NGOs that aims to improve conditions and empower workers in the global garment industry.