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22 March, 2010
The International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers’ Federation (ITGLWF) is calling on the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers’ and Exporters’ Association (BGMEA), as well as sourcing companies that use the Garib & Garib knitwear factory in Gazipur, Bangladesh, to better compensate the families of 22 workers killed and 50 others injured in a factory fire on 25 February.
The ITGLWF is demanding that the BGMEA and multinational sourcing companies join the Global Union Federation in setting up a relief scheme that fully meets the needs of families of the deceased, as well as those injured at Garib & Garib in Gazipur, some 30 kilometres outside of Dhaka.
To date, the BGMEA has stepped forward with payment of 200,000 taka (€2,085) to each family, while owners of the Garib & Garib have given a mere pittance to families to cover funeral expenses – 2,085 taka (€150).
Left, ITGLWF General Secretary, Patrick Itschert
Said ITGLWF General Secretary Patrick Itschert, “The establishment of a multi-stakeholder team to determine the needs of those affected, on the basis of field research into the demographics of the victims” is essential for fairness. “Involving the (BGMEA) in this exercise in particular is an important means of making them aware of the level of compensation necessary to assist families in such circumstances,” he added.
The ITGLWF is offering to hold a round-table meeting in Dhaka with the employers’ association and the brand names to implement the compensation scheme. The union federation said that in 2005, following the collapse of the nine-story Spectrum garment factory that killed 64 and seriously injured 84 others in Savar, Bangladesh, ITGLWF and Spanish retailer Inditex established a compensation protocol that could serve as the model for victims and workers of Garib & Garib.
To date, only H&M of Sweden and Teddy SpA (Terranova) of Italy have confirmed they source from Garib & Garib, but neither company has yet to announce its compensation to victims.
In the evening of 25 February, an electric short-circuit on the second floor of the factory caused a fire, trapping workers because stairwells were blocked by goods and production materials. Many of the workers retreated up several flights of stairs, where they were consumed by rising black smoke and heat. Reportedly, security guards on duty did not know how to operate fire extinguishers and water hydrants. Of the 22 victims, 15 were women.
Only seven months before, in August 2009, another fire at the Garib & Garib factory in Gazipur killed a firefighter and injured seven workers.