May 15, 2014

(Photo Credit: IndustriALL Families of the missing)

April 24^th marked the one-year anniversary of one of the most devastating industry tragedies in history. Yet, despite global outrage at the number of unnecessary worker deaths and injuries suffered as a result of this preventable disaster, most of the survivors and families of those killed are still waiting for just compensation.

The deadly collapse of Rana Plaza, a building in the Savar district of Dhaka, Bangladesh that housed five garment factories, showed the world the true cost of fast and cheap fashion. At least 1,138 people were killed and approximately 2,500 injured. Nearly all were garment workers forced to go back into their factories despite fears the building was unsafe.

Store actions were organized in a number of major cities across Europe, the United States and Canada to commemorate the one-year anniversary, while memorial events and protests were being held in Bangladesh to demand that companies implicated in the disaster pay long overdue compensation to survivors and victims’ families.

The Rana Plaza Donors Trust Fund came into effect on February 18, 2014 and to date has received approximately US$17 million from individuals, organisations and companies. This amount is well below the US$40 million required to adequately compensate survivors and victims’ families for lost income and medical expenses. (See the donor breakdown here).

MSN continues to lobby Canadian companies sourcing from Bangladesh to make substantial contributions to the Trust Fund.