A new platform to protect the rights of workers in the readymade garment, named 24 April, monday demanded full disclosure of all information related to the Rana Plaza building collapse and the Tazreen Fashion fire.
The aim of the platform is to work as a pressure group to ensure workers’ rights, the group said at a launching programme in front of the BGMEA headquarters in the city.
The organisation is collecting information about the victims of Rana Plaza and Tazreen Fashion, which will be uploaded into its official website on April 24, 2014, the first anniversary of the Rana Plaza tragedy that claimed at least 1,130 lives.
It also urged the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) to publish detailed information about the employees who worked at the five garment units inside Rana Plaza.
The organisation also asked for details of funds received from various sources for the victims, and demanded compensation for the injured and the families of the deceased.
The group’s leaders and activists alleged that the BGMEA embezzled funds collected for compensating the victims of Rana Plaza. They claimed that the association got Tk200m, but spent Tk60m to pay salaries and Tk20m on the treatment of Rana Plaza victims.
Criticising the apex body’s role, they urged the government to take a visible stance to compel it to provide compensation to the victims.
Nasim Akhter Hussain, professor of politics and government at Jahangirnagar University, said BGMEA works to protect the interests of factory owners.
She said: “Sitting inside an illegal building, the BGMEA is working for the owners. But who will protect the workers’ rights?.”
The group also requested the BGMEA not to give misleading information about the amended Labour Law 2013, adding that the law mostly favoured garment owners.
Meanwhile, a group of sacked garment workers of ESE Network staged a protest rally, demanding salaries and Eid bonuses, in front of BGMEA office yesterday. The protesting workers also demanded a stop to random sacking and withdrawal of cases filed against 300 unidentified workers of the factory.
At one stage, the workers blocked the building’s main gate, but withdrew after authorities assured them that they will get their dues.
