“It’s been one year since the deadliest garment factory tragedy in history, and most of the families affected have had little or no compensation. If something like this happened to workers in Canada there would be outrage and companies would be heavily fined.
“North American and European companies that pull in profits in the billion dollar range, and pay their executives millions of dollars a year should be able to pay the $40 million required to compensate the people whose lives have been severely affected by the Rana Plaza Building collapse.”
“It’s shameful that companies that make their clothes overseas for wealthy markets don’t feel they need to ensure proper standards for the workers that make their products.”
“The Children’s Place originally tried to claim they had no ties to the Rana Plaza, but the New York Times reported that customs information saw 120,000 pounds of clothing for The Children’s Place came from the largest of the five factories in the Rana Plaza. The Children’s Place clearly has a responsibility here, and a debt to pay to these people in Bangladesh.”
Irene Lanzinger
Secretary Treasurer
B.C. Federation of Labour
Event April 24, 2014
Today, activists from the B.C. Federation of Labour will be marching through Metrotown Mall in Burnaby, leafleting customers urging that The Children’s Place pay to compensate injured workers and the families of the workers killed in the Rana Plaza Building collapse last year.
Advocacy groups such as the Maquila Solidarity Network, the Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity, and international labour groups like Industrial and UNI Global have made a call to companies using the Rana Plaza factories to pay into a fund that would compensate those affected in Bangladesh.
Based on the 120,000 pounds of The Children’s Place clothes found in the factory after the collapse, the group estimates the amount of compensation required of The Children’s Place to be $8 million (US).
The B.C. Federation of Labour planned the action at The Children’s Place today in hopes that putting pressure on the company from consumers to do the right thing would prompt the company to pay. As part of the action today, the B.C. Federation of Labour handed a letter over to the store manager, calling on the company to pay up, and to sign on to the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety.
Backgrounder
On April 24, 2014 the Rana Plaza Building in Savar, Bangladesh, which housed five major garment factories, collapsed killing 1,138 workers and injuring over 2,500 more.
The Children’s Place clothing came from New Wave Style factory, the largest of the five factories in the Rana Plaza.
On May 1, 2013, The Children’s Place said “Our primary concern is getting financial aid and other services to the impacted people in Savar in a timely manner and we are fully committed to doing so.”
Find the link to the post on The Children’s Place Facebook Page here from May 1, 2013 https://www.facebook.com/thechildrensplace/posts/10151450623128019
The $450,000 payment made by The Children’s Place on March 26, 2014 covers less than six percent of the company’s share of the total compensation amount for victims and families and is less than a week and a half’s salary for CEO Jane Elfers.
The Children’s Place is being called upon to contribute $8 million to the Rana Plaza Donor Trust Fund to be used for compensating victims.
In 2013, $655.5 million was reported in gross profit by The Children’s Place.