Press Release No. 29/2015 IG Metall Calls for Compensation for Victims of the Rana Plaza Factory Collapse: “The time for...

Frankfurt am Main – Two years after the collapse of a garment factory in the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh, IG Metall believes that German companies have not yet done enough to adequately compensate the victims and to bring about lasting improvements in working conditions in the garment industry.

“German companies must not shirk their responsibility. Those who have production carried out in dilapidated factories must also pay for the consequences. The time for looking the other way must be over,” said Wolfgang Lemb, executive board member of IG Metall, on Friday in Frankfurt.

In the disaster on April 24, 2013, approximately 25 kilometers northwest of the capital Dhaka, 1,127 people were killed and over 2,000 others were injured. Together with international labor federations such as IndustriAll Global and the “Clean Clothes Campaign,” IG Metall is calling for adequate compensation for the victims of the disaster. Several million dollars are still missing from the compensation fund because some German companies have not yet made any payments at all. “Given the high profits that German companies derive from exploitative and life-threatening working conditions at their suppliers in countries like Bangladesh, this is simply immoral and inhumane,” said Lemb.

“Textile workers worldwide need higher wages, better working conditions, and recognized union representation,” Lemb demanded. However, he added that stricter liability laws are also needed to oblige German companies operating abroad to ensure workplace safety and better working conditions. IG Metall is therefore actively involved in the National Alliance for Sustainable Textiles, which was launched by Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Gerd Müller. “It is important to us that as many German textile companies as possible join the alliance to work seriously toward improving global textile production,” said Lemb.