Spectrum Sweater relief scheme close to completion
12 Apr '06
3 min read
“A year of work aimed at establishing a sustainable fund for the relief of the families of those workers who died and for those injured when the Spectrum Sweater Industries Limited factory collapsed on April 11 last year is nearing completion”, says the Global Union Federation representing workers in the sector.
According to Neil Kearney, the General Secretary of the Brussels-based International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federation (ITGLWF), this has involved documenting the more than 60 dead and the more than 80 injured and in-depth consultation with all stakeholders, including workers and trade unions, employers and the Bangladesh government on how such a fund should be organised.
Says Mr. Kearney: “Creating a profile on each of the families of the dead and of the injured necessitated the creation of three enquiry teams each comprised of a representative of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters' Association and of the Bangladesh National Council of Textile, Garment and Leather Workers together with a professional surveyor provided by Incidin, a respected local NGO.
“The families of the dead and many of the injured are scattered in villages across Bangladesh and each of these had to be visited to compile the profiles, including details of dependant relatives and of the extent of the disability of those injured. Since written records are not always kept in rural Bangladesh, much of the information gathered had to be cross-checked with local officials.
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