Spectrum Relief Scheme finally completed

by geertjan — last modified 2013-04-24 09:51

On April 16 2011, the severely injured survivors of the 2005 Spectrum factory collapse as well as the families of the deceased workers received a final lump sum compensation payment during a ceremony in Dhaka. Estimates from worker representatives peg the number of injured workers at 8, and the number of families of deceased workers between 58 and 64. CCC regrets that Inditex has failed to provide us with the exact numbers, despite numerous attempts during the last 14 months to obtain this information. The ceremony was attended by Inditex (Zara), BGMEA, BNC, NGWF, ITGLWF, the ambassador of Spain and the Minister of Commerce. The event was covered extensively in the national media.

With this payment the Spectrum Relief Scheme, originally agreed upon by Inditex and the ITGLWF, has finally been fully completed. Originally scheduled to be launched in September 2006 and estimated at a total value of 533,000 Euros the relief scheme intended to provide the survivors and the families of the victims with monthly pensions. This is in addition to earlier efforts to provide medical care and other types of emergency relief to the injured and the families of the deceased. The total amount finally payed remains unclear, also on this matter Inditex has refused to provide more detail. CCC is very pleased that this case if now closed and that the workers and families have received a fair and just compensation, but regrets the lack of transparency which we believe harms the credibility of the scheme.