Clothing retailers that sold garments made at the collapsed Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh failed to reach an agreement on compensation after talks, with Primark, saying it will pay more short-term aid.Primark, a unit of Associated British Foods Plc (ABF), said it will pay salaries to all the factory’s workers and their families for three months, declining to disclose the amount. This follows earlier payments and food aid of about $1 million to victims and their families. The retailer has registered the details of 3,333 workers as part of the program. “The company remains concerned about the length of time it is taking to agree on a framework for long-term compensation,” Primark said in a statement recently.
Of the 29 brands that were invited to the recently held meeting in Geneva, only nine attended, the IndustriALL Global Union said in a statement. “Consumers will be shocked that almost half year has passed since the Rana Plaza disaster, with only one brand so far providing any compensation,” Monika Kemperle, Assistant General Secretary of IndustriALL, said in a statement. “I respect those brands that came to these meetings. But I cannot understand brands that are not around the table.”
One of the absentees, Benetton Group SpA, said the meeting wouldn’t provide a framework to address compensation.Benetton, which joined a safety initiative called Bangladesh Fire & Building Safety Accord earlier this year, said it participated in discussions over the last two months that were aimed at setting forth a multi-stakeholder framework to address compensation.“The meeting wouldn’t provide such a structure mainly due to lack of clarity around the objectives as well as the nearly complete the lack of involvement allowed to several key stakeholders,” Benetton Chief Executive Officer BiagioChiarolanza said in a statement.
