UK clothing chain Matalan has bowed to pressure and made a donation to the UN-backed fund to compensate the victims of the Rana Plaza factory collapse – one day before the deadline for payments, reports Guardian. The retailer, however, refused to say how much money it had offered to the fund. The announcement came after shadow international development secretary Jim Murphy and shadow international development minister Alison McGovern wrote to Matalan boss Jason Hargreaves, the son of the chain’s billionaire founder John, asking him to reconsider the retailer’s position
and pay into the compensation fund, which is well short of its $40m (£24m) target.
The collapse of the Bangladeshi factory killed 1,129 people and injured 2,515 in April 2013. Matalan was the only large British retailer not to have donated money, according to the campaign group 38 Degrees.
The group’s Susannah Compton said: ‘This week, tens of thousands of people emailed, called and tweeted Matalan to tell them they couldn’t walk away from the devastating consequences of the Rana Plaza disaster.
‘It looks like good news for people power that Matalan has said that it will pay into the official compensation fund.
‘But it’s worrying to see that Matalan has clammed up about how much money it’s paying in. Until Matalan says exactly how much it has paid, its customers will still be waiting to see what kind of business it really is.’
Matalan has also contributed to the Rana Plaza Survivors Rehabilitation Scheme, which is managed by Bangladeshi development organisation BRAC. A Matalan spokesman said it had committed to giving 100 per cent of the money it earned from clothes made in Rana Plaza to the BRAC fund, but the amount would be small given that it only used the factory for a few weeks in February and March 2013.
Matalan’s chairman, Allan Leighton, said in a statement: ‘We are very proud of the work we have been doing with BRAC on the ground in Bangladesh over the last few months. Together we have helped hundreds of people who have been injured or lost loved ones in the Rana Plaza tragedy and we are looking at ways to make sure this help continues. We have also made a donation to ILO [International Labour Organisation].’
He added: ‘We wish to make it clear that we have never been ordered by any organisation to pay compensation or been found culpable for the tragedy. However, our company is happy to continue to make substantial contributions to help the people who need it most.’
Other British retailers linked to the factory, including Primark, Asda, Debenhams and N Brown, have contributed to the fund, which is backed by the International Labour Organisation, a UN agency, to support the victims’ families.
Murphy said: ‘The victims of Rana Plaza must be fairly compensated. Matalan should never have dragged their feet before paying into the fund, but now we need full transparency. Matalan – and other companies that profited from Rana Plaza – have a moral responsibility to pay their fair share. The victims’ trust fund is still woefully underfunded. Unless it reaches its target, those affected by this tragedy will lose out again.’
McGovern added: ‘Matalan responding to public concern for those affected by the disaster is the right thing for any company to do. British shoppers want to buy their clothes without fear that companies are unresponsive to worries about risks in their supply chain. We also need coordination action in the future to see safer workplaces for all, no matter where they happen to live.’
In a letter seen by the Guardian, Murphy and McGovern welcomed Matalan’s decision to participate in the Bangladesh accord on fire and building safety, set up after the disaster to improve inspections, provide financial capacity for safety improvements, and give employees the right not to work in unsafe conditions.
‘However, it is also important that retailers who have ties to Bangladesh’s garment sector play their part in ensuring that those directly affected by the Rana Plaza disaster are properly compensated,’ they wrote.
McGovern invited British firms linked to Rana Plaza to a meeting in Westminster with trade unions and campaigners earlier this month. Matalan was unable to attend but its sourcing team has agreed to meet with the shadow international development team in the near future.
-With New Age input
