As annual inflation running close to 10 per cent hikes living costs, union leaders representing the sector’s 4 million workers are demanding a raise in the sector’s minimum wage to 23,000 taka (US$217) from the 8,000 taka (US$75) fixed in 2018 and revised every five years.

“Earlier I could buy food items for two to three days with just 100 taka, but now I can’t afford the same items with even 500,” said Jolly Akter, 27, a union leader who works as a garment quality inspector.

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Survivors of Bangladesh factory collapse still waiting for justice 10 years later

Survivors of Bangladesh factory collapse still waiting for justice 10 years later

A spokesperson for the government-led minimum wage board – which also includes factory owners and labour representatives – did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

She also urged them to back another key demand – insurance cover for workers who are injured while doing their jobs – following the government’s launch of a pilot last year.

Miedema said brands should factor in the costs related to the injury insurance scheme in the sales price of their garments, and that the pilot should turn into a permanent system enshrined in the country’s labour laws.

Survivors’ struggles

The site where the eight-storey Rana Plaza building once stood is now an open field, overgrown with lush greenery. A small cement sculpture depicting a clenched fist holding a hammer and sickle commemorates the victims of the disaster.

“Sanjit – just two years older than me and my closest sibling – supported me as I was the only one from the family to pursue higher education,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation, standing besides the empty plot.

The family received a one-off compensation payment under a deal between the government and brands that sourced from the collapsed factories, but Rajib said there was no long-term programme to help survivors and victims’ families to recover.

More than US$30 million was paid out as compensation to the victims, but the payments concluded in 2015.

The lack of adequate social protection schemes in Bangladesh meant many injured Rana Plaza survivors were left to fend for themselves, said Amirul Haque Amin, president of the National Garment Workers Federation, a trade union.

“Many of the survivors are struggling to find a decent livelihood,” he said.

About 2,500 people were injured in the garment industry’s deadliest recorded incident, many of them seriously.

“I’ve considered myself dead since the day the building fell on me, as I’m unable to earn, and therefore, am living an inhumane life,” said Shila Begum, a survivor.

Yanoor Akter, who was 15 when she worked at a factory housed in Rana Plaza, survived the disaster but was left with debilitating injuries to her legs and abdomen and has struggled to find stable employment as a result.

“The crippling injury means I cannot get a regular job,” she said, calling for long-term support measures for survivors such as permanent government jobs.

“I’ve knocked many doors and talked to journalists to get my story heard over the years, but nothing has changed, and I feel no one is listening,” she said.

Bangladeshi garment workers want higher wages, get police brutality

For Nilufa Begum, nothing is the same as before. Back then, she had been lying under the rubble for a good nine hours. Today, she suffers from high blood pressure, a kidney condition, a tumour in her chest and a mutilation of her right leg, the 42-year-old says. “I spent 11 months in hospitals and still I can’t walk anymore.”

She has received compensation of 215,000 taka (about US$2,040) from fashion companies, she says, but that is not enough for anything. “My medical treatment has already cost me much more, and I can no longer earn money for my family.”

Shila Begum joined a hunger strike along with some 30 other survivors at the accident site marking the 10th anniversary of the tragedy. Hundreds paid tribute to the victims by placing floral wreaths at a makeshift monument at the accident site.

They demanded that the wounded workers must be given life-long support for medical treatment and compensation for their suffering because of the accident.

Before crowds of mourners and protesters, Begum called on the government and Western buyers to ensure that they would be compensated in addition to the support that Western brands had provided in the aftermath of the tragedy.

Labour rights activists, relatives and friends of the victims have also been joining marches and staging rallies asking for more financial support for the families of those killed and injured.

They said those who lost their working abilities must be given an adequate lifelong compensation.

Amin from the National Garments Workers Federation said the government must expedite the trial of building owner, Sohel Rana, and others responsible for the killing of so many workers at a time.

“We cannot consider it an accident, and because of negligence it seemed it was pre-ordained,” said the trade union leader, demanding maximum punishment of Rana and his associates for the what he describes as “murders”.

The president of the Bangladesh Textile Producers and Exporters Association, Faruque Hassan, said wage increases were being considered, but they would also increase production costs.

At the same time, the country wants to further increase its textile exports, which are an important source of income. Since the Rana Plaza collapse, the volume of textile exports has already doubled – to more than US$42 billion a year at last count.

Safety improvements

Since 2013, the disaster has put pressure on global brands to improve factory conditions, and substantial safety improvements have been made, labour advocates and industry leaders say.

“The Rana Plaza collapse was the ‘never again’ moment for Bangladesh’s garment sector,” said Amin from the garment workers federation.

The legally binding Accord held thousands of inspections and banned unsafe factories from supplying its signatory buyers, helping make some 1,600 factories safer for 2 million workers, according to labour activists.

At the country’s RMG Sustainability Council, which took over Accord’s work in 2020, communication head Zobaidur Rahman Soeb said factory owners are now keen to ensure safe conditions, adding that Bangladesh’s garment industry had become “one of the safest in the world”.

But as the industry faces new challenges such as increased automation and rising heat due to climate change, labour rights advocates say new measures are necessary.

“A broader definition of health and safety is needed that will protect workers from not only building and fire accidents but also emerging hazards such as heatwaves,” said Jason Judd, executive director of the ILR Global Labor Institute at Cornell University which focuses on improving global labour practices. “More should be done,” he said.

Rana Plaza survivors still struggling with their injuries have more pressing concerns.

Bangladesh’s government pledged to cover victims’ medical costs, but Shila Begum, 32, said she struggles to access the healthcare her injuries require. Her hand was seriously injured, she broke three vertebrae, and severe internal injuries led her to undergo a hysterectomy.

“What I need is proper rehabilitation and continued, accessible medical support,” she said at a news conference for victims last week. “It’s really hard to go on living like this.”