Protests marked the second anniversary Monday of the fire at Tazreen Fashion Ltd in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Workers gathered in memory of the dead and the wounded from the tragic incident on Nov. 24, 2012 when 111 workers died as a fire swept through the factory.
Labor leaders, families of the victims and survivors treated it as both memorium and a call to action for compensation for victims.
Carrying placards with the names of missing workers, they raised their voices and spoke of the need for brands to come forward and replace their pledges and their silence with money.
“The brands must come forward with a full package of compensation and the owner of the factory must be re-arrested immediately,” said Amirul Haque Amin, president, National Garment Workers Federation at protests by his organization outside the press club in Dhaka.
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Over the last two years there have been repeated calls for justice with the indictment and death of the owner of the Tuba group that owned Tazreen Fashions Ltd, Delwar Hossain.
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Hossain was arrested on February 9 but was released on bail on July 24 to help make payments to workers of the other factories belonging to the Tuba group. At the time more than 1,500 workers for the group went on a fast demanding their payments as well as immediate compensation for Tazreen victims.
Calls for his re-arrest resounded once again on the anniversary of the deaths.
Workers and garment worker organizations also gathered at the Jurain Graveyard where the dead were remembered, and a call for justice was brought up again.
“All we get are vague promises from brands. There is no sign of actual money for the families,” said Mahbubur Rahman Ismail, a labor leader of the Garments Sramik Sangram Parishad
Separately, labor leaders marked the second anniversary of the Tazreen Fashions fire in Dhaka on Sunday as a survey conducted by Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) and Safety and Rights Society on work place incidents and causalities was released.
The survey noted that two years later, workers from the Tazreen fire remained missing and were yet to be accounted for in the compensation packages.
“We have provided the government with a list of 26 missing workers detailing their families, but the families were threatened by the government agencies for their claims,” said Jyotirmoy Barua, who is a panel lawyer for BLAST.
However, it was also noted that several initiatives have been made to ensure more safety for workers in the garment sector over the last two years.
“Similar safety measures should be taken in other sectors as well,” said Sekendar Ali Mina, executive director, Safety and Rights Society noting the effort being made by the government, employers and buyers to improve worker safety in the garment sector.
According to the survey 3,036 workers died in work place accidents across sectors from 2009 to 2014.
While calling for compensation for Tazreen victims, Mina noted that a consolidated focus on the safety for workers continued to be the need of the hour.