Labour leaders demand law fixing compensation for killed, injured workers

Leaders and activists of workers' associations today called for the enactment of a "National Standards Act" to determine the appropriate compensation for workers killed and injured in factory accidents, including in Rana Plaza collapse.

The consorted demand came at a human chain protest programme organised in front of the National Press Club on the initiative of the Workers' Safety Forum (SNF) to commemorate the nine-year anniversary of the Rana Plaza accident.

"Workers killed and injured in various workplaces across the country, including Rana Plaza and Tazreen, should be compensated on the basis of their lifetime income loss by establishing a national standard, which can be made following the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention 121 and the Deadly Accidents Act, 1855," said Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS ) Director Nazma Yasmeen.

Echoing the same, Nationalist Workers Party President Anwar Hossain said those responsible for the Rana Plaza accident should be brought to justice expeditiously and the victims should be compensated in accordance with international standards.

He also demanded long-term treatment facilities for the injured.

President of National Workers' Federation Kamrul Ahsan, General Secretary of Trade Union Federation Chowdhury Ashiqul Alam, Secretary of Trade Union Center Abul Kalam Azad and others were present in the programs.

Today - 24 April – marks a doleful incident in the history of the country's garment industry. On this day in 2013, the Rana Plaza building in Savar collapsed killing 1,138 people and leaving at least 2,000 others injured in the worst ever industrial accident to hit the country.