Bishop Sarker in his speech stressed the issues and needs of a justified salary, security and rights of the workers. He said he was thinking of establishing a children’s centre for the garment workers. He mentioned that whatever we could do that had been results of the prayer and love of many people. He added,
We can’t do anything without the blessing of God.
Mr Michael Roy told in his speech that there might have been many people responsible for that and evidently there were injustice and irregularities behind of that incident. He mentioned the Church Anglican Alliance is also working to promote the rights and fair environment for the garments worker in Bangladesh.
Mr Thomas Das highlighted the issue of the new pay scale for the garments worker. He said it might not be all, however it is a good initiative. He urged the workers to demand their rights, however they should be restrained from destructive activities such as setting fire to industries.
After the discussion the Moderator Bishop Paul S Sarker distributed materials and cash support to the victims.
The victims in return thanked the church and appreciated the role the church is playing to establish safe environment and fair wage for the garment workers. They stated the first thing they want is a secure working environment. They became very emotional and cried while sharing views with the audience.
The Rana Plaza incident is a eye-opener to the world about the situation prevailed in the garment sector in Bangladesh. Presently many initiatives are being taking globally and nationally to address the issues to make the sector safe and better for the workers.
Here it is to be mentioned more 1135 workers were killed, over 2500 injured and around 300 are yet unable to get back to doing a job.
Only one demand, the garment industries should provide the necessary facilities so that we can work safely.
– Shila
Shila (26) , one of the victims of Rana Plaza worked at level six in Tech Garments and was recovered from the debris of the collapsed building after 18 hours. As she spoke and shared her story she cried and told the audience one of her hands was broken and following that she has not been able to return to work. Now their whole family is depending on the earning of her younger sister. She doesn’t like living in such a situation.
She lost her husband at early age when her daughter was two years old. Now her daughter is studying in class six. She thanked COB for the financial assistance and hoped to start a small business with that.
