Fast fashion retailer Primark is pay a further $10m (£6m) in compensation to the 580 victims of the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh just weeks before the first anniversary of the disaster in which over 1,100 garment workers lost their lives.
The retailer will pay a further $9m (£5.4m) to the workers from its supplier New Wave Bottoms which was based on the second floor of Rana Plaza.
A further $1m will go into a Donor Trust Fund from the supplier which follows the $2m it has already distributed to workers and families.
It said no further payments should be required for the supply chain workers.
Campaigners hope the move will encourage other retailers involved to pay up.
Primark said in a statement: “We are announcing today that we are paying a total of $12 million as a result of the collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh. Within a week of the collapse, Primark committed to paying long-term compensation to the workers of Primark supplier, New Wave Bottoms, as quickly as possible. Since then, we have been working to enable the payments to be made.
“With the first anniversary of Rana Plaza fast approaching, we are determined to meet this responsibility to workers in our supply chain. We are therefore pleased to be in a position to now press ahead with payments.”
