More than half the Rana Plaza factory collapse survivors still have no job even after two years into the country’s deadliest industrial accident which killed 1,135 workers and injured over 2,500. Lack of availability of suitable jobs, the workers’ physical weakness, mental trauma after the horror and employers’ unwillingness to recruit have caused the surviving workers to stay without jobs, finds a study by ActionAid Bangladesh. It said though an upward trend of employment was found, the preliminary findings of second year survey showed still 55% of the survivors were unemployed. ActionAid disclosed the findings yesterday. The non-government organisation has been implementing a project titled “Socio-economic reintegration and rehabilitation for survivors with disabilities of Rana Plaza disaster” with support from International Labour Organization (ILO). Meanwhile, the survivors who received training to be self-employed face several challenges including limited skills and courage to start a new initiatives and limited ability to take risk. Uncertainty over income security, lack of business orientation and limited knowledge on market, bank finance and value chain, inappropriate location of business outlet or production capacity are also among challenges, the survey report stated. On the other hand, challenges for wage employment include employers’ concerns over fitness, psychical health and production capability, problems with psychological adjustment in enclosed factory settings and skill limits. “We will provide all out cooperation to ensure jobs for them as per their psychical conditions and capacity,” said Mohammad Hatem Ali, ex-first vice president of BKMEA. BGMEA Additional Secretary Jaglul Haider said if all the stakeholders and NGOs cooperated, not a single workers would remain without job.
