A flurry of international actions is due to take place tomorrow to mark the one-year anniversary of the collapse of the Spectrum factory in Bangladesh, in which 64 people were killed, more than 70 injured, and hundreds left without jobs.

Activists in Bangladesh, Europe, and North America staging public events and candlelight vigils are calling for sweeping changes to stop ongoing deaths and injuries of garment workers and have denounced the failure to adequately compensate survivors and families of the dead.

They also say the country's garment sector continues to be in an unsafe state - with new
incidents in the past six weeks leaving more workers dead and injured - and have published a new report highlighting safety issues throughout the sector.

One year after the deadly collapse of the Spectrum Sweater factory in Savar, Bangladesh only three of its customers - Inditex (Spain), New Wave Group (Sweden), and Solo Invest (France) - are understood to have pledged to contribute into a fund to compensate survivors and families of those who died.

Amsterdam-based activist group the Clean Clothes Campaign says wide-scale structural health and safety improvements to the garment industry have yet to be enacted, despite numerous calls from trade unions and NGOs.

Spectrum, and the adjoining Shahriyar Fabric, produced orders for a wide range of European companies. Those who have not committed to the compensation trust fund are said to include: Carrefour, CMT Windfield (France), Cotton Group (Belgium), KarstadtQuelle, New Yorker, Bluhmod (Germany), and Scapino (Netherlands).

Sadly, the lesson of Spectrum - that action is urgently needed to improve conditions for garment workers in Bangladesh - has so far gone unheeded: in February and March alone new incidents at four factories producing for various US and European clients left an estimated 88 workers dead (one as young as 12 years old) and more than 250 injured.

"Exits blocked with boxes, locked gates, or just one narrow staircase for thousands of workers - in case of fire this means certain death for the young women and men at the Bangladesh factories where clothes for European shops are made," noted Amirul Haque Amin of the National Garment Workers Federation in Bangladesh.

He added that faulty wiring and unsound structures are also problems common in garment production units in Bangladesh. "We will keep pushing until this situation is improved."

Part of the anniversary actions - including  public various events in Bangladesh, as well as actions at Bangladesh Embassies and at retailers in Europe - will focus on the demand that all companies sourcing garment production in Bangladesh have a responsibility to
immediately take steps to see that a credible and comprehensive safety programme is put into effect to ensure that tragedies like Spectrum never take place again.

"We hope to send a clear message to industry and the government that this just can't go on - changes have to be made and delaying any further means more will die or be injured," explained Tessel Pauli of the CCC International Secretariat.

To see a copy of the report "Spectrum: One Year After the Collapse" released today by the CCC International Secretariat, click here.