Bangladeshi garment workers continue to face harassment over forming trade unions

HRW: RMG workers intimidated over unions | Dhaka Tribune

The latest revelations of Bangladeshi garment workers being harassed by their managers over forming trade unions show yet again that Bangladeshi garment workers continue to have their rights ignored! Reports of workers receiving death threats and getting beaten up show that factory owners will do anything, including engaging in criminal behaviour, to keep workers powerless! Workers who have tried to form trade unions have also had to deal with being forced to resign or losing their jobs! Female workers have also had to deal with sexual harassment!

Laws allowing Bangladeshi garment workers to form trade unions will not mean anything until employers face harsh punishments for threatening their workers! It is clear that Western retailers and  factory owners will not change working conditions unless they are forced to do so! To force Western retailers and factory owners to improve working conditions for Bangladeshi garment workers, please sign Arif Ullah's petition: http://www.change.org/petitions/jc-penney-gap-co-put-an-end-to-the-murders-of-garment-workers-in-bangladesh#intro 

Despite new guidelines, Bangladeshi garment workers continue to be exploited

Female worker killed, 20 injured in factory clash | Dhaka Tribune 

 

The latest revelations showing that Bangladeshi garment workers continue to be abused despite new guidelines prove yet again that factory managers have no respect for workers' lives! Bangladeshi garment workers continue to be overworked and underpaid, and it is clear that more pressure needs to be put on the managers to treat their workers fairly! Another clash between garment workers and management has left one female worker dead and several other workers injured--how many more tragedies need to happen before the rights of Bangladeshi garment workers are taken seriously?!

 

I would like to send my condolences to the family and friends of 20 year old Parvin Akhter (no relation), the female worker who died of a severe head injury during the clash. She was a young woman who died much too soon, and her death could have been prevented, had the factory managers given their workers proper wages. I am also concerned about the other workers who were injured in the clash. Nobody should have to struggle THIS MUCH just to get a living wage!

 

To put more pressure on Bangladeshi factory managers to treat their workers fairly, please sign the following petition: http://www.change.org/petitions/jc-penney-gap-co-put-an-end-to-the-murders-of-garment-workers-in-bangladesh 

Worker exploitation in Bangladesh continues

RMG workers agitate for wage hike | Dhaka Tribune 

 

What is it going to take for Western retailers to respect Bangladeshi workers' rights?! The fact that Bangladeshi garment workers still have to fight for a wage increase, even after the horrific factory collapse that killed thousands of workers back in April of this year, says a lot about how much Western retailers and factory owners don't care about their own workers! It is clear that consumers living in the West need to put even more pressure on Western retailers to improve working conditions for Bangladeshi garment workers--Western retailers and factory owners won't change until they are forced to!

 

On May 22, 2013 I conducted an email interview with Arif Ullah, who is advocating for better working conditions for Bangladeshi garment workers. Please help him put pressure on Western retailers to respect Bangladeshi workers' rights by signing his petition: http://www.change.org/petitions/jc-penney-gap-co-put-an-end-to-the-murders-of-garment-workers-in-bangladesh

More worker exploitation in Bangladesh

400 RMG workers fall sick in Gazipur | Dhaka Tribune 

 

The latest revelations of Bangladeshi garment workers falling ill after eating food provided to them by their own employers shows that factory owners are continuing to exploit Bangladeshi workers. This latest information also shows that there must be even more pressure put on Western retailers to ensure safe working conditions for Bangladeshi garment workers--inspections conducted by the companies themselves will not work, as it is clear that they care more about profits than human lives.

 

Arif Ullah, a Bangladeshi workers' rights advocate in the U.S., is currently petitioning Western retailers to ensure safe working conditions for Bangladeshi garment workers by signing the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, a legally-binding agreement. To get Western retailers to improve working conditions for Bangladeshi garment workers, please sign Arif Ullah's petition: http://www.change.org/petitions/jc-penney-gap-co-put-an-end-to-the-murders-of-garment-workers-in-bangladesh

Bangladeshi workers ignored with amended labour law

Trade unionism, better pay ignored in amended labour law | Dhaka Tribune

The amended labour law is a slap in the face to Bangladeshi workers who continue to be exploited! Preventing Bangladeshi workers from getting better working conditions and being able to unionize show that the Bangladeshi government is just as guilty as Western retailers of abusing Bangladeshi workers! The suggestion that the Bangladeshi government should decide whether Bangladeshi workers should get an already inadequate 5% of profits donated to them by the companies also makes it clear that the Bangladeshi government has no interest in protecting its own workers!

 

The industrial disasters of November 2012 at Tazreen and April 2013 at Rana Plaza made it obvious that Bangladeshi garment workers were being treated like disposable cogs in a machine, yet the Bangladeshi government callously chooses to ignore the plight of its own citizens! It is clear that citizens around the world still need to put pressure on the garment industry and the Bangladeshi government to stop worker exploitation in Bangladesh. On May 22, 2013, I posted an e-mail interview with Arif Ullah, a petition organizer  who is advocating for Bangladeshi workers' rights: http://karenakhtar.blogspot.ca/2013/05/changing-way-business-gets-done.html In our e-mail interview, he elaborates on the issue of worker exploitation in Bangladesh, and provides in-depth information about the garment industry and the Bangladeshi government being complicit in abusing its workers. I have also provided a link to his petition in that blog post, and I will provide it again.

 

To help Bangladeshi garment workers get better working conditions, please sign Arif Ullah's petition: http://www.change.org/petitions/jc-penney-gap-co-put-an-end-to-the-murders-of-garment-workers-in-bangladesh

Changing the way business gets done: An interview with Arif Ullah, petition organizer and advocate for Bangladeshi workers' rights

Picture of Arif Ullah. (Reused
with permission from Arif Ullah).

After witnessing endless media coverage of worker abuse in Bangladesh and the failure of major U.S. and European retailers to stop it, Arif Ullah decided that something had to be done to protect Bangladeshi workers' rights. He has launched a petition on Change.org, calling for major U.S. and European retailers to sign the Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Agreement. Here, Arif Ullah elaborates on the situation of worker abuse in Bangladesh, and the changes he wants to see in the garment industry.

1. How does it feel to read about these human rights abuses happening in your home country?

Arif: I'm both heartbroken and infuriated. Since 2005, at least 1,800 workers have been killed in Bangladesh garment factories. All of these deaths, including Rana Plaza, could have been prevented.

If international companies that source from Bangladeshi garment factories enforced basic safety standards, garment factory owners would have no choice but to acquiesce, however morally bankrupt and inhumane they may be. They're entirely dependent on their contracts with these companies, and would not risk those relationships. 

Foreign companies are entirely aware of this, but they've done next to nothing to pressure the factories because of fears that safety standards would cut into their already massive profit margins--it would cost companies ten cents more per garment to make improvements. Instead, they hand-pick auditors to inspect factories, which is similar to hiring a fox to guard the hen house. The message that they're sending is clear: Bangladeshi lives are expendable. 

Last week, mounting pressure from human rights organizations and the public, as well as negative media coverage, led 18 major companies to sign the Accord on Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety, including H&M. American companies are conspicuously missing from the list of signatories. Walmart and Gap have instead expressed concern about the safety plan. They don't like that it's enforceable and legally-binding. And they want to continue to self-monitor with impunity. Other North American companies that have refused to sign on are: Target, Sears, JC Penney, Kohl's, North Face, Children's Place, Macy's, American Eagle, Nordstrom, and Foot Locker. 

2. In addition to signing the Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Agreement, what other measures do you want major U.S. and European retailers to take to protect Bangladeshi workers?

Arif: Unfortunately, safety is not the only problem in Bangladeshi factories. Workers are often made to work 12 to 16 hours a day, if not longer, or risk losing their jobs. Wages have not kept up with inflation, and the minimum wage is barely enough to make ends meet (which, to be fair, is not dissimilar from the United States). And, there is no such thing as health care for the 3.6 million workers--mostly young women--employed in the industry. Sexual coercion is also not uncommon. 

As well, the Bangladeshi government has made it nearly impossible for workers to unionize, requiring union organizers to present the names of those interested in joining unions to factory owners for their approval. This week, the government announced changes to this and other policies that would increase workers' rights. I'll believe it when I see it. All the major Bangladeshi political parties--the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Awami League, Jamaat-e-Islami, and the Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP)--are in bed with the garment industry. 

International companies that source from Bangladesh can pressure both factory owners and the Bangladeshi government to make improvements in all of these areas, and of course, they should help to fund them. The $20 billion garment industry accounts for approximately 80 per cent of the country's exports--factory owners and the government would not jeopardize this cash cow.

3. What is your message to the major U.S. and European retailers who are guilty of abusing Bangladeshi workers, and for people who continue to defend worker abuse in Bangladesh?

Arif: International companies are in Bangladesh because it is lucrative for them. Cheap labor affords them wide profit margins. However, cheap labor must not come at the expense of people's lives. Companies have a responsibility to ensure safe work places, livable wages, and healthy working conditions.

According to the Wall Street Journal, “Americans last year devoted just 3% of their annual spending to clothing and footwear, compared with around 7% in 1970 and about 13% in 1945, according to Commerce Department data.” But there is a high cost for cheap labor, and we are reminded of this all too frequently. 

I would like to thank Arif Ullah for taking the time to share his insight about workers' rights in Bangladesh, and for advocating for Bangladeshi workers' rights. 

To sign Arif's petition, please visit: http://www.change.org/petitions/jc-penney-gap-co-put-an-end-to-the-murders-of-garment-workers-in-bangladesh