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The Maquila Solidarity Network, the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) and the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federation (ITGLWF) have regularly called attention to the need for structural measures to end the consistent and ongoing worker rights violations in the Bangladeshi garment industry.
Together with unions and NGOs in Bangladesh, we have called upon brands and retailers, the Bangladeshi government, factory owners and their associations to take immediate action.
In Canada, we have urged all Canadian retailers sourcing clothes from Bangladesh to work together with US and European retailers and brands, Bangladeshi manufacturers and their industry associations, the Bangladeshi government, and local and international trade union and nongovernmental organizations to tackle the root causes of continuing worker rights violations in the industry.
Your support is needed once again to stop the intimidation and harassment of the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity (BCWS). On July 30, more criminal cases were filed against the BCWS staff and other worker leaders. On August 13, two more BCWS leaders were arrested by and are being held by the Bangladesh authorities. Please take a few minutes to take action in support of the BCWS now.
The Bangladesh government has launched an attack on an outspoken workers' organization in a bid to silence mass protests for an increase to the poverty wages paid to garment workers. Last month, the government stripped the Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity (BCWS) of their legal status, alleging the organization was inciting unrest in garment factories. Bangladesh police detained, beat and threatened a BCSW staff member. Please take a few minutes to take action in support of the BCWS now.
The National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF) of Bangladesh launched a new campaign this month entitled "No More Fires, No More Locked Exits, No More Garment Workers Deaths." NGWF President Amirul Haque Amin, speaking at a recent rally, said "Since 1990, there have been 33 major garment factory fires in which more than 400 garment workers have been killed...One of the reasons for the large number of causalities is the practice of locking factory exits, as well as a lack of health and safety inspections in many of the garment factories..."
April 11 marks the fifth anniversary of the collapse of the Spectrum/Shahriyar Sweater factory in Bangladesh, which killed 64 workers and focused global attention on the chronic safety problems in the Bangladesh garment industry. Five years later, the February 25, 2010 fire at the Garib & Garib Sweater Ltd. factory, which took the lives of 21 workers, is a brutal reminder that more effective and proactive action is needed to ensure that garment workers in Bangladesh can go to work without fearing for their lives.
Following a horrific factory fire that killed 21 employees of a garment factory in Bangladesh, the factory workers are demanding swift reforms, a criminal investigation and compensation for the victims. Support these workers' demands by writing to the Government of Bangladesh and international fashion brands sourcing from this factory.
Update: Mehedi Hasan was released by the Bangladesh security forces on Sunday, February 3, 2008 after being held for ten days in detention. Police have told Hasan’s lawyer that all charges against him have been dropped, although the WRC is awaiting written confirmation.
In December 2006, War on Want published an exposé on the wages and working conditions of the garment workers in Bangladesh who produce clothes for some of the UK’s most important discount retailers.
Simmering anger at poverty wages and poor working conditions boiled over into massive worker protests in Bangladesh in May 2006. Two workers were confirmed dead, hundreds injured, and over a hundred factories were set ablaze in several days of rioting.
In April 2005, 64 workers were killed, 74 injured, and hundreds left jobless when the Spectrum-Shahriyar garment factory in Bangladesh collapsed. In early 2006, there were a number of similar tragedies in other garment factories producing for European, US and Canadian retailers and brands, in which hundreds of workers were killed and injured. These deaths and injuries were entirely preventable.
The MFA Forum has been engaging with the Government of Bangladesh, the industry association and local unions and NGOs on a wide range of issues facing the Bangladeshi garment industry.
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