Aug 26, 2013
When the Rana Plaza building collapsed in April, killing more than 1,200 Bangladesh garment workers, the disaster also injured thousands more workers, in many instances devastating their ability to support their families and plunging them into dire poverty.
Nasima was among the injured who survived the collapse of the multistory building. She suffers from severe wrist pain and as a result, is unable to work. She received no compensation for her injuries from the government, or from the multinational brands whose garments she sewed or from the factory owner—and now cannot even pay the rent or school fees. “I have three children and my children can’t go to school now,” she says.
Nasima was among several workers who met with Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich.) recently at the Solidarity Center’s office in Dhaka, the Bangladesh capital. Joined by Dan Mozena, U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh, Levin held three meetings with workers and union leaders to hear firsthand from survivors of the Rana Plaza and Tazreen factory disasters and to learn the obstacles garment workers face when seeking to form unions to improve the safety of their workplaces.
One plant-level union leader told Levin that factory managers prohibit him from talking with his co-workers. He was among 21 factory union leaders and seven union federation leaders to join the discussion.
Workers at another garment factory successfully formed a union despite managers’ attempts to convince them they did not need one. Julekha, vice president of Essex Ltd. Workers Union, told the congressman, “Now we know our rights. We are not afraid. They can’t harass us whenever they want. And we got a training and booklet on labor law from the federation leaders.” Julekha said workers now are waiting to hear back on demands they made to a management committee.
The United States in June suspended preferential trade benefits for Bangladesh because of chronic and severe labor rights violations. Because the benefits are suspended and not terminated, Bangladesh has the opportunity to again qualify for the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) by improving worker rights, laws and practices. A key measure of that program will be whether newly registered unions will be allowed to represent worker interests.
Since the suspension of benefits, the Bangladesh government has reinstated a garment worker rights group whose registration it had revoked in 2010, and media reports indicate the government dropped charges against two garment worker activists. But union leaders told Levin and Mozena they worried that the country’s new labor law, passed last month, is a step backwards for worker rights.
Levin expressed concern that garment workers are still facing threats when they seek to form unions and said that workers’ dignity and safety must be ensured. Mozena told the group that he believes “workers have the complete right to form trade unions. On behalf of my government, I am giving my commitment to you that I will do everything for you.”
Aug 9, 2013
The Bangladesh government has re-registered the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity (BCWS), a move that means the organization can fully function again and pursue its mission of educating workers about their rights.
The Bangladesh government revoked the organization’s registration in 2010 and arrested its leaders, Babul Akhter, Kalpona Akter and Aminul Islam, on criminal charges following protests by garment workers against unsafe working conditions and poverty-level wages. All three, who were held in custody and later released, say they were tortured in prison. In 2012, Aminul’s body was found dozens of miles from his home, severely beaten and tortured.
The government last month dropped charges against Babul and Kalpona and announced it would step up the search for the people who tortured and murdered Aminul. All these actions follow the decision by the U.S. government in June to suspend preferential trade benefits with Bangladesh because of chronic and severe labor rights violations. The Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) reduced tariff benefits agreement is worth $34.7 million a year for Bangladesh.
Despite international outcry, including a U.S. congressional hearing and then U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s call for justice in the case, Aminul’s murder has gone unsolved. He had sought to improve the working conditions of some 8,000 garment workers employed by Shanta Group, a garment manufacturer based in Dhaka.
Since his murder, two massive garment factory disasters in Bangladesh have killed more than 1,000 workers, including the April building collapse of Rana Plaza, where 1,133 were killed. On Thursday, another garment worker Monwar Hossain, 22, died from his injuries at Rana Plaza. In the past eight months, there have been more than 40 fire and fire-related incidents at Bangladesh garment factories, according to data compiled by Solidarity Center staff in Dhaka, the capital.
Aug 4, 2013
Women around the world work make up the vast majority of workers in dangerous, difficult and low-paid jobs—and in Bangladesh, garment workers, the majority of whom are women, often risk their lives for a chance to support themselves and their families. More than 1,100 workers were killed in the most recent garment factory disaster when the eight-story Rana Plaza building collapsed in April.
Morium Akter Sheuli, elected this year as general secretary of the 100,000+ member Bangladesh Independent Garment Workers Union Federation (BIGUF), was 9 years old when she began work in a garment factory. At age 14, she began organizing co-workers to gain a collective voice on the job to improve workplace safety and wages.
Bangladesh has “more than 4 million garment workers, of which 80 percent are women (and) almost 70 percent of all women employment in the nation’s manufacturing sectors,” said Morium. She spoke last week in in São Paulo, Brazil, during a July 30-31 Solidarity Center conference, “Women’s Empowerment, Gender Equality and Labor Rights: Transforming the Terrain.”
Although garment exports account for 75 percent of Bangladesh’s exports, workers in the country’s 5,000 garment factories are paid a minimum of $38 a month while enduring dangerous and deadly workplaces.
Following the Rana Plaza tragedy and other mass deaths at Bangladesh garment factories, the United States in June suspended its Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) reduced tariff benefits agreement with Bangladesh. In July, Bangladesh passed a new labor law, one that Morium says “is not enough for workers.”
“In some ways, the previous law was better than this one,” Morium said through a translator, in an interview with the Solidarity Center. “Workers are not very happy with the new law after Rana Plaza, thinking it is imposed on them.”
Although the government has made registering unions easier in recent weeks, the new labor code still does not apply to the hundreds of thousands of workers in the country’s export processing zones where a large number of garment workers are employed, according to an analysis by the AFL-CIO. The International Labor Organization (ILO) has found that current law that regulates labor relations in the zones violates core labor standards.
Like conference participants from a variety of countries, Morium, who has been actively involved in various union leadership positions and union organizing efforts, described how international support has been essential to improving women’s working conditions. She sees hope in the international Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, a legally binding agreement committing the more than 80 major corporations that signed on to funding safety and building upgrades and holding independent factory inspections.
“I think that it will be a better tool for our workers in Bangladesh,” she said.
Jul 31, 2013
With images of the April 24 Rana Plaza building collapse in Bangladesh as a backdrop, five union and community activists discussed the struggles women face in the light manufacturing industry—and how they are being empowered—in today’s first plenary at the Solidarity Center on gender equality. More than 100 participants from 20 countries are meeting July 30-31 in São Paulo, Brazil, to discuss strategies at “Women’s Empowerment, Gender Equality and Labor Rights: Transforming the Terrain.”
Morium Akter Sheuli, general Secretary of the Bangladesh Independent Garment Union Federation (BIGUF), opened the first of two plenaries this morning, “Women Worker Rights and Gender Equality in Light Manufacturing: What Way Forward.” In Bangladesh, where more than 1,100 workers were killed when the poorly constructed Rana Plaza building collapsed, 80 percent of workers in the ready-made garment industry are women, she said. Although garment exports account for 75 percent of Bangladesh’s exports, workers are paid a minimum of $38 a month while enduring dangerous and deadly workplaces.
Women also comprise the majority of light manufacturing workers in Honduras, where Evangelina Argüeta Chincilla is coordinator for the Apparel Sector Organizing at the General Workers Confederation. At the plenary, Argüeta described how unions created international support for their struggle after workers were prevented from joining unions in Honduras. She said: “It was mainly through our alliances with the United States and with student groups, students are the main consumers of our products,” that women garment workers achieved victories, such as reopening a closed factory, following an international campaign.
Claudia Santos Reguelin from the Brazilian Metalworkers Union of the City of Osasco, shared how the union’s Women’s Collective provides a space for women to participate and grow as leaders and members. The collective runs seminars for workers and ensures issues central to women—who often make up 80 percent of factory workers—are on the bargaining table.
Offering a broad overview of the struggles for women, who make up the majority of workers in the light manufacturing industry, Lynda Yanz, executive director of the Canada-based Maquila Solidarity Network, pointed to their lack of significant gains. Although unions and grassroots organizations have prioritized key issues like precarious work, “there has been very little discussion about the ‘enabling’ issues—that is, what is behind women not taking leadership roles,” like lack of child care.
“What would it mean if we put women’s needs on the agenda that would enable women to be leaders?” Yanz asked. Conference participants here in Brazil are working to develop strategies to do just that.
Jun 28, 2013
Workers in Bangladesh—especially millions of poorly paid garment workers who often risk their lives in dangerous factories—won a new tool to advance their rights when the United States suspended preferential trade benefits with the country.
Yesterday’s announcement that the United States suspended its Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) agreement with Bangladesh based on chronic and severe labor rights violations “is a rare and clear statement that affirms that worker rights and livelihoods are not expendable,” says Solidarity Center Executive Director Shawna Bader-Blau.
Because the benefits are suspended and not terminated, Bangladesh has the opportunity to again qualify for the GSP benefit by improving worker rights, laws and practices. A key measure of that program will be whether newly registered unions will be allowed to represent worker interests.
“Since 2005, over 1,800 workers have died in preventable factory fires and building collapses in the Bangladesh garment industry,” says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. “Workers died because the government and industry violated safety standards to cut costs, while global apparel brands demanded production at the lowest prices in the world. Bangladesh’s workers, many of them young women, need good jobs with strong worker protections, a voice at work and safe work places.”
Many of Bangladesh’s 4 million garment workers risk their lives every day, working in thousands of unregulated and often poorly constructed factories. Yet despite their contribution to the $19 billion garment industry, they are denied workplace rights and toil in workplace conditions reminiscent of the U.S. sweatshops of 100 years ago.
“This long-awaited decision is an important step for workers’ rights,” says International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) General Secretary Sharan Burrow. “It sends a strong statement to all governments and employers that violation of the fundamental rights of workers will not be tolerated if a country expects to participate in the global economy.”
Although the Bangladesh government has for years talked about improving the situation for workers, in the past 15 months:
• Aminul Islam, a labor leader, was killed and his murder has gone unsolved.
• The Rana Plaza collapse killed more than 1,127 garment workers in April.
• The November Tazreen Fashions fire killed at least 112 garment workers.
• More than 45 fire incidents have occurred at Bangladeshi garment factories since Tazreen, according to data compiled by Solidarity Center staff in Dhaka, the capital.
The ITUC and AFL-CIO are calling on the government of Bangladesh to act urgently and deliberately to ensure that the rights of workers are respected in law and in practice. Bangladesh unions and worker rights advocates from around the world also are calling on corporations throughout the supply chain to sign and implement a binding agreement regarding workplace fire and building safety in Bangladesh.
The proposed Fire and Building Safety Agreement, already accepted by more than 60 major brands, guarantees worker participation, recognizes the role of government and takes measures to combat corruption by requiring rigorous inspections, transparent reporting of audits and public oversight of results.
For more than 15 years, the Solidarity Center has supported worker rights in Bangladesh.
