Garment Workers Urge Justice for Rana Plaza Tragedy

Garment Workers Urge Justice for Rana Plaza Tragedy

Apr 26, 2016

Meherunnesa joined the crowds gathered in Dhaka over the weekend to commemorate the third anniversary of the Rana Plaza building collapse in Bangladesh. Her son, Abul Kalam Azad, was one of the more than 1,100 garment workers killed on April 24, 2013, as the multi-story building pancaked in a preventable accident that also left thousands severely injured. Meherunnesa, 70, travels 150 miles from her home in Satkhira, in southwest Bangladesh each year to honor him.

Bangladesh, Rana Plaza, garment workers, fire safety, Solidarity Center

Meherunnesa, 70, lost her son in the 2013 Rana Plaza collapse. Credit: Solidarity Center

Across the city, garment workers and their allies took part in a series of actions, starting off with a wreath-laying in memory of those killed. Later, hundreds of garment workers formed a human chain at the Press Club to demand punishment for those responsible for the building’s collapse and press for social security insurance so that in the future, workers and their families can be compensated for workplace injuries and death. They were joined by members of the global union IndustriAll, Sramik Nirapotta Forum, the Solidarity Center and other allies.

Anisur Rahman is among those injured at Rana Plaza who says he never received compensation. Anisur was a maintenance worker on the building’s seventh floor when it collapsed. He survived a broken neck injury and now suffers from memory loss. He has been unable to get another job because of his injuries, but says he has not given up.

International outrage over the Rana Plaza and Tazreen disasters prompted creation of the Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Accord process, a legally binding agreement in which nearly 200 corporate clothing brands pay for garment factory inspections. Dozens of garment factories have been closed for safety violations and pressing safety issues addressed.

Bangladesh, Rana Plaza, garment workers, fire safety, Solidarity Center

Garment workers and their allies formed a human chain at the Press Club in Dhaka, part of events commemorating the 2013 Rana Plaza collapse. Credit: Solidarity Center

Since the Tazreen fire, 34 garment workers have been killed in fire incidents and 1,023 workers injured, according to data compiled by the Solidarity Center staff in Bangladesh.

Further, workers seeking to form unions to improve workplace safety have encountered increasing obstacles in doing so. Since January 2015, government approval of union registrations has dropped precipitously: In 2015, the government rejected 73 percent of union registration applications, according to data compiled by Solidarity Center staff in Dhaka. Rejections of workers’ desire to organize continues in 2016.

Bangladesh.Rana Plaza 3 yr anniv.Human chain at Press Club.4.16.sc

Garment workers increasingly face obstacles to forming unions and getting safety on the job. Credit: Solidarity Center

Citing “persistent and growing violations by the Bangladesh government of its responsibility to respect workers’ rights,” the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) filed a freedom of association case with the International Labor Organization (ILO).

According to the ITUC, the case, which will be heard by the ILO’s Committee on Freedom of Association, “details how the government … sought the dissolution of existing unions and stood idly by when factory management have engaged in union-busting in contravention of the Bangladesh Labor Act and criminal law.” The details include examples of union leaders who have been beaten and hospitalized and members of union executive boards who have been fired.

Over the past few years, the Solidarity Center has held fire safety trainings for hundreds of garment factory workers. Workers learn fire prevention measures, find out about safety equipment their factories should make available and get hands-on experience in extinguishing fires.

Thousands of Peru Mineworkers Struggle for Decent Work

Thousands of Peru Mineworkers Struggle for Decent Work

Mar 29, 2016

Oscar Muro, Solidarity Center program officer in Peru, reports on his late February fact-finding journey to the Minera Aurifera Retamas (MARSA) mine, where subcontracted mineworkers, represented by a strong union, won a national labor inspection finding that calls for 2,464 outsourced workers to be moved to permanent contracts. The workers subsequently went on a weeklong strike to protest the employer’s appeal of the judgment and a ruling by the regional labor authorities that MARSA should not be fined for misclassifying workers. The national labor inspection office indicates it will return to the mine in a few weeks to ensure the company has correctly classified miners.

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Together with Ricardo Juárez, secretary-general of the Federation of Mine and Metalworkers of Peru, and Elder Villalobos, secretary general of the union of workers of the companies of MARSA, I traveled to the mining center in the mountains of La Libertad to attend the union’s extraordinary general assembly. There, the secretary general told the 4,500 workers in attendance that, following mine inspections, the national Superintendent of Labor Inspection had ruled in favor of 2,464 of 4,000 subcontracted workers, stipulating that they become permanent workers.

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Miners are standing strong in their demands for permanent contracts. Credit: Solidarity Center/Samantha Tate

Many MARSA workers have labored in dangerous conditions for up to 20 years, but without a contract. Their “non-permanent” status means their livelihoods are jeopardized if they raise safety issues with their employer, or demand decent wages that allow for a life with dignity.

In January, one miner died on the job, and two miners perished in 2014. In November 2015, there was a deadly radiation poisoning and suffocation incident at the Taurus mine.

Mine is Rich, Yet Residents still Poor
The MARSA mine, 4,000 feet above sea level in the Southern Highlands, produces gold in large quantities and ranks among Peru’s top five gold producers. The journey to MARSA takes more than 14 hours from the northwestern coastal city of Trujillo. To reach the mining center, we had to cross hill after hill on a single-lane road. When our bus encountered a vehicle coming the opposite direction, the vehicles struggled to pass each other on the narrow stone trail. We made the trip to join our co-workers who need us, and thank God, everything went well.

Some 7,000 people live in Llacuabamba, the village where the MARSA mine is located. Despite the wealth beneath their soil, the residents do no benefit from investment, such as proceeds from mining licenses. Instead, their village suffers from poor sanitation infrastructure and is so isolated that residents do not receive newspapers and often do not have access to television because of the weak Internet signal.

Solidarity with Miners
Together with Juárez and Villalobos, we conveyed to the workers that we stand in solidarity with them in their struggle until they achieve victory: worker rights through permanent contracts.

During this journey, we also learned about informal mines in the area, which employ between 3,000 and 5,000 miners. Further, at the nearby Consortium Horizon mine, the more than 4,000 employees have sought to form a union several times, only to see many workers fired. We have much work ahead to assist all of these workers in getting permanent contracts and the safe and healthy working conditions all workers deserve.

 

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