- Joined
- Apr 13, 2011
- Messages
- 34,951
- Reaction score
- 16,311
- Gender
- Undisclosed
- Political Leaning
- Socialist
Over 50,000 garment workers gathered in Dhaka, Bangladesh to demand a $100 per month minimum wage (yes, you read that right, they want a minimum wage of $100 a month - ed), according to a September 21 report from WochItGeneralNews. Police and labor leaders proclaimed it the “largest demonstration so far.” Nazma Akkter, the United Garment Workers’ Federation’s founder and president added, “Our backs are against the wall, so we don’t have any alternative unless we raise our voice strongly.” Here is the video:
Two days later, AFP reports the have escalated into violence, as “up to 200,000″ angry Bangladeshi garment workers block roads, set factories on fire, barrage factories with rocks, and clash with police
[h=2]Facts about sweat shops, factories, and Bangladesh garment workers:[/h]
- 3.5 million workers in 4,825 garment factories and produce 80% of Bangladesh’s $27 million in export earnings.
- Most Bangladeshi textile workers earn only 3,000 taka per month ($38.72), only 60% percent of the bare-minimum living wage of 5,000 taka per month ($64.54).
- Workers routinely toil 14-16 hour shifts with less than 5 hours in between for rest.
- Work conditions are hazardous and building codes are virtually non-existent, which is why there are so many worker injuries and factory fires.
- Over the past 23 years, factory fires have caused 400 deaths and several thousand injuries.
- 1,300 workers died in April 2013, when a factory that produced clothes for Walmart collapsed.
- 85% of Bangladesh’s garment workers are women. These women report that sexual harassment is widespread and employers do not provide paid maternity leave.
God bless them all on their struggle for a more humane work place. They deserve it. This is sickening that American companies use this type of slave labor (basically what it is), in such inhuman conditions for petty profits. Just another ****ed up product of the "free market".