Vol. 77/No. 19 May 20, 2013
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Bangladesh garment workers fight to protect life and limb |
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Associated Press
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| Garment workers in Dhaka, Bangladesh, protest unsafe work conditions May 5, two weeks after landlord and bosses’ drive for profit killed more than 700 workers when the shoddy Rana Plaza, a building housing five garment factories, collapsed. Garment bosses insisted workers continue working in spite of cracks opening up in the wall that led to the evacuation of a bank and shops.
The number of workers confirmed dead continues to rise as debris is cleared. More than 1,000 were reported injured. Bosses have refused to release a list of employees. “If these workers were able to organize, this wouldn’t have happened,” Kalpona Akter, a leader of the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity, said to the Financial Times May 3. “If they had unions, as soon as they saw cracks they could have raised their voice.” For about a week following the collapse, striking workers shut down many of the country’s garment factories, as tens of thousands took to the streets. National outrage forced the government to arrest the landlord and factory owners. On May 7 hundreds of survivors joined a protest blocking a major highway near the plaza, demanding payment of at least four months’ salary. —EMMA JOHNSON Related articles: Utah coal miners stand up to bosses attack on safety, union Take protest to mine owners in Iowa, Nebraska London rallies oppose hospital service cuts On the Picket Line Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home |