Sep 12 2013
Labor Activist, Kalpona Akter, on the Poor Women Workers of Bangladesh
The “Made in Bangladesh” tag on your $10 T-shirt is a sign not just of the global nature of the retail industry, but of the source of cheap labor that drives multinational companies to pay a handful of cents per garment to the young, impoverished female sweatshop worker who likely made your shirt.
The terrible working conditions of Bangladesh’s workers came to light in a horrific manner last year when a fire at Tazreen factor killed hundreds of mostly female workers. And then, this April, a multi-story factory called Rana Plaza collapsed, killing more than 1,200 and injuring 2,500, again, mostly women workers.
An international meeting to discuss compensation for victims of the two fatal factory accidents in Bangladesh kicked off in Geneva this week, bringing together corporate heads, labor unions, and worker advocates. Bangladesh, one of the poorest countries in the world, has 4 million garment factory workers, second only to China in the volume of garments exported.
GUEST: Kalpona Akter, Executive Director of the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity. Kalpona currently has several criminal charges filed against her for her activism. In 2012 she spent a month in prison as a result of a complaint filed against her by one of Walmart’s subcontractors in Bangladesh.
This is part 1 of a 2-part interview.
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