INTERNATIONAL LABOUR BANGLADESH:
SOLIDARITY WITH BANGLADESH WORKER ACTIVISTS:


Molly has blogged before on the recent events in Bangladesh where workers have been protesting the miserly raise in the minimum wage and demanding something closer to a living wage. In the aftermath the government there is busy hunting down the workers' leaders. The following from the International Labour Rights Forum asks you to stand with these activists and demand that the big buyers of Bangladeshi clothing act to pressure the government to cease this persecution. Here's the appeal:

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Worker rights advocates who are under attack in Bangladesh need your support urgently.

Kalpona Akter, one of the individuals under attack, toured the United States with us in April, describing the abusive working conditions and abysmally low wages. A former child garment worker, Kalpona is the founder of the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity, one of Bangladesh's most prominent and well respected human rights organizations.

Now Kalpona and her coworkers desperately need your help. It is time for the big brands and retailers that get much of their clothing produced in Bangladesh to take immediate action to ensure that false charges against BCWS staff are withdrawn and the persecution ends.

Following last week's announcement of a new minimum wage, which will keep workers in dire poverty as the world's worst paid, garment workers protested for five straight days, demonstrating on the streets, and conducting work stoppages in factories. The government responded by blaming worker unrest on "provocateurs" and "saboteurs"-supposedly trying to destroy Bangladesh's most important export industry-filing fabricated criminal charges, and going on a witch hunt after Kalpona and other human rights leaders. You can learn more about the recent events here.

Kalpona and other leaders of BCWS are now in hiding, having to move location every few hours, even at night. Bangladeshi police and security are threatening their family members with beatings, harassing colleagues, and posing as journalists and even distant relatives in order to trick acquaintances to identify their places of hiding.

So far Kalpona has managed to stay one step ahead of the police and security forces. But she and her colleagues won't be able to hold out much longer. If captured, we fear for their safety. When she called the number of a "relative" that had been left with an acquaintance, the "relative" (in reality a security officer) told her bluntly: "We will keep you in our custody and will make your life hell. You don't know about us and about our power. Now we know where you and your family live, and we know how to get you in our custody."

Please take action now to protect Kalpona and her coworkers.

Walmart, H&M, and JC Penney have influence with the Bangladeshi government, accounting for a large percentage of Bangladesh's export earnings. They also buy from a factory, Nassa Global Wear, which instigated the government crackdown on BCWS. Walmart and other companies have long used their economic muscle to drive down prices in Bangladesh. If they truly insist that the persecution of BCWS and other human rights leaders must end, it is virtually certain it will. Neither the government nor the industry wants to jeopardize orders and investment from the big retailers and brands.

We appreciate your support for Kalpona and her coworkers and will keep you up to date as we learn more.

Sincerely,
Bjorn Claeson
Director of SweatFree Communities Campaign
International Labor Rights Forum


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THE LETTERS:
Please go to this link to send the following letters to companies who are heavy purchasers of Bangladesh clothing. First of all to Walmart, JC Penney and H&M.
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As a consumer, I am deeply concerned about recent attacks on workers and their supporters in Bangladesh.

The low wages of garment workers in Bangladesh, and the government harassment of Bangladeshi human rights advocates, are intolerable. Among other groups, the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity (BCWS) has been targeted by the government without justification, their leaders persecuted by police and security forces and their legal registration revoked by the authorities. This government is attempting to scapegoat BCWS and other human rights activists for worker unrest, which, in reality, is caused by below subsistence wages and poor working conditions.

As a company with large garment purchasing operations in Bangladesh, your company has benefited from workers’ insufferably low wages for many years. Now your company must use its economic muscle to effectively demand an end to the persecution of human rights activists in Bangladesh and ensure justice for workers. I call upon you to insist that the Bangladeshi government take the following steps:

1. Withdraw all trumped-up charges and unfounded allegations against the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity and its staff, including those filed by Nassa Global Wear (one of your suppliers);
2. Immediately cease all police and security force harassment and persecution of Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity staff;
3. Restore the NGO registration of the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity.

The Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity is doing vital work for garment workers in Bangladesh. It is a matter of utmost urgency that they can resume normal operations and that their voices are not silenced.

I expect to hear from you shortly that you have taken effective action to protect worker rights defenders in Bangladesh, and have every confidence that if you do, these persecutions will end.

Sincerely,
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And a similar letter to the NASSA Group.
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As a consumer, I am deeply concerned about recent attacks on workers and their supporters in Bangladesh.

The low wages of garment workers in Bangladesh, and the government harassment of Bangladeshi human rights advocates, are intolerable. Among other groups, the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity (BCWS) has been targeted by the government without justification, their leaders persecuted by police and security forces and their legal registration revoked by the authorities. This government is attempting to scapegoat BCWS and other human rights activists for worker unrest, which, in reality, is caused by below subsistence wages and poor working conditions.

As a factory with large garment production operations in Bangladesh, your company has benefited from workers’ insufferably low wages for many years. I call upon you to:

1. Withdraw all lawsuits filed against the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity and its staff as well as other workers;

2. Communicate with the Government of Bangladesh including its policy forces to request that they immediately cease all police and security force harassment and persecution of Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity staff; and

3. Communicate to the Government of Bangladesh to Immediately restore the NGO registration of the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity.

The Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity is doing vital work for garment workers in Bangladesh. It is a matter of utmost urgency that they can resume normal operations and that their voices are not silenced.

I expect to hear from you shortly that you have taken effective action to protect worker rights defenders in Bangladesh, and have every confidence that if you do, these persecutions will end.

Sincerely,