Lest We Forget, Where Our Stuff Comes From. Workers, Children beaten and abused for us

Riots in streets of Bangladesh as clothes workers protest over pay
Jul 1 2010 By Lachlan Mackinnon

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More than 15,000 workers joined the protests, said to have begun after a boss beat up a female employee.

The trouble spread to dozens of factories and the cops hit back with water cannon and tear gas as the demonstrators blocked roads. Witnesses said at least 30 people, including 10 policemen, were injured.

Dhaka's deputy police commissioner, Salim Jahangir, said: "There are 15,000 to 20,000 workers massing in the street. All workers in the area have walked out."

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Clothing prices have plummeted here in recent years, thanks largely to the rise of cut-price chains like Primark and H&M. But campaigners claim demand for cheap, throwaway fashion means misery for the Third World workers who produce it.

And the Dhaka riots were the latest in a spate of protests over pay and conditions at Bangladesh's 4500 clothing factories.

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Business consultants Global Insight said: "With the majority of the population living below the poverty line, and at a time of soaring food prices, such low wages have had a disastrous effect on workers' livelihoods."

The women are struggling to feed themselves and their kids, and their anger is boiling over. Just last week, hundreds of factories near Dhaka were shut down after days of furious protests by workers.



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The factories' bosses complained of "panic and anarchy" and the government sent in nearly 1000 riot police. The cops fired rubber bullets and tear gas grenades. The women hit back by hurling rocks and torching cars.

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Ministers told the workers in April that their wages would be "substantially increased", but they have yet to see a penny.

Campaigners say the women and their families have been left to struggle on, without nourishing food, clean water, decent housing, sanitation or health care, while they wait for the government to keep their promises.

War On Want say most of the Dhaka clothes workers live in filthy slum homes, with up to three family members crammed into every room.

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http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/2010/07/01/riots-in-streets-of-bangladesh-as-clothes-workers-protest-over-pay-86908-22374261/

Bangladeshi workers, who make clothes for major Western brands such as Wal-Mart and H & M, have been demanding wages of at least 5,000 taka (70 dollars) a month.

The current minimum wage, which is the lowest in the world, is just 25 dollars.

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