Rights Advocates in Bangladesh Need Urgent Labor Day Solidarity

Meet Kalpona Akter and Babul Akhter. Kalpona and Babul are former child laborers who worked in the garment industry in Bangladesh and now run the Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity (BCWS). At 2 a.m. on August 13, Kalpona and Babul were awakened by 20 police officers and arrested as part of a government crackdown on workers and labor rights advocates who have been working to end exploitation in garment factories. They are both still in prison today despite international outcry. This Labor Day weekend, there are new, easy, and critical ways you can take action to support the rights of the workers who make our clothes.

Last month, I wrote about how Kalpona and Babul's organization had their legal status canceled in June for allegedly "fomenting unrest and agitation in the garment sector." Meanwhile, they had to deal with tapped phone lines, surveillance of their e-mails and searches of their offices. Kalpona and Babul are just two of the many people in Bangladesh who are trying to improve conditions in one of the most exploitative areas for garment workers.

Wages in Bangladesh are among the lowest in the world for this industry. Health and safety conditions in many of the local garment factories are appalling. For example, this past February, 21 workers died in the Garib & Garib factory, which produces for H&M, when they were locked inside the factory as it caught fire for the second time in six months. More recently, workers who have been protesting to demand higher wages, including children, were beaten by Bangladeshi police.

In response to the ongoing exploitation and the specific arrests of Kalpona and Babul, over 800 Change.org readers have taken action to demand an end to the harassment. This week, the International Worker Rights Caucus sent a letter to major apparel companies who source from Bangladesh, including Wal-Mart, JCPenney, Cintas, VF, H&M and Sears/Kmart, calling on them to do more to end the abuse. Also, the International Labor Rights Forum filed new comments detailing the abuse of workers' right to organize in Bangladesh with the U.S. Trade Representative.

All of these actions are definitely turning up the heat on the government of Bangladesh, but we have to do more to stand up for Kalpona, Babul and all of the other people working for justice. Here are some new and easy ways you can show your support.

1. Send this e-mail to Secretary of State Clinton calling on the US government to do more, including holding an immediate hearing about trade benefits that the US offers to Bangladesh;
2. Send this e-mail to Walmart, Sears, JC Penney and H&M calling on them to use their economic muscle as investors to stop the harassment of workers in Bangladesh;
3. Deliver a letter to your local Walmart next Wednesday, September 8th demanding that Walmart do more to protect worker rights in Bangladesh.

What better way to commemorate Labor Day than to continue the fight for worker rights and to defend the people who stand up for workers globally?

Photo credit: International Labor Rights Forum