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‘I thought about killing my children’: the desperate Bangladesh garment workers fighting for pay

Workers face destitution after the collapse of fashion retailers – and despite beatings and police crackdowns vow they will protest until they are paid

It was 4.30am when the police charged the hundreds of garment workers sleeping under makeshift shelters and in sleeping bags on the streets of Dhaka, Bangladesh. As blows rained down, the workers fled.

By morning the streets had been cleared of the non-violent protest that more than 700 garment workers had been peacefully staging outside the Dhaka Press Club calling for their unpaid wages as they faced mounting destitution and hunger.

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Bangladesh court jails Rana Plaza owner for three years for graft

A Bangladesh court on Tuesday jailed the Rana Plaza owner for three years for graft, the first of many charges laid against him after the garment factory complex collapsed in 2013 and killed more than 1,130 people.

Sohel Rana was given the maximum three-year sentence by a special court in Dhaka for failing to declare his personal wealth to Bangladesh’s anti-graft commission, one of a series of charges brought after the disaster.

“This is the first time he has been convicted and jailed,” said prosecutor Salahuddin Eskander.

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To the good guys.

Spain seems divided recently because of the different opinions regarding the donations of oncological equipment valued at euros 320 million by the Amancio Ortega Foundation. Some people glorify the leading figure of the founder of Zara to the altars of holiness, or simply believe that being grateful is being a good guy.  But there are also those who criticize the derisory nature of the donation (compared to his fortune), the tax avoidance of Ortega’s business industry or the scandals of child slavery and labor exploitation found in the INDITEX production chain.

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Dozens of Bangladesh factories close as workers strike

Dozens of garment factories in Bangladesh shut down Thursday as a workers’ strike escalated, in a move that could hit supplies to top Western retailers during the busy holiday season.

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) closed 55 factories in a suburb on the outskirts of Dhaka, association president Siddikur Rahman said, after police arrested at least seven people who were leading the strike. “Those (factories) will remain closed until the government says it is safe to reopen them,” Rahman told AFP.

Workers went on strike nine days ago to protest the firing of 121 colleagues and soon added a pay hike to their list of demands. The protest escalated earlier this week when police fired rubber pellets, injuring 10 demonstrators according to labour leader Taslima Akhter. Continue reading “Dozens of Bangladesh factories close as workers strike”