Fashion brands including Calvin Klein, H&M, Levi’s and Zara are accused of trampling on workers’ basic rights in Bangladesh.
BY Mzi Velapi – this post first appeared on Elitsha
IN SUMMARY:
Campaign Overview: The labour movement has led an international campaign in Bangladesh to condemn fashion brands for inaction and call for the dropping of 36 legal cases against workers and protesters. The Clean Clothes campaign criticizes major fashion brands for failing to protect workers’ rights in Bangladesh.
Protests and Repression: Bangladeshi garment workers protested for higher wages over a year ago. The government and employers violently repressed the protest. The outcomes of the repression was tragic: 4 workers were killed, hundreds were injured and 131 were arrested. Approximately 40,000 workers remain at risk of arrest due to “blank arrest warrants,” according to the Clean Clothes Campaign.
Accusations Against Fashion Brands: Fashion brands are accused of prioritising profits over workers’ safety. “Brands such as H&M and Zara have a responsibility to ensure that complaints against unnamed protesters cannot be used to intimidate workers and their representatives,” said Anne Bienias, a campaigner from Clean Clothes Campaign. Brands are criticized for refusing to support wage demands, despite workers living in extreme poverty.
Brands Linked to Charges Against Workers: The Clean Clothes Campaign has linked 45 fashion brands to suppliers who filed charges against garment workers. Despite some brands taking initial steps, none have followed through, and not a single case has been cleared – 36 criminal cases are held against 40,000 “unnamed individuals.” Trade unionists warn these blank arrest warrants could be used to silence workers or settle political/personal grievances.
Demands and Workers’ Priorities: Workers and unions have submitted a list of demands to the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus. One key demand is for an executive order to drop all politically motivated legal charges against workers involved in the 2023 wage protests.
Inaction of Fashion Brands: Brands like H&M, Zara, Calvin Klein, Levi’s, and Lee are linked to these unresolved cases. Their lack of action reveals that promises of living wages and freedom of association are empty, masking the repression of workers outsourced to Bangladeshi authorities.
Wages and Working Conditions: The minimum legal monthly wage is 8,000 taka (US$67), one of the lowest in the world, unchanged since 2018. Workers continue to face hazardous conditions, similar to those when the Rana Plaza factory collapsed in 2013.
Union Leader’s Statement: Kalpona Akter, president of the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation, said: “Getting the cases dropped is just a first but very necessary step on the way to an industry in which workers can live a decent life off their wages and in which barriers to freedom of association are taken down.” She emphasized the call for living wages and the end of fear-based work environments.
