[act-ma] 4/19: Bangladeshi Factory Fire Survivor Speaks Out: Safe Workplaces for All!

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*FACTORY FIRE SURVIVOR SPEAKS OUT: *

End Death Traps-Safe Workplaces for All*!*

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*FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 2013  |
6:00-7:30pm
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*Boston University, College of Arts and Sciences, Room B36*

725 Commonwealth Ave.  (near Green Line Boston Univ. Central Station)****

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On November 24, 2012, 112 workers died in a horrific fire at Tazreen
Fashions, a Walmart, Sears and Disney supplier in Bangladesh.  Join us for
a discussion about what happened and what can be done. Hear from Sumi
Abedin, a garment worker who survived the fire, Kalpona Akter, director of
the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity, and Liana Foxvog, director of
SweatFree Communities at the International Labor Rights Forum. ****

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SUMI ABEDIN is a Bangladeshi garment worker who survived the November 24,
2012, fire that killed 112 workers at Tazreen Fashions, a factory that
supplied Walmart, Disney, Sears, Dickies, and produced US Marines logo
apparel for Delta Apparel / Soffe.  Sumi was working on the 4th floor of
the factory at the time of the fire and survived after jumping from the
burning building.****

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KALPONA AKTER is the executive director of the Bangladesh Center for Worker
Solidarity (BCWS), one of Bangladesh's most prominent labor rights advocacy
organizations, and is herself a former child garment worker. BCWS is
regarded by the international labor rights movement and by multinational
apparel companies as among the most effective grassroots labor
organizations in the country. Levi Strauss & Co. calls BCWS "a globally
respected labor rights organization, which has played a vital role in
documenting and working to remedy labor violations in the apparel industry
in Bangladesh."  Kalpona is an internationally-recognized labor rights
advocate and has traveled widely to speak about the deplorable conditions
that Bangladesh garment workers face every day. She was interviewed
extensively by local and international media following the deadly fire at
Tazreen Fashions in November 2012. ****

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New York Times, December 28, 2012, "As Walmart Makes Safety Vows, It's Seen
as Obstacle to Change":****


"The Walmart system of audits and inspections is not improving the factory
safety conditions here in Bangladesh," said Kalpona Akter, executive
director of the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity. "They maintain
this system to enable them to keep their hands clean and deny
responsibility."****

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Washington Post, March 1, 2013, "A Flurry of Fires in Bangladesh Raise
Concerns over Garment-Worker Safety":****


"We expected big changes, and very quickly, but the reality is that nothing
meaningful has happened," says Kalpona Akter, a Bangladeshi labor leader
and former child factory worker. "So far the government and foreign
companies are all talk, no results; the unnecessary deaths continue."****

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This event is part of the "End Death Traps: Safe Workplaces for All"
10-city tour (http://bit.ly/EndDeathTrapsTour), sponsored by Corporate
Action Network, International Labor Rights Forum, Making Change at Walmart,
SumOfUs, United Students Against Sweatshops, and Warehouse Workers United.
Local sponsors include the Alliance for a Secular and Democratic South
Asia, Boston IWW, MA Interfaith Worker Justice, MA Jobs with Justice, and
New England Jewish Labor Committee.****

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Spread the word on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/440411519380979
****







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