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*FACTORY FIRE SURVIVOR SPEAKS OUT: *<br>
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End Death Traps-Safe Workplaces for All*!*<br>
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*FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 2013 |<br>
6:00-7:30pm<br>
*<br>
<br>
*Boston University, College of Arts and Sciences, Room
B36*<br>
<br>
725 Commonwealth Ave. (near Green Line Boston Univ.
Central Station)****<br>
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On November 24, 2012, 112 workers died in a horrific
fire at Tazreen<br>
Fashions, a Walmart, Sears and Disney supplier in
Bangladesh. Join us for<br>
a discussion about what happened and what can be done.
Hear from Sumi<br>
Abedin, a garment worker who survived the fire, Kalpona
Akter, director of<br>
the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity, and Liana
Foxvog, director of<br>
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SweatFree Communities at the International Labor Rights
Forum. ****<br>
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SUMI ABEDIN is a Bangladeshi garment worker who survived
the November 24,<br>
2012, fire that killed 112 workers at Tazreen Fashions,
a factory that<br>
supplied Walmart, Disney, Sears, Dickies, and produced
US Marines logo<br>
apparel for Delta Apparel / Soffe. Sumi was working on
the 4th floor of<br>
the factory at the time of the fire and survived after
jumping from the<br>
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burning building.****<br>
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KALPONA AKTER is the executive director of the
Bangladesh Center for Worker<br>
Solidarity (BCWS), one of Bangladesh's most prominent
labor rights advocacy<br>
organizations, and is herself a former child garment
worker. BCWS is<br>
regarded by the international labor rights movement and
by multinational<br>
apparel companies as among the most effective grassroots
labor<br>
organizations in the country. Levi Strauss & Co.
calls BCWS "a globally<br>
respected labor rights organization, which has played a
vital role in<br>
documenting and working to remedy labor violations in
the apparel industry<br>
in Bangladesh." Kalpona is an
internationally-recognized labor rights<br>
advocate and has traveled widely to speak about the
deplorable conditions<br>
that Bangladesh garment workers face every day. She was
interviewed<br>
extensively by local and international media following
the deadly fire at<br>
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Tazreen Fashions in November 2012. ****<br>
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<br>
New York Times, December 28, 2012, "As Walmart Makes
Safety Vows, It's Seen<br>
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as Obstacle to Change":****
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"The Walmart system of audits and inspections is not
improving the factory<br>
safety conditions here in Bangladesh," said Kalpona
Akter, executive<br>
director of the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity.
"They maintain<br>
this system to enable them to keep their hands clean and
deny<br>
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responsibility."****<br>
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<br>
Washington Post, March 1, 2013, "A Flurry of Fires in
Bangladesh Raise<br>
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Concerns over Garment-Worker Safety":****
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"We expected big changes, and very quickly, but the
reality is that nothing<br>
meaningful has happened," says Kalpona Akter, a
Bangladeshi labor leader<br>
and former child factory worker. "So far the government
and foreign<br>
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companies are all talk, no results; the unnecessary deaths
continue."****<br>
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This event is part of the "End Death Traps: Safe
Workplaces for All"<br>
10-city tour (<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://bit.ly/EndDeathTrapsTour" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/EndDeathTrapsTour</a>),
sponsored by Corporate<br>
Action Network, International Labor Rights Forum, Making
Change at Walmart,<br>
SumOfUs, United Students Against Sweatshops, and
Warehouse Workers United.<br>
Local sponsors include the Alliance for a Secular and
Democratic South<br>
Asia, Boston IWW, MA Interfaith Worker Justice, MA Jobs
with Justice, and<br>
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New England Jewish Labor Committee.****<br>
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Spread the word on facebook: <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.facebook.com/events/440411519380979"
target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/events/440411519380979</a><br>
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****
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