Printer-friendly version

Hear from Babul Akhter, Director of the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity and General Secretary of the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation

*events is free and open to the public*

On March 25, 1911, a fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, located near Washington Square in Manhattan, killed 146 workers who could not escape because the doors were locked—to prevent theft, the employers said, and to keep out union organizers from the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union. Most workers were young women and recent immigrants. The fire became a rallying cry for the labor movement, resulting in changes in labor law and fire safety regulations that continue to protect us today.

In 2011, 100 years later, the garment industry again operates like the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. Sweatshop conditions are the norm worldwide, and in countries like Bangladesh garment workers are even killed in fires when exits are blocked and they are unable to escape—just like in the Triangle fire. In the United States, laws and protections won in the aftermath of the fire are under renewed attack.

On March 31st  BABUL AKHTER will visit the Pioneer Valley to educate about the factory fires and sweatshops of today, and to spark renewed action for decent working conditions and basic protections for workers worldwide. Babul worked in a Bangladesh sweatshop for five years. He struggled to establish a union at the garment factory but was fired as a result. Now he is the Director of Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity and General Secretary of the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation. In 2010, a subcontractor for Walmart, Sears and JC Penney filed a false criminal complaint against him, which resulted in his arrest and imprisonment. He was in police custody for 30 days during which he was tortured. (Take action to support his case here:http://www.sweatfree.org/bcws)

Sponsors: American Friends Service Committee, International Labor Rights Forum, Jobs with Justice, and SweatFree Communities.

For more information, contact Liana Foxvog at organize@sweatfree.org or 413-586-0974.

.