Factory Fire Reveals Bangladesh’s Child Labor Problem
Child workers were among the casualties of the July 8 fire, shedding terrible light on an all-too-common problem.
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July 21, 2021
A firefighter communicates with his colleagues on a walkie talkie inside the burnt food and beverage factory in Rupganj, outside Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, July 9, 2021.
Credit: AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu
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On the afternoon of Thursday, July 8, a fire broke out on the ground floor of the Hashem Food & Beverages factory at Rupganj, an industrial district lying at the outskirts of Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka. Experts have pointed to the illegal storage of chemicals and plastics on the ground floor of the building as the reason behind the fire’s rapid spread. In the aftermath of the inferno, which engulfed the six-story building, more than 50 people are known to have been killed, and many others left injured or unaccounted for. The extent of the victim
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Experts for conducting dialogues to recover labour market during COVID-19
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DHAKA, April 17,2021 (BSS) – Experts at an virtual dialogue today said, after the profound impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the global economy, particularly on the world of work during the first half of 2020, a significant part since then has been struggling for rebounding and recovery.
The major struggle has been confronted by different worker groups, including regular, temporary workers and particularly those self-employed and involved in MSMEs, commerce, tourism and other informal sectors.
To this end, trade union policy strategy should focus on the world of work, particularly highlighting the workers of those who are organised and unorganised and effective social dialogues will be the key for recovery of the labour market during COVID-19, they opined.
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DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh’s huge export-oriented readymade garment industry is fighting for its survival after fresh coronavirus curbs in Europe and North America shrivelled already-weakened order books, industry leaders said.
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The government told Reuters it was considering a new support package for the industry that contributes almost 16% of GDP to the economy. Companies in the world’s largest garment exporting nation after China supply to big Western brands such as Walmart Inc, Gap Inc and H&M.
“The first wave of the pandemic rattled the supply chain and the financial base of the industry through order cancellations, payment deferments and discount demands,” said Rubana Huq, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association. “The second wave has decapitated the already dead.”
Garment workers suffer as companies hit by Covid-19 cancel orders Quartz 2/22/2021 Marc Bain © Provided by Quartz Garments workers shout slogans as they block a road demanding their due wages during the lockdown amid concerns over the coronavirus disease
With the wages she earned as a garment worker at Yi Da Manufacturer, a factory in Cambodia, Douk Sovann says she would normally spend about $10 a day on food. That amount would feed her and her three daughters, who range in age from 10 to 17.
Then came the pandemic, and business at the factory plummeted. Sovann was furloughed, and her monthly income fell from about $250 a month to just $70, between the $40 in assistance she received from the government and $30 from the factory. She had no choice but to cut the family’s food budget. During that period the four of them lived on $2.50 to $3 a day.
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