textiles
News and articles about work, policy and workers' struggles in manufacturing, research and development, mining and materials around the world.
Three dead in garment workers' clashes - unions promised new role
The latest clashes in the highly charged arena of the Bangladeshi garment industry...
Tongi, an industrial city located 15 miles (24 km) north of Dhaka; early last Saturday morning (31st Oct) several hundred workers turned up at the gates of the Nippon Garment Factory at Ershad Nagar - expecting to work and to receive wage arrears owed them.
10th of Ramadan textile workers self-manage factory
When their owner fled the country ahead of a jail sentence, the employees at the Economic Company for Industrial Development, faced looming unemployment and the closure of the company's multiple textile factories. A common enough story in Egypt these days, but in this case, the workers instead embarked on a landmark labor experiment.
For nearly a year, three of the Economic Company’s textile factories in 10th of Ramadan City have essentially been running themselves. Granted the right to self-management by a September 2008 court decision, the workers are paying their own wages, handling customer orders and trying to clean up the financial mess left by the previous owner.
Various protests from Cambodia to Malaysia, and Sweden.
Here are some links to articles on various protests that have taken place recently in Cambodia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China and a strike by Vietnamese workers in Sweden.
Villagers in Cambodia have sent representatives to the government baring a petition asking for action over land grabs, which are becoming more common. 80% of the population live in rural areas, and there is no safety net, but as over 90% of land has no legal title (mostly destroyed under the Khmer Rouge) it is easy for companies, the rich and powerful etc. to simply take land.
Short fuse: 50,000 workers on the streets and 50 factories burning in Bangladesh
The mass unrest in the garment industry continued on Monday (29 June) for a third day...
On the outskirts of Dhaka, the capital city, in the industrial zone; workers' rioting and demonstrations yesterday escalated to new heights. As thousands of workers gathered in the morning, at 10am a group set off towards the nearby Dhaka Export Processing Zone where many garment factories are located.
More mayhem - cops kill again as garment workers' rioting continues in Bangladesh
The unrest continues in the garment industry - another worker killed as rioting spreads across the whole garment factory area in Ashulia.
Ashulia district, Savar, near Dhaka; The unrest that began on Saturday (see previous story; http://libcom.org/news/fury-garment-worker-shot-dead-bangladesh-workers-strike-riot-28062009) - when security forces killed a worker during demonstrations for the reinstatement of sacked workers - has escalated.
Fury; garment worker shot dead in Bangladesh as workers strike and riot
The persistent outbreaks of workers' anger continue in the Bangladeshi garment industry. A strike escalates...
Savar, central Bangladesh (a center of textiles and agriculture); for several days last week 1800 workers at a sweater factory in Ashulia had been striking in demand of a pay increase and settlement of outstanding wages. Management finally agreed to the demands on Thursday.
Tanta Linen Company workers in Egypt begin open-ended strike
1000 Tanta Linen Co. workers are striking, led for the first time in Egypt by an official trade union, the Textile Trade Union (TTU).
The workers’ demands are to get paid bonuses on the basis of 2008 wage rate instead of 2003, the accumulated commissions that unpaid since selling the company to the Saudi investor, increasing the meal compensation from 32 L.E to 90 L.E like all other textile companies, a 7% regular subsidy, and the rehiring of their fired fellow workers.
500 Vietnamese textile workers wildcat for pay increase
About 500 workers at a joint-venture garment factory in Ho Chi Minh City have launched a wildcat strike.
Tran Van Truong, a police official in the ward where the Minh Phat Garment Company is located, said officers had been sent to the factory 'in case workers take extreme action, like damaging property.'
Wildcats; over 15,000 Bangladeshi garment workers "go berserk" and attack factories over non-payment and low wages
Two major outbreaks of garment workers' fury have occurred this week.
On Sunday night (May 10) at the Rupashi Sweater factory in Narayanganj (a river port town in central Bangladesh and centre of jute and textiles industries) bosses were attacked by a group of workers demanding their unpaid wages. When they turned up for work on Monday morning, workers found themselves locked out of the factory.
Aftermath of the BDR mutiny; state murders and class struggles in Bangladesh
Updates on;
1) deaths in custody of suspects in the February Bangladeshi Rifles (BDR) army mutiny,
2) the increasing unrest in the Bangladeshi garment industry and state measures to contain it.
The bloody revenge
