In this issue:
Editorial
As we were finishing up the copy for this issue of the Update, we received the tragic news that Aminul Islam, a senior organizer with the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers' Federation (BGIWF) and Bangladesh Center for Workers' Solidarity (BCWS), was found dead on April 5 outside Dhaka. It is widely believed that Aminul was murdered because of his defence of garment workers' rights.
>>Read more
Controversy surrounds Foxconn investigation
On March 29, the Fair Labor Association (FLA) released a much-anticipated report on its investigation into the labour practices at three Foxconn factories in China employing close to 180,000 workers who manufacture electronic devices for Apple including iPads and iPhones.
>> Read more
A groundbreaking deal opens Bangladeshi garment factories to safety inspections
One of the tragic lessons from the disastrous accident at the Eurotex factory, in Dhaka, Bangladesh in December 2011, was that some international brands that had been producing clothing in the factory already knew there were serious safety hazards. Rather than fix the problems, however, they quietly left the factory, leaving workers to face those hazards alone.
>>Read more
Auto parts company admits signing a protection contract to keep out an independent union
On January 30, 8,000 workers at the Arneses y Accesorios de México auto parts factory in Cuidad Acuña were informed by their employer that the company had signed a collective bargaining agreement with the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM), without their prior knowledge or consent.
>>Read more
Despite record profits, Johnson Controls to close unionized factory
Johnson Controls Inc. (JCI) has announced plans to close its Interiores factory in Puebla, Mexico, less than one year after signing a collective bargaining agreement with an independent union affiliated with the National Union of Mine and Metalworkers (Los Mineros).
>>Read more
Mass faintings: A Cambodian tribunal examines the effects of poverty wages on garment workers
The Peoples Tribunal on a Living Wage, which was held in Phnom Penh on February 5 and 6, found that the combination of inadequate nutrition, excessive working hours, and exposure to hot, dusty working environments and harmful chemicals amounts to "a systematic violation of [workers'] fundamental right to a decent human life."
>>Read more
Short-term contracts undermine the rights of Peruvian garment workers
On March 20-21, representatives of national and international unions and labour rights organizations, major apparel brands, multi-stakeholder initiatives, the labour ministry, and local suppliers met in Lima, Peru to discuss how short-term employment contacts impact on workers' rights in the country's garment and textile industry.
>>Read more
Bangladeshi labour organizer murdered
Aminul Islam, a trade union organizer for the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation (BGIWF) and a member of the Bangladesh Center for Workers' Solidarity (BCWS) was found dead on April 5, 2012. Police pictures of his body suggest that Islam was tortured before being killed.
>>Read more
Download your copy here
