From the National Labor Committee in the USA:
National Labor Committee: Child Labor Is Back: Children Again Sewing Clothing for Wal-Mart, Hanes and Other U.S. CompaniesSee also here.10/24/2006
To: National Desk, Labor Reporter
Contact: Charles Kernaghan of National Labor Committee, 212-242-3002
NEW YORK, Oct. 24 /U.S. Newswire/ — The following was released today by the National Labor Committee (NLC) on child labor:
An estimated 200 children, some 11 years old or even younger, are sewing clothing for Hanes, Wal-Mart, J.C. Penney and Puma at the Harvest Rich factory in Bangladesh.
The children report being routinely slapped and beaten, sometimes falling down from exhaustion, forced to work 12 to 14 hours a day, even some all-night, 19- to 20-hour shifts, often seven days a week, for wages as low as 6 and a half cents an hour.
The wages are so wretchedly low that many of the child workers get up at 5 a.m. each morning to brush their teeth using just their finger and ashes from the fire, since they cannot afford a toothbrush or toothpaste.
The TUC general secretary, Brendan Barber, is refusing to back down over a decision to let out its congress hall this Friday to a British company whose suppliers are alleged to use sweatshop labour in Bangladesh to manufacture cheap T shirts: here.
Bangladesh elections 2008: here.
RE: UK: from Blair PR man to Walmart union buster
Posted by: Jon N (View Website)
Date: 02/17/06 at 10:21 AM (
Hi Kitty, Thanks for this post. I just came home from a union meeting where we discussed Wal Mart’s negative impact on local economies. My local donated some money, (not much unfortunately), to a campaign to stop Wal Mart from building a second store near here. Saw you got the cartoon from the Black Commentator. I’m so glad you link to them. I’m trying to learn a bit more about the protest you went to. Nothing about this issue in the English Language labor press, and I haven’t had time to really go digging around in the web.
RE: Wal-Mart and Black Commentator
Posted by:
dearkitty
Date: 02/17/06 at 12:41 PM
Hi Jon, thanks for reacting. The Black Commentator by the way has a story on Wal-Mart at http://www.blackcommentator.com/171/171_cover_wal_mart.html
Unfortunatelty, there is no (or seems to be no) Black Commentator RSS feed, like at many other good sites which make it a bit harder to find latest updates.
The GMB union site to which I link in this entry has more on Wal-Mart in the UK.
RE: UK: from Blair PR man to Walmart union buster
Posted by: Jon N (View Website)
Date: 02/17/06 at 10:26 AM
sorry about the double post. I got a series of weird error messages when I attempted to post. Then my comments finally posted, twice. ??? Oh well. By the way, I like so many of the things that you post on, I feel like you and I agree on a great many things:birds, unions, evolution, war. I doubt that we agree on religion, but you wouldn’t happen to like Garage rock, would you? If I had time I’d devote a second web site just to music.
RE: UK: from Blair PR man to Walmart union buster
Posted by:
dearkitty
Date: 02/17/06 at 12:46 PM (6M3w ago)
Hi Jon, sometimes ModBlog goes briefly off the web; maybe that caused your posting problem.
I like garage rock and many other types of music.
Comment by Administrator — December 28, 2006 @ 6:01 pm