Bangladeshi Worker Rights Activist Asks Walmart to Protect Her

ABC News's investigative unit has an impressive story up today about an inspiring woman and longtime friend to UFCW: Kalpona Akter, the Bangladeshi labor rights activist who is being persecuted by her government for trying to organize for better working conditions in Bangladeshi factories.

You might remember Kalpona from our story last year about the Walmart Worker Truth Tour, an event that brought together workers from every part of Walamrt's supply chain.

Kalpona and her coworkers have been jailed, beaten, and threatened with the worst, all for speaking out about the conditions in the factories that supply clothing to major American chains like Walmart. Now she's calling on those companies to speak out and pressure the Bangladeshi government to drop the criminal charges against the workers.

"The brands can really play a vital role when we are put in jail," Akter told ABC News. "They are the most powerful, and can put pressure onto the factory owners and the Bangladeshi government to tell them these charges should be dropped."

As ABC reports,

"Tommy Hilfiger -- whose famous label was traced to several of the factories -- acknowledged in an interview that the conditions are 'unacceptable' and 'tragic.' Hilfiger pledged to go to Bangladesh to demand better conditions, and the company that owns his brand, PVH Corp., responded to the ABC News investigation by committing between $1 million and $2 million to make significant improvements."

Check out this video of Kalpona, then be sure to read the full story from ABC.

International worker solidarity gives new meaning to "We Are One" this April 4

Today and all week, at over 1,000 events across America, working families are standing as one to revive Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream for our country and stand up for the middle class. But as American workers come together in the face of unprecedented attacks on our rights, we must also recognize and support workers around the world who are also struggling for their rights and freedoms.

Babul Akhter, worker rights activist at Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity, joins DC's We Are One rally

Today, UFCW had the privilege of hearing from three workers representing different parts of Walmart’s supply chain. The workers (Cynthia Murray – current employee in a Laurel, MD, Walmart store; Robert Hines – former employee in Chicago-area warehouse that supplies Walmart stores; and Aleya Akter – Bangladeshi garment factory worker who sews clothes sold in U.S. Walmart stores) are preparing for their last stop on the Walmart Worker Truth Tour. Their shared experiences show just how interconnected workers across insutries, states, and oceans truly are in today's globalized world.

Accompanying Aleya as she shares her story with U.S. workers and consumers are Bangladeshi worker rights advocates Kalpona Akter and Babul Akhter, who have inspiring stories of their own. Kalpona and Babul are respected labor rights leaders from the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity (BCWS) who, in August, were seized in a witch hunt against worker rights advocates and imprisoned on unfounded criminal charges filed by the Nassa Group, a major supplier Walmart. These peaceful labor leaders were targeted as “terrorists” and unjustly jailed and beaten for inciting worker unrest.

Even as they face potential life sentences, or even death, Kalpona and Babul took time out today to stand in solidarity with U.S. workers as we stand in defense of our rights, and of the dream Dr. King was fighting for the day he died. Just hours before the last event in the Walmart Worker Truth Tour, they joined the We Are One rally in Washington, D.C., lending international support and solidarity to workers across the U.S. who are bravely fighting for their rights.

Unions Recognize World Aids Day

The Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic affects all of us. In the U.S., workers living with the disease have protections on the job. Here are 2 articles on what unions are doing around the world to ensure the spread slows to a stop and worker's human rights are protected.

UNI - Africa Removing denial and the stigama still attached to those infected with HIV/AIDS are both important parts of the trade union action plan to tackle the disease in Africa. Read more about how unions are supporting members with this disease.

BWI- Asian Pacific Region HIV/AIDS, a global pandemic has thrown new challenges to the trade unions around the world. Today on the World AIDS day – we remember all the brothers and sisters who have lost their lives and also, those who are afflicted with the deadly virus and are coping with the consequences.

Read more about the efforst the world over to stop this deadly disease: World Aids Campaign.