Red Marriott

Wage battles erupt in the Bangladeshi garment sector – and unions can’t contain them

Submitted by Red Marriott on Jan 20 2019 15:12

The past two weeks have seen mass walkouts and wildcat strikes by thousands of garment workers. After five years the industry’s minimum wage structure has been adjusted but workers have rejected the proposed new wage levels.
The protests began after the first announcement by the government Wage Board of the new wage levels in September. By December there was a large movement of factory walk outs and road blockades as workers rejected the deal. These struggles reignited in the past two weeks before a general drift back to work in recent days.

Grenfell Tower – the smoke & the mirrors

Submitted by Red Marriott on Jun 30 2018 09:38

There is an ever-growing stream of media commentary on the Grenfell fire, increasing daily as the public enquiry unfolds. There are some elements in the media with the goal of obscuring or excusing the plain facts as part of a pre-emptive defence manoeuvre to protect those most implicated in what caused the fire and the 72 deaths. That they feel the need to use such distortions to defend the Grenfell landlords and those who ordered and oversaw the Grenfell refurbishment that fitted the lethal cladding only increases the suggestion of a general doubt on all sides about their innocence.

The Monopoly board of the city: Grenfell Tower - where was the HCA, government housing regulator??

Submitted by Red Marriott on Jun 19 2017 16:23

The Homes & Community Agency(HCA) is the UK state regulatory body for social housing; its job is to monitor the performance, finances and provision of services of landlords. Missing from the media coverage of the Grenfell Tower fire disaster so far is any discussion of what relation the HCA has to this horror story of corporate murder. Given the years of complaints from Grenfell tenants(1) about their landlord the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation(KCTMO)(2), we can reasonably ask why the HCA never stepped in to investigate the terrible tenant-landlord relationship and the many fire safety complaints tenants had flagged up repeatedly before the fire broke out.

A few clarifications on anti-work - Bruno Astarian

A historical perspective by Bruno Astarian on anti-work and its current expression in proletarian struggles. Translated by 'Ediciones Inéditos'.

Behind the camouflage; a new strike wave in the Bangladeshi garment sector

Submitted by Red Marriott on Dec 31 2016 17:45

Garment workers protest - Ashulia, Dec 2016

Following a period of relative quiet after the 2013 Rana Plaza factory disaster, new struggles emerge from the garment factories.

The binds that tie: unions, ‘solidarity’, civil society and foreign policy in Bangladesh

Submitted by Red Marriott on Aug 2 2014 12:05

A look at the new unions emerging as part of the reforms of the garment industry – and Western influences on them. Plus workers continue to struggle to be paid what they are owed...

Highs and lows of a wage rise - the new garment minimum wage

Submitted by Red Marriott on Nov 20 2013 16:12

The Bangladeshi minimum wage board has, after long negotiations, announced a 76% increase in garment workers’ pay, applicable to all seven pay grades. This has quickly been hailed as a great victory by some observers. We’ll go into the details to show that it’s not the result the workers continue to demand and that any gains may not be long-lasting.