www.newsandletters.org
|
|
NEWS & LETTERS, November 2002
Disney discards women workers
New York--About 80 people demonstrated at Disney’s Fifth
Avenue store for the abolition of sweatshops and child labor. Three young women
spoke, two of whom had worked for the Shah Makhdum factory in Bangladesh
producing garments for Disney. They represented a larger group of women workers
who dared to publicly denounce conditions and demand their rights. Disney’s
response was to pull all production and fire the workers. These fired workers
are now on a national tour. --Sheila G. *** Chicago--The Bangladeshi women workers spoke as well in
Chicago: Mahamuda: In Bangladesh, where I work at MNC producing
garments for Wal-Mart, there is no sick leave, holidays, or benefits. We work
seven days a week and never get a day off. Maybe we will get one day off a
month. They keep two sets of time cards, one that is real and one
that they show to the buyers. The phony one shows less hours and shows days off. We sometimes have to work all night. I make around 17 cents
an hour. I live in a small room with three other women who are my co-workers. I
have to buy food and pay rent from my small salary. I can't get a fan or a
television, or a sleeping platform. I can't send money to my family. I can't
ever have any fun. Two months ago, one woman got sick but she wasn't allowed
to leave work. She died. We were afraid to protest because if we raise our
voices we might lose our jobs and not be able to feed ourselves or our families. The Wal-Mart buyers only visit the factory from 12 p.m. to
4 p.m. They don't see us working overnight or overtime. We are made by our
bosses to lie to the buyers about this. We are insulted if they don't think we are working fast
enough. They call you "whore" and "prostitute," they say
"Your parents are prostitutes!" Lisa: I am 19 years old. I had to start working when I was
ten. I come from a poor family. After working in factories for five years, I
have worked in the Shah Makhdum Disney factory for the last three years. They set a heavy pace. We have to turn out 20 garments per
hour. If we don't, they slap us and curse us. The supervisors use the buyers'
name to force us to hurry up. They say, "This is a rush order for
Disney!" The bathroom is filthy. We have to drink water from it, and
so we get diarrhea. We have one lunch break and another ten-minute break for
dinner in the evening. Even if we aren't finished eating, we have to go back to
work. In my neighborhood 100 people have to share one outhouse and one stove
with four burners. If we even ask for leave or benefits we are fired. When a
woman reaches age 35, she is fired with no benefits. I make less than 14 cents
an hour. I have no fun in my life. I can't even watch a movie or ride a bicycle.
If I could make only 37 cents an hour, I feel that I could live in greater
dignity with my family. We want Disney to return to the factory with jobs, but we
also want respect. We want to be treated like human beings. Sheikh Nazma: There are around 1.6 million workers in
garment factories in Bangladesh. Most of them are young women. Despite adverse
and harsh conditions there is not a single functioning union in Bangladesh. It
is very difficult to organize garment workers, because you can't see them very
often. Disney was here for years, but when the workers finally
raised their voices, Disney pulled out. Disney never listened. All we wanted was
one day off per week and national holidays off, not to be cheated of wages, and
voluntary rather than forced overtime. We want Disney there, we need the jobs, but they should respect the workers as human. With your help we can win back our rights. If we win this campaign with Wal-Mart and Disney it will affect all other workers, as well, because these are the big ones. |
|
Home l News & Letters Newspaper l Back issues l News and Letters Committees l Dialogues l Raya Dunayevskaya l Contact us l Search Published by News and Letters Committees |
