European brand retailer accused of trafficking knitted garments produced at the Bangladesh sweatshop

A report alleged that clothing retailers in Europe, Australia and Canada have been accused of selling knitted garments made by workers who are treated as prisoners in Bangladesh. These workers have an hourly rate of only 1.6 cents. Companies such as Home Stores, Coles, Dressmann, Celio and De Bijenkorf in the UK were allegedly a part of the branded garments purchased by the Rosita Knitwears and Megha Textile (Megatex) Garment factories in the Ishwardi processing export zone in northern Bangladesh.

According to the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights research, 5,000 workers in the aforementioned factories often face sexual harassment, beatings, corporal punishment, mass layoffs, and unlawful captivity. Currently, these brand retailers are required to negotiate with workers, factory management, research associations, and labor ministries to ensure compliance with Bangladesh labor laws and the ILO's labor rights norms.

The BHS chain owned by the Arcadia Group in the United Kingdom stated that the company had immediately investigated the suppliers who had placed orders for the problem factories. Dressmann, a member of Norway's Varner Group, said that the company is using internal procedures to understand why this kind of thing happened and the company knew nothing about it. De Bijenkorf of the Netherlands also said that "we are in the process of investigating and meeting with suppliers and will continue to investigate until it is over."

The Global Labor and Staff Association pointed out that the workers of these suspected factories, even if they have many years of experience, are still classified as “secondary” or “beginners” and only pay monthly BDT (Bangladesh ) 4,086 yuan (US$50) --- US$5.17 lower than the US$55 stipulated by the Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority (BEPZA). Basically, this means that these workers are being exploited for almost two and a half days each month. wage.