June 29, 2006 A-One factory closed - action still needed
On June 18, workers from the A-One factory arrived at the factory expecting to find a notice on the gates indicating how their demands had been met. Instead, when the workers got to the gates and saw there was no notice about the workers'demands, and it became known that the factory was to be closed indefinitely, the workers took to the streets to demonstrate. Agitating Dhaka garment workers
Following the disturbances, A-One workers, management and the authorities in the export processing zone where the factory is based engaged in several hours of negotiations, but no agreements were reached. As their demands have not been met, the A-One workers have refused to go back to work, and the factory remains closed.

Your support is still needed to continue to pressure brands and A-One factory management to meet the original demands of the workers as detailed here. Even though the factory is currently closed, the demands to the brands and the factory owner remain valid.

Background Workers had formed a committee* to represent their interests at the factory in February 2005, but in mid-September, management started to illegally dismiss workers and the representatives of the committee, and workers received death threats. The dismissed workers were not paid the dues owed by the factory management. Workers' demands in relation to wages and working conditions, reinstatement of workers, abusive treatment of workers and good-faith negotiations with workers' representatives have not been met. Following months of repression by management, during which workers remained peaceful, the A-One factory got targeted repeatedly in the wave of protests that have been taking place in the export-processing zone since mid-May, which are an inevitable consequence of the appalling working conditions and repeated violations of workers' rights in Bangladesh.

For more detailed background, please see our previous update

*The workers' had formed a Workers' Representation and Welfare Committee which is the only currently legal form of workers' association in Bangladesh's export processing zone.