Скачать или смотреть Clashes as garment workers continue protest over working conditions

(11 Jun 2013)
1. Policeman hits garment worker, who is running away, on the back with his gun
2. Mid of female garment workers running away
3. Police beating garment workers with batons
4. Various of police firing tear gas towards the garment workers
5. Police with batons moving garment workers on
6. Wide of garment workers staging protest in front of a factory
7. Mid of workers trying to break through the front gate of the factory
8. SOUNDBITE (Bangla) Rozina Khatun, Garment Worker:
"Our allowance of overtime has not been increased. Our wage has not been increased. We are ordinary workers. How can we afford our meals? It is the garment factory from where we earn our living. There is no security in this garment sector. Moreover, one of our co-workers had to sacrifice his hand while staging a protest - and many female workers were also humiliated. We demand justice."
9. Wide of workers and police in the street
10. Wide of workers marching and chanting slogans as a police anti-riot car follows
11. Various of garment workers marching and chanting slogans
STORYLINE:
Police in Bangladesh used batons and tear gas to disperse hundreds of garment workers who were protesting on Tuesday to demand better wages and safer working conditions.
The protesters gathered outside garment factories in the capital Dhaka and chanted slogans in support of their demands.
Many of them were beaten back by police as they tried to enter the factory premises.
On Monday Bangladesh suspended seven inspectors it accused of negligence for renewing the licences of garment factories in a building that collapsed in April.
At least 1,129 people died when the building in the Dhaka suburb of Savar collapsed April 24, a day after cracks in the building prompted authorities to issue an evacuation order.
Bangladesh's garment industry has been under increased pressure from workers, activists and consumers to raise wages and improve working conditions.
The minimum wage for a garment worker is 38 US dollars a month, after being nearly doubled this year following violent protests by workers.
But protesters say the current rate isn't close to what workers need to pay for their bills and for eating properly.
"Our allowance of overtime has not been increased. Our wage has not been increased. We are ordinary workers. How can we afford our meals? It is the garment factory from where we earn our living," said garment worker, Rozina Khatun.
And she said protesters had been injured and humiliated in recent demonstrations.
"There is no security in this garment sector. More over, one of our co-workers had to sacrifice his hand while staging a protest - and many female workers were also humiliated. We demand justice," she said.
The number of factories in Bangladesh has soared in recent years to more than 240-thousand, while their safety is checked by only 50 government inspectors who issue operating licenses, officials said.
The factories include 3,500 garment factories that employ more than 3 (m) million workers, mostly women from impoverished villages.


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