NATIONAL
McDermott condemns murder of Bangledeshi labor leader
U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) issued a statement condemning the murder:
“I am deeply troubled by this development and call on the Bangladeshi authorities to conduct a full investigation into Mr. Islam’s murder. Workers do not have even the most basic labor rights if they can be killed with impunity for trying to improve their working conditions.”
Aminul had worked for several years as a labor rights organizer and advocate. His organization, the Bangladeshi Center for Worker Solidarity, is among the most prominent labor rights groups in the country. Levi Strauss called BCWS “a globally respected labor rights organization that has played a vital role in documenting and working to remedy labor violations in the apparel industry in Bangladesh.”
The BCWS was featured in a recent ABC TV News story (watch it below) exposing the relationship of Tommy Hilfiger and other U.S. brand clothing to a sweatshop factory fire in Dhaka that killed 29 workers last year, and describing the repression of labor rights advocates.