Global retailers reject Bangladesh factory safety plan l May 26, 2013
Oregon Live / AP l In the five months since last year's deadly blaze at Tazreen Fashions Ltd., there were 41 other "fire incidents" in Bangladesh factories — ranging from a deadly blaze to smaller fires or sparks that caused employees to panic, according to [the Solidarity Center.]

Big Brands Rejected Bangladesh Factory Safety Plan l April 26, 2013
Bloomberg Businessweek l “In the five months since last year's deadly blaze at Tazreen Fashions Ltd., there were 40 other fires in Bangladeshi factories, killing nine workers and injuring more than 660,” according to the Solidarity Center.

Savar Tragedy Triggers Outcry Worldwide l April 26, 2013
Financial Express (Bangladesh) l Solidarity Center Asia Department's Director Timothy Ryan “told the Business Insider that the unsafe factory conditions in Bangladesh stem from an 'institutional failure of the government. This happens all the time’.”

Poor Countries Can Keep Workers Safe and Still Escape Poverty l April 25, 2013
Washington Post l In Cambodia, the Solidarity Center provided advice and technical assistance to indigenous unions forming in Cambodia.

In Bangladesh, a Frantic Search for Survivors after a Factory Collapse l April 24, 2013
Atlantic Cities l Repeats Alonzo Suson’s quote from the New York Times.

Latest Bangladesh Garment Factory Disaster Kills over 100 l April 24, 2013
Fahionista l Repeats Alonzo Suson’s quote from the New York Times.

Building Collapse in Bangladesh Leaves Scores Dead l April 24, 2013
New York Times l “An eight-story building in Bangladesh that housed several garment factories collapsed on Wednesday morning, killing at least 70 people, injuring hundreds of others, and leaving an unknown number of people trapped in the rubble.” Alonzo Suson, Solidarity Center country director, “said Wednesday’s accident illustrated the repeated failure of government inspectors to ensure that safety standards were met.”

In the Wake of a Deadly Fire, Garment Workers Push for Stronger Protection l April 24, 2013
The Atlantic l According to the Solidarity Center, “as of mid-April at least 41 (fire incidents) have taken place in Bangladesh since the blaze at Tazreen, a facility in the capital...”

Bangladesh Factory Disasters Will Become 'More and More' Common l April 24, 2013
Business Insider l Timothy Ryan, Asia regional director for the Solidarity Center, said “that the unsafe factory conditions in Bangladesh stem from an ‘institutional failure of the government” to regulate factories. “Workers noticed cracks in the building on Tuesday but were forced to show up for work on Wednesday anyway. ‘There's a level of callousness and greed in this context,’ Ryan said.”

Global Brands Come Under Fire as another Factory Disaster Claims Nearly 100 in Bangladesh l April 24, 2013
Brand Channel l The Solidarity Center, in a statement, said: “Another four garment factories in Bangladesh became death traps today… The organization is calling on the Bangladesh government to enforce its labor and building codes, on brands that source from the country to prioritize health and safety conditions in factories, and on both to respect the rights of workers and to recognize that the only way Bangladesh will have safe factories is if workers have a voice on the job.”

'Historic’ Deal for Workers | March 4, 2013 (Cambodia)
Phnom Penh Post | The deal will result in about $200,000 in wages and benefits being paid to workers who were stranded when the garment factory in Phnom Penh closed unannounced in December. “It’s an enormous moment in Cambodia’s labor history, brands sitting down with the poorest workers,” said Dave Welsh, Solidarity Center country director.

Wal-Mart and H&M Suppliers Pay Workers at Closed Cambodia Plant | March 2, 2013
Bloomberg Businessweek | “Following a two-day hunger strike, suppliers to Wal-Mart and Hennes & Mauritz agreed to pay about $145,000 in back wages and severance to about 160 workers at a Cambodian factory that closed in November...” The agreement was reached at a meeting in Phnom Penh that included representatives from the brands and their suppliers, according to David Welsh, country director in Cambodia of Solidarity Center.

A Flurry of Fires in Bangladesh Raise Concerns over Garment-Worker Safety | March 1, 2013
Washington Post | According to the Solidarity Center in Dhaka, “The Smart Exports blaze was only one among 39 that have taken place in the three months since the Tazreen fire.”

No Rest for Weary Massage Workers | February 22, 2013 (Cambodia)
IPS | “Formal employment is hard to come by and many workers find themselves drifting in the murky waters of the ‘informal’ market, where wages are unregulated and labor laws are seldom honored… ‘ [T]he field ‘is largely unregulated,’ according to David Welsh of the Solidarity Center, a non-governmental organization that advocates for workers’ rights.’”

Association Hailed on Gender Programs | February 22, 2013 (Nigeria)
Nation (Nigeria) | “Stakeholders have praised the leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) for its determination to encourage female members’ active participation in leadership activities… Through Solidarity Center support between 2009 and 2012, the union conducted [a] series of gender and leadership trainings for members and eventually developed its gender policy document in 2010.”

Shrimp Firms Working to Beef up Compliance Before GSP Hearing | February 20, 2013
Daily Star (Bangladesh) | “A tripartite body has been formed to make an action plan… Bangladesh Frozen Food Exporters Association (BFFEA), Bangladesh Shrimp and Fish Foundation (BSFF) and ([the Solidarity Center) chalked out an agreement last month to achieve desired standards at shrimp processing plants as per the ILO Core Labor Standard and Bangladesh Labor Act 2006.”

Report Says Factory Initiative a Failure | February 19, 2013 (Cambodia)
Phnom Penh Post, (Cambodia) | Dave Welsh, Solidarity Center country director said, “it was crucial that BFC (Better Factories, Cambodia) be able to enforce its findings by issuing a penalty or punishment—or at least by publicly naming a factory violating the law… Welsh said the BFC model was planned for Bangladesh, where the number of factories is 'tenfold' and problems, including assassinations, were rife.”

Thousands of Workers Take to Picket Lines | February 13, 2013 (Cambodia)
Phnom Penh Post (Cambodia) | Yesterday, on the anniversary of the shooting of three garment workers at the Manhattan Special Economic Zone, some 5,000 workers went on strike. Simultaneously, about 7,000 workers blocked the road outside a shuttered garment factory to demand unpaid wages. Dave Welsh, Solidarity Center country program director in Cambodia, said ”…the government needed to provide a framework in which to discuss a national minimum wage and regular pay rises.”

Human Trafficking: A Big Business Built on Forced Labor | February 1, 2013 (op-ed)
Huffington Post | “Trafficking in persons has become a big business. Globally, it's a $32 billion industry involving 161 countries… Some 78 percent of forced labor is based on state or privately imposed exploitation, not forced sexual exploitation," writes Neha Misra, Solidarity Center Migration and Human Trafficking specialist.

The Plight of Cambodia’s Garment Workers | February 1, 2013
Asian Correspondent | Dave Welsh, Solidarity Center program director in Cambodia, told the Voice of Democracy in August that, “it really is the brands putting the squeeze around the world on the industry. But the industry doesn’t mind, because the people who suffer are not the owners, the people who suffer are the workers.”

GSP Hinges on Government’s Detailed Work Plan | January 30, 2013 (Bangladesh)
Priyo (Bangladesh) | “The continuation of duty-free export under U.S.'s GSP scheme depends on the Bangladeshi government and industry owners, [Alonzo Suson, Solidarity Center Bangladesh country program director] said yesterday. … ‘All they have to do is come up with a binding and comprehensive work plan that has evidence of immediate and substantial implementation,’ Suson said. … amid mounting concerns over the extension of the generalized system of preferences by the U.S., after the U.S. Trade Representative sought a report from the government about the progress in labor standards and compliance in factories.”

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