Winds of change in Bangladesh
by Deborah Miarkowska
Improving working conditions in Bangladesh.

Eighteen months ago the BBC reported on the appalling conditions in one of Windy Group’s factories in central Dhaka, Bangladesh. The company was supplying European brands including Zara. After the expose the factory management was told by Inditex, the owner of Zara, that if they were willing to close the factory and shift production to a modern facility and bring about major improvements in working conditions, they would continue to place orders. If these improvements were not made Zara would take their business elsewhere.
The story of how conditions were improved at Windy Group was told on BBC Radio 4’s Just Business this month. The programme featured the late Neil Kearney, General Secretary of the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers Federation (ITGLWF) - the global umbrella federation of unions for the worldwide garment sector. Tragically he died of a heart attack in Bangladesh after the programme was recorded. Before he died Neil commented that the new Windy Group facilities, ‘are what factories on the way to progress should look like.’ He added that it is ‘the buyers (such as Zara) who had the power to make change happen.’ Important words from a man who dedicated his life to fighting for garment workers’ rights around the world.
Read about and listen to the story on the BBC website.


