"'Girl power' charity T-shirts made at exploitative Bangladeshi factory", 1 March 2019

Charity “girl power” T-shirts sold in the UK are made at a Bangladeshi factory where more than 100 impoverished workers claim to have been sacked after striking in protest at low wages... The £28 garments are sold online by F=... with £10 from each T-shirt donated to Worldreader, a charity...

... the garments were made by Bangladeshi firm Dird Composite Textiles, where some workers earn as little as 42p an hour and complain of harassment. In one case, a female employee was beaten on the orders of the management and threatened with murder. After being contacted...

Machinists... say they have been sacked en masse after striking over wages in January... executive director of the Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity... said: “...The workers that got fired know the law and their rights. In many cases they were union leaders... These workers are picked intentionally.”...

The shirts are made by Stanley/Stella.... that made the Spice Girls T-shirts... F=...said: “...Stanley/Stella... have explained that this... is being investigated by the Fair Wear Foundation and Stanley/Stella’s country manager...

A Stanley/Stella spokesman said: “...some progress is still to be made with regards to social compliance... by producing garments in Bangladesh, responsible European brands – like Stanley/Stella – can drive a positive change.”

Dird’s group... said that the company operated “with the highest regard for ethical and moral standards” and denied any suppression or targeting of worker representatives. He said that the staff who left resigned “because they were not satisfied with the new [government] wage structure...” and... “all workers that resigned have either received their due financial entitlements or have been contacted to collect...[them]”...