Garment Worker Labour Rights Activist Kalpona Akter on Rana Plaza & Ethical Fashion

Kalpona Akter is Executive Director of the Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity. An inspirational and influential figure in the country's union movement, she is a former child labourer who began working in a garment factory at age 12.  

By 17, she'd been fired for standing up for her own rights, and those of her colleagues. ‘The day they fired this noisy woman, was the day they made a big mistake,' she says. 

Eighty per cent of garment workers are women, most aged between 18 and 25. Most have children and aren't paid nearly enough for their toils. The minimum wage in Bangladesh is about AUD $67 per month... 

In this powerful Episode, Kalpona tells her story, explains what it's really like for the 4 million garment workers in Bangladesh, and shares her thinking on Made in Bangladesh. 

Head over to https://thewardrobecrisis.com/podcast/2017/7/11/podcast-ep-5-kalpona-akter-beyond-rana-plaza to read yours and #bethechange

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