Headline May 28, 2018/ ''' SMART *CHEAP* SHIRTS ''' : BANGLADESH

''' SMART *CHEAP* SHIRTS ''' : 

BANGLADESH

BANGLADESH, is the largest exporter of clothing after China, is able to save on manufacturers costs by paying one of the lowest -

Minimum wages in the world and by often turning a blind eye to the laws, agreements and standards that would protect workers and the environment but raise prices.

MOSAMMOT BULBULI is among the millions of people who work in Bangladesh' factories that supply clothing to the rest of the world.

She is also one of thousands who were working in Rana Plaza in Savar five years ago when it collapsed. More than 1,100 people lost their lives; more than 2,000 were injured.

The survivors recount the moment in the same way : The lights failed in the first few minutes of the morning shift; then the generators kicked in, noisily; the walls shook' the ceiling crumbled and fell.

Then bodies were everywhere. Next, total darkness.

A few weeks later, some of the  world's largest retailers began signing an agreement with local unions regarding work safety standards.

THAT ACCORD has attempted to cast a light on dangerous conditions inside. Outside, in the industrial Savar area, factories, tanneries and dyeing plants - all crucial to the global supply chain -have been contributing to an environmental disaster.

*Clogged with toxic waste, Savar's wetlands, canals and streets have become breeding grounds for mosquitoes and disease.

More than a million people live there.

We visited Savar last year to see what had changed and what hadn't in the years since the Rana Plaza disaster. We learned that the house of Muhammad Moinuddin and his wife, Rakeya, was flooded with toxic water.

Bangladesh, which is the largest exporter of clothing after China, is able to save on manufacturers costs by paying one of the lowest minimum wages in the world and by often -

Turning a blind eye to the laws, agreements and standards that would protect workers and the environment but raise prices.

A complex set of laws and regulations, often flouted, allows different types of factories to operate according to different standards.

The problems are exacerbated by Bangladesh's poverty, which drives millions of children away from school and into the labor force. They often lie to get around the legal employment age.

When we asked the ages of people sewing ''NYC'' onto T-shirts, they turned away from us.

In one factory, the owner confessed to us :

''We cannot follow all the rules, not even those that cover the employment of children. If I follow the rules, I have to raise the prices.''

Ms. Bulbuli's shifts were at least eight hours long and involved sewing one part of the more than  3,000 pants her factory produces daily.

The Honor and Serving of the latest Global Operational Research on Poverty, Quality of Life continues. !WOW! thanks author and researchers Daniel Rodrigues and Claudia Brandao.

With respectful dedication to the Leaders, Students, Professors and Teachers of Bangladesh, and then the entire world.   

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''' Ideals & Betrayals '''

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