Workers' demand

Thousands of Bangladeshi women demand fair trade for poor nations By: Julhas Alam- Associated Press Nov 25, 2005, Friday DHAKA, Bangladesh -- Thousands of women rallied Friday to demand that developed nations open their doors to workers and products from poor nations. Some 5,000 women, mostly employees at garment factories, joined the rally organized by a labor rights group, Karmajibi Nari or Working Women. They marched through downtown Dhaka, shouting slogans such as "Fair Trade!" and carrying banners. One read, "No more cheating with poor nations." The protest was timed ahead of next month's meeting of the World Trade Organization, or WTO, in Hong Kong. "We are here to say that the developed world must hear our voice and act accordingly to benefit the world's poor nations," the labor group's spokeswoman Shirin Akhter told The Associated Press. "Poor nations feel that WTO is the club of the richest nations. It brings no benefits to the poor people.". Bangladesh is one of Asia's poorest nations. Almost half its 140 million people live on less than $1 a day. It derives about 80 percent of its annual $5 billion export earnings from garments, mostly to America and Europe. Most of the industry's employees are women. Akhter said that allowing workers from poor nations to find jobs in developed countries would benefit both sides, but said there were obstacles to free movement of labor. "We see developed nations are not giving us that scope, even sometimes they are closing their doors in the name of security or other concerns," she said. Amina Begum, 22, who earns about $33 a month at a garment factory, said she was worried about her future. "I don't know that much about WTO," she said at the rally. "I just want to do my job to feed my five-member family." http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/11/26/business/news/