Wages For Bangladeshi Clothing Workers

EDM number 602 in 2006-07, proposed by Harry Cohen on 10/01/2007.

That this House is concerned that workers in Bangladesh are regularly working 80 hours a week for just 5 pence an hour in potential death trap factories to produce cheap clothes for British consumers of Primark, Tesco and Asda's `George' range; further notes that starting wages in the factories researched for War on Want's report were as little as £8 a month, barely a third of the living wage; further notes that even better-paid sewing machine operators receive only £16 a month, which equates to 5 pence an hour for the 80 hours they regularly have to work each week; further notes that in February and March 2006 garment factory collapses and fires in Bangladesh left almost 100 workers dead and many others injured; further notes that being locked in unsafe buildings has been a common complaint among Bangladeshi factory workers and that interviewees for War on Want's report stated that emergency exits are often kept locked in their workplaces; demands UK Government intervention with the exploiting companies to ensure a fairer deal for Bangladeshi workers even if that means higher prices for UK consumers; and further demands a readiness on the part of the Government to give the ethical trading initiative on www.ethicaltrade.org statutory force if the companies do not comply.

This motion has been signed by a total of 59 MPs.