Workers’ Mail.

Sam, from the Megaphone Team (Victoria Trades Hall Council), writes that

(source)

GPI just acquired “AR Packaging in the EU for over $1.4 billion”, Sam adds. But now they claim they cannot afford to increase their workers’ wages, forcing their workers to strike. This is particular cruel as Christmas approaches.

Those workers are not asking for a fortune: an increase of $0.90 cents per hour. To give overseas readers an idea:

• Today (Dec 12th) one Aussie dollar buys US$0.72 or €0.63 or £0.54, according to Google;
• After an eight-hour shift that increase roughly pays for – drum roll, please – a cup of coffee and a doughnut.

The AMWU started a strike fund on behalf of these workers. You can donate by going by going here.

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Portions of the collapsed Savar building. [A]

Kat, writing on behalf of the ActionAid Australia, writes to remind us of the 2013 Rana Plaza disaster (Dhaka, Bangladesh), when some 1,100 garment workers, largely female, died and 2,600 were injured. To help prevent a repetition of that man-made tragedy, the International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry was created.

Board with photos of missing workers, posted by relatives.[B]

A number of large Australian retailers have signed, but Best&Less, Just Jeans, Jay Jays and Dotti have not.

If you are on Facebook, you can help our comrades by putting pressure on those firms. Kat suggests you:

1. Read the text below. If you agree, copy it;
2. [insert brand name], this holiday season stand with the women who make our clothes and who help make your profits. Because you have not signed onto the International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry, I am concerned that women garment workers continue to work in unsafe conditions. Will you join over 150 brands like Kmart, Big W, and Country Road by signing onto the Accord? #SheWearstheCost
3. Go to the Facebooks of Best&Less, Dotti, Jay Jays and Just Jeans. They are announcing their latest fashions for the Christmas season. Comment on their latest post using the text above.

Image Credits:
[A] Author: Sharat Chowdhury. Source: WikiMedia. File licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic license. Nobody endorses me or my use of this file.
[B] Source: WikiMedia. File licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic license. Nobody endorses me or my use of this file.