More than two dozen protesters were arrested Thursday at the Secaucus offices of clothing retailer The Children’s Place Inc. and were charged with trespassing after staging a demonstration on behalf of the victims of a factory collapse in Bangladesh two years ago.
The protesters included college students from the United Students Against Sweatshops and members of the union Workers United — SEIU, which represents garment workers, as well as an 18-year-old woman from Bangladesh who was one of the workers trapped in the rubble in 2013 when the Rana Plaza factory in Dhaka caved in, killing more than 1,100 workers and injuring hundreds of others.
That worker, Mahinur Begum, is in the United States as part of a speaking tour on behalf of the factory victims organized by the International Labor Rights Forum and United Students Against Sweatshops. Begum was buried in the debris and lost a toe when a piece of machinery fell on her.
The Rana Plaza tragedy brought global attention to the unsafe working conditions and low wages at many garment factories in Bangladesh, the second-largest exporter of apparel after China. While conditions at apparel manufacturers have improved in the two years since the Rana Plaza tragedy, factory safety in Bangladesh continues to be a problem. On Thursday, as the protesters were being charged at the Secaucus police station, news was breaking about a collapse at a cement factory in Bangladesh that killed at least four people.
The protest Thursday was planned to coincide with a time when Begum would be in New York City and available to come to Secaucus. Organizers said the fact that it was held on the day the company announced its earnings for the fourth quarter and year was a coincidence.
The Children’s Place did not respond to requests for comment on the demonstration. After a similar protest last year, the company’s general counsel, Bradley P. Cost, issued a statement saying the company is “making a large and long-term commitment to improve safety conditions for Bangladeshi garment workers.”
The Children’s Place, and other North American retailers, created the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety in response to demands for safety improvements for the workers who make their merchandise. Those retailers have set up a $50 million worker safety fund and provided $100 million in capital for factory upgrades. The Children’s Place last year said it had contributed an additional $500,000 to aid the victims of the Rana Plaza tragedy.
The supporters of the factory victims, and the survivors, argue that while retailers have contributed money, there still is an $8 million shortfall needed to be raised to reach the $30 million that advocates estimate the Bangladeshi families deserve for injuries and loss of life.
The workers-rights groups have targeted The Children’s Place, along with other apparel retailers, for compensation because customs records show goods for the company were produced at the factory during the year before its collapse, and because Children’s Place merchandise was found in the ruins of the factory.
Protesters were able to enter the Secaucus headquarters at 500 Plaza Drive undeterred and went to the second floor, to an area they believed was the main entrance to the floors occupied by The Children’s Place.
The group entered the building in an effort to speak with a Children’s Place representative and to deliver a message from the injured worker, Begum. After the arrests, protesters said they had planned to leave peacefully if asked to leave, but that no one requested them to leave.
Secaucus police officers and Hudson County Sheriff’s Department deputies arrived shortly before 10 a.m., escorted the protesters to the ground floor, handcuffed them and took them to the Secaucus police station.
Detective Sgt. Michael Torres of the Secaucus police said 27 people were arrested, including Begum and another woman from Bangladesh, union organizer Kalpona Akter.
Torres said the police were called to the building by a Children’s Place representative and that officers at the scene were asked to remove the protesters.
All of those arrested were released after receiving a summons to appear in Secaucus Municipal Court on March 24.
By Joan Verdon, North Jersey.com
