This is Musammad. She fights against #exploitation in a garment factory in #Bangladesh. She worked there for 23 years-7 days a week, without holidays. Now she has no job anymore, because Dragon Sweater laid her&6000 of her colleagues off. A Thread. (1/15) #unitedagainstthedragon

Workers didn‘t get their full wages, bonus payments& severance pay. Most of them are #union members. The factory owners used #Covid19 as an excuse to get rid off them. Many brands cancelled orders when shops closed all over the world. Garment workers paid the price. (2/15)

Unions like the GWTUC in Bangladesh, the Federation of Garment Workers in Myanmar & the Dabindu Collective in Sri Lanka handed out dry food, sanitizer and other essential needs to workers, who could not afford anything anymore – from one day to the other. (3/15) #1world1struggle

Musammad used to get 8000 Taka per month. When the factory closed because of #Covid19, she kept her job at first. But for April she already got only 60% of her salary. For the 4-bedroom in the mass accommodation she had to pay 4500 Taka. (4/15) #unitedagainstthedragon

During the crisis, the factories in Bangladesh received state aid, some of it was supposed to be used for workers wages. However, factory owners kept the money& threatened to cut more jobs. GWTUC says that they want to use it to negotiate further state aid. (5/15) #globalmayday

In Bangladesh the textile sector is the biggest economic branch of the country. So the factories are essential to the economic system. #Bangladesh, which is one of the poorest countries in Asia, has experienced an economic boom in recent years because of the sweatshops. (6/15)

The workers together with the GWTUC are now demonstrating against this exploitation: They demand full wages for April & May and other compensations. They hit the streets since months every other day. They won‘t give up until they got paid! (7/15) #1world1struggle

Among others, the @FAU_Freiburg &HH & @BristolIWW &Hamburg hold rallies in June, July & Aug. in front of shops by NewYorker, @Lidl & @Walmart to push the demands of Dragon Sweater workers. In July 2020 the grassroot labor union @LUTAFOB (Brazil) joins the movement. (8/15)

In July #NewYorker contacts @FauHamburg and the GWTUC to announce that under these circumstances they will "blacklist" the Dragon Group. Until today the company did not give a public statement about that, not even when asked by journalists. (9/15) #unitedagainstthedragon

Dragon Sweater Management notices the international networking and contacts the International Confederation of Labor (ICL/CIT) and the @GlobalMayDayNet Platform. The @ICLCIT and GWTUC respond. The correspondence was published on http://icl-cit.org . (10/15) #1world1struggle

In Aug. International pressure shows results: Workers, owners& gov. representatives sit down together several times to negotiate solutions. But factory owners still refuse to pay the workers. There is also the threat of moving the factory away from #Dhaka to another city. (11/15)

In Sept. Media catches up on the #solidarity actions around the world &call the situation a „crisis for the #garmentindustry“ in Bangladesh. So: Share this thread to threaten the Dragon & help the workers to finally get their money! (12/15) #unitedagainstthedragon

Dragon Sweater supplies textiles to retailers like LIDL, @NewYorkeronline and Walmart. The local workers do not give up. Let's support them here as well by putting pressure on the brands and fighting for our common interests. (13/15)  #UnitedAgainstTheDragon

As consumers, we play an important role in the valuechain. The greatest profit is made here. So we can build up pressure to support the textile workers at Dragon Sweater. The capitalist system works worldwide. Exploitation takes place everywhere! (14/15)

#1world1struggle! Express your solidarity with the workers on social networks&spread the hashtag #UnitedAgainstTheDragon, participate in our e-mail campaign on http://unitedagainstthedragon.info  - You can find current information on the topic at http://globalmayday.net  (15/15)  #globalmayday