18 June was a picket in the center of Warsaw at HM. The picket was related to two cases of violating workers' rights. The first was in relation to the horrible tragedy at the Garib garment factory in Bangladesh, On February 25, 22 workers were killed in a fire. The workers were locked in the factory and could not escape; on top of that, there were numerous safety violations. The National Garment Workers Federation is calling for compensation for the families of the victims and better safety standards at the factory.
More information:
http://www.cleanclothes.org/urgent-actions/garib-fire-survivors-call-for-justice-and-a-safe-industry
The second has to do with the case of Diego, a worker in a Madrid shop who was forced to sign his own resignation against his will. The CNT is demanding he be reinstated to his job and will not tolerate such intimidation of workers. Several pickets have been held in Spain about this case and the CNT called for international actions.
In Warsaw we stood in front of the main doors and some people went inside the shop. Leaflets were given to everybody going in and out of the shop. The management was informed why we were there. The manager panicked and called security guards to get us away. But we told them they have no right to chase us away. There was some tension with the security but they did not manage to make us leave. We told them that we surely would be back with a larger group of people over the weekend.
We have been informed that H&M called the CNT in Madrid today, offering the comrade compensation.
The text of our leaflet (in Polish) is on our main page: www.zsp.net.pl
The text of our leaflet (in Polish) is on our main page: www.zsp.net.pl