35
June 2011
Prayer for our Factory Problems
We received this hand-written letter in rudimentary English from a Bangladeshi worker at Classic in September 2007. He speaks of a dangerous factory manager who made five girls pregnant and then forcibly deported them back to Sri Lanka.
Prear [Prayer] for our Factory Problems Our factrys manazar [manager] very danger [dangerous] make 5 garls [girls] pagnat. Aftar [After] pacto [sent back to] tha Sri Lanka….”
This is just another cry from the workers that Classic management was sexually abusing young Sri Lankan women in 2007. Moreover, the company illegally cut the workers‘ wages, forcibly deducting 20 JD ($28.20) a month for food, which their work contract clearly stated would be free. Nor did Classic provide medical care, which was also guaranteed in their contracts. The writer also reports that the workers are not being paid their legal overtime and have to work through public holidays. (This letter was sent to the National Labor Committee—now the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights.)
Institute for Global Labour & Human Rights