John Biggs AM welcomes Bangladeshi Trade Unionist to City Hall

BusinessAmirul Amin, President of the National Garment Workers’ Federation (NGWF) in Bangladesh, was welcomed to City Hall this morning by John Biggs AM and Murad Qureshi AM. At today’s event they spoke about the need to improve working conditions in Bangladesh. In July John Biggs led the London Assembly in unanimously passing a motion calling for the Mayor and GLA family to use contractors signed up to the IndustriALL Accord.
IndustriALL is the global union for garment workers, which has developed an Accord on Fire and Building Safety. This has been signed by many major British retailers. Amirul Amin is in the UK to speak at the Trades Unions Conference this weekend. There are 3.5million people working in Bangladeshi garment factories, that produce goods for export to the global market, principally Europe and North America.
Following the event Labour London Assembly Member John Biggs, who proposed the motion in July, said:
“The tragedy at Rana Plaza has shown the world how important it is to be aware of the consequences of what we buy and where we buy it. This devastating event has thrown the spotlight onto British clothing and retail companies to ensure people making their clothes are able to do so in safety and dignity. Amirul Amin’s visit to City Hall helps to highlight the pressure of consumer and political opinion in our country which can help to influence progress in these areas.”
“I was pleased to welcome Mr Amin to City Hall to hear about the struggle he is leading against sweatshop conditions in Bangladesh’s factories. The National Garment Workers’ Federation fights for the rights of garment workers in Bangladesh. I support their calls to improve the appalling conditions facing many workers in the factories there.”
President of the National Garment Workers’ Federation (NGWF) in Bangladesh, Amirul Amin, said:
“Thank you Murad and John for showing solidarity with the Garment workers of Bangladesh from the heart of London government at City Hall. It is important we have colleagues like yourself supporting us and representing concerned Londoners on getting the remaining British retailers signing up on our Accord to improve working conditions for our industry, so that horrific factory collapses like Rana Plaza in Bangladesh never happen again.”

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