Testimony of Nasrin Akther

My name is Nasrin Akther. I am 21 years old. I have been working in garment factories for three years. Since February I have been working in Shah Makhdum as a sewing operator.

I produce shirts including Disney's "Pooh" label. My operation is joining the side seams of the shirt. In my factory, each line has 33 machines. Each line produces 120 shirts per hour, a total of 1,320 shirts a day if we work 11 hours.

Until recently, I had to work from 8:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. each day. We get only two days off a month. I walk to work and back because I cannot afford to take a bus or bicycle rickshaw, which would cost 450 taka a month. In dollars that would be $7.84 or 27 cents a day. The factory is three kilometers away and it takes 30 minutes to walk. I normally get home at 10:30 p.m.

I get a regular wage of 1,650 taka a month, not counting overtime. In dollars this comes to $28,75, or 14 cents an hour.

If we want to use the bathroom, we have to get permission from the supervisor and he monitors the time. If someone takes too long for any reason, the supervisor shouts at her and humiliates her, calling her names. If someone makes a mistake, the supervisor docks four or five hours of overtime wage, or lists her as absent, taking the whole day's wage.

In my factory there is no daycare, no medical facilities. The women don't receive maternity benefits. The overtime is mandatory, but we are always cheated on our overtime pay. The supervisor makes us sign two separate payroll sheets. One tells the truth-that we worked four of five hours of overtime each day. The other says that we only worked two hours of overtime a day, as our labor law requires. That is the one they show to the buyers.

I cannot support myself with the wage I am getting. I have rice and lentils for breakfast, rice and mashed potato for lunch, and for supper rice and vegetables. I eat chicken once a month when I get paid, and maybe twice a month I buy a small piece of fish.

Because we have to work very long hours, seven days a week, we have no family life, no personal life, no social life.

In my factory, it is very crowded, very hot and badly ventilated. The water we have to drink is dirty. The workers often suffer from diarrhea, jaundice, kidney problems, anemia, eye pain. Our seats have no backs and since we have to work long hours, we suffer from backaches and shoulder pain.

Our lives have been stolen. We are treated like animals, and any workers who attempt to get together a union are fired immediately and may be blacklisted. We feel we have been born only to serve the needs of the owners.

If you make the same mistake more than once, the supervisor puts a red mark on your machine, they take you to the office and dock 4 or 5 hours overtime pay or count it as a one day absence so you lose a whole day's pay.

Many people have asked us what will happen to us when we go back to Bangladesh. If our bosses find out we are in the United States talking about factory conditions and seeking solidarity, they will fire us. But we know we have the support of the Bangladesh Workers Solidarity Center, the National Labor Committee and other groups. Also we know that we are speaking for all the workers in Bangladesh, so for us it is worth the risk and we feel proud to have made this trip.

Before coming to the U.S. I did not know before anyone knew or cared about what is happening to us in Bangladesh. I am so happy to know that student community, religious groups, unions and citizens in the United States are concerned about our situation. I want to ask you to please help us to keep jobs in Bangladesh, but with improved conditions.

Thank you very much.