Bangladesh

The Protham-Alo newspaper has issued a public apology after incorrectly reporting about an incident involving a pregnant employee at a Bangladeshi footwear factory known for its consistent compliance with labor standards. Late last week, the paper reported that a female worker at the Apex Footwear factory in Gazipur had a miscarriage in a factory bathroom after she was allegedly denied requested maternity leave from the factory’s managers. Upon further investigation however, it was discovered that the woman in fact never revealed that she was pregnant to her factory superiors, her family, or doctors who had treated her for abdominal pain just hours before the incident. In a public statement, the Apex factory said that the woman would have been granted her maternity leave without question if they knew she was pregnant and that they will continue to investigate the matter. The Protham-Alo newspaper has also issued an apology to the factory and says that they have disciplined the journalists responsible for publishing the false story. (Protham Alo)
 
A group of 1,000 garment workers from 2 garment factories staged a demonstration at a Savar bus station on May 9 demanding the reopening of their facilities and the end of alleged random termination of workers. The workers say that some of their colleagues were fired after they staged an earlier protest demanding that labor inspectors examine their factory for structural flaws in light of the recent Nepal earthquake. Factory managers say that they have not reopened because of a shortage of orders. (The Daily Star)
 
Bangladesh is likely to miss its garment export target for FY2014-15 by about US$2 billion due to industry restructuring and political turmoil, according to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB). The EPB says that Bangladesh has earned just over US$25 billion in the first 10 months of the year, but may still fall short of a US$33.2 billion annual target at the current rate of production. (New Age BD)
 
Bangladeshi women will soon have a unique opportunity to grow their entrepreneurial skills thanks to a new program supported by Pakistan. That country’s High Commissioner to Bangladesh recently signed an agreement with Bangladesh’s Micro Industries Development Assistance and Services (MIDAS) department to provide a 3-week training course on enterprise and skill development for small and mid-level women entrepreneurs in the garment sector. Those who complete the course will also be eligible to utilize a unique marketing platform run by MIDAS to market their products and attend specialized trade fairs. (Fibre2Fashion)