Podcasts about Kalpona Akter

With one of the longest and most complex supply chains, the fashion industry faces challenges in ensuring fair and ethical practices in the manufacturing process. As a major meeting on due diligence in the sector takes place at the OECD, Kalpona Akter, founder of the Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity, speaks to FRANCE 24 about how working conditions have changed since the days she was working in a garment factory at age 12, what still needs to change, and what consumers need to do. 

Labour rights activist Kalpona Akter and chief sustainability correspondent Sarah Kent reflect on where the industry stands a decade after the deadly factory collapse. Background:Ten years ago this week an eight-storey factory complex in an industrial suburb of Dhaka, Bangladesh collapsed, killing more than 1,100 people and injuring thousands of others.The Rana Plaza disaster ranks as one of the worst industrial disasters on record. It shook the fashion industry, shining a spotlight on critical safety failings in major brands' supply chains. In its wake, hundreds of brands signed a groundbreaking safety agreement that helped improve conditions in thousands of factories in Bangladesh, but elsewhere little has changed.This week on the BoF Podcast, labour rights activist and founder of the Bangladesh Centre for Workers Solidarity Kalpona Akter reflects on where the industry stands a decade later, while BoF's Imran Amed and chief sustainability correspondent Sarah Kent discuss what still needs to change. “If you ask me then, ‘what did you achieve in the last ten years?' I can say then only the improvement of safety,” says Akter. “The other areas of workers' rights, like wages, it is still poor.”Key Insights:Fashion remains a dangerous business, with hundreds of people killed and injured in its manufacturing supply chain every year. “You see fires, electrical safety issues, issues around the handling of toxic chemicals, issues with unsafe boilers, really serious incidents that lead to injury and death on a regular basis,” says Kent. Efforts to address dangerous working conditions have been undercut by relentless demand for faster, cheaper fashion. “[It] leads to this race to the bottom, where manufacturers get squeezed and then start to cut corners in different places, from safety to wages to worker well-being. That is a huge systemic macro problem,” says Kent.Consumers have the power to make a big difference by letting companies know they care about how the people who make their clothes are treated. “When they're in the store, if they can go beyond size, colour, style and price and start asking questions from the store managers… I think that would start ringing the bell in bosses' offices,” says Akter.Additional Resources:How to Avoid Another Rana Plaza | Case Study: In the wake of 2013′s deadly factory collapse in Dhaka, more than 200 brands signed the Bangladesh Accord. BoF unpacks why it's widely viewed as fashion's most effective safety campaign.The BoF Podcast: Activist Kalpona Akter on Improving the Lives of Bangladeshi Garment WorkersCredits: 0:24 - CBC News0:46 - ITV News0:57 - Ronald EllisTo subscribe to the BoF Podcast, please follow this link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Paris Hilton has been called ‘the first influencer' and is known for being an ‘it-girl'. But behind the paparazzi pictures there's a darker story. Now for the first time, Paris is telling her story in her own words in her new book Paris: The Memoir. She joins Anita Rani to talk about her life, why she wanted to write her story now, and being a new mother. A major report has been published looking into the experiences of survivors of FGM in accessing post-FGM healthcare in the UK. Nuala McGovern speaks to Dr Laura Jones, University of Birmingham, one of the lead authors on the report; Mama Sylla, a survivor of FGM who has been recognised by the government for her work in raising awareness of FGM and Juliet Albert, Specialist FGM Midwife at Imperial College. Multi-award winning singer-songwriter Annie Lennox has been using her voice for activism for the last 15 years. Now, she is fighting to get garment workers across the world a living wage. In a Woman's Hour exclusive, Anita Rani speaks to her about her charity, The Circle, her belief in Global Feminism, and what it was like to meet Joni Mitchell. They are joined by Kalpona Akter, an ambassador for The Circle who worked in a garment factory when she was just 12 years old. Ward Thomas are an English modern country-pop duo, composed of twin sisters Catherine and Lizzy. They join Nuala McGovern to talk about their UK tour and brand new album, Music In The Madness, as well as the stigma around country music and how it's changed. Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Lottie Garton

Anita and Annie are joined by Kalpona Akter, an ambassador for The Circle who worked in a garment factory when she was just 12 years old. The government's first Menopause Employment Champion Helen Tomlinson joins the programme to discuss how she will advise employers on improving workplace support for women experiencing menopause symptoms. And we hear about a revival of Tennessee Williams's 1947 drama of passion, delusion and mental illness – A Streetcar Named Desire. Following a run at the Almeida Theatre in January it has transferred to the West End and opens at the Phoenix Theatre in London on Monday. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of personal losses, leaves her once-prosperous situation to move into a shabby apartment in New Orleans rented by her younger sister Stella and brother-in-law, Stanley. Patsy Ferran and Anjana Vasan, who play Blanche and Stella respectively, join Anita Rani to discuss their characters and the sisters' relationship. Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Lisa Jenkinson Studio Manager: Tim Heffer

In Bangladesh, a garment worker barely makes enough money to cover the cost of rent. Discover the truth about the unfair labor practices behind many of the clothes we wear. In this Ten Minutes podcast episode, Kalpona Akter, founder of the Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity (BCWS), describes the lives of garment workers in Bangladesh and some of the ways we can advocate for fair labor practices when making purchases. Access a transcript of the conversation here: https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/816

Today, over 100 billion garments are produced annually for less than 8 billion people worldwide, a massive overproduction that places fashion in critical opposition with the planet's natural capacity to support life on earth. On December 5th, SHACK15 hosted Remake Founder and CEO Ayesha Barenblat and a special guest, the labor activist Kalpona Akter, Founder and Executive Director of the Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity, who is known globally for her engagement with various international organizations including United Nations agencies, to bring greater respect to garment workers in Bangladesh. She is now one of the most high-profile union organizers in the global garment industry. Together, Ayesha and Kalpona brought attention to the injustices within the fashion industry, centered the voices of garment workers, and shared ways that you can advocate for a more ethical, sustainable future of fashion. The conversation was introduced by SHACK15 member and founder and CEO of Dhana Inc., Shamini Dhana.

Dit weekend nemen we je mee de kledingkast in. Redacteur mode Michou Basu schrijft al meer dan twintig jaar over de mode-industrie. Zij vertelt over hoe het de industrie veranderd is. Daarna hoor je van Julia Cornelissen, zij schrijft voor de krant over retail en dus ook over grote fast fashion bedrijven. Nu zelfs snel niet meer snel genoeg is, lijkt een duurzame toekomst voor de mode steeds verder weg.  We vinden het heel leuk om iets van je te horen. Elfanie is te vinden op twitter @elfanie en je kan ook altijd mailen naar podcast@fd.nl. ------------------------------------------ Links en tips uit deze aflevering: Het artikel Michou Basu over haar bezoek aan de directeur mode van Chanel:  https://fd.nl/samenleving/1449284/de-modedirecteur-van-chanel-soms-lijkt-het-of-er-schaarste-heerst-in-onze-boetieken-we-verkopen-alles Het interview van Julia Cornelissen met vakbondsactivist Kalpona Akter: https://fd.nl/bedrijfsleven/1441519/we-vragen-niets-geks-alleen-dat-kledingmerken-werkers-betalen-waar-ze-recht-op-hebben ------------------------------------------ Redactie en montage door: Jildou Beiboer en Elfanie toe Laer Muziek door Visionair Ordinair ------------------------------------------ Abonneren op het FD kan via: www.fd.nl/abonneren See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dit weekend nemen we je mee de kledingkast in. Redacteur mode Michou Basu schrijft al meer dan twintig jaar over de mode-industrie. Zij vertelt over hoe het de industrie veranderd is. Daarna hoor je van Julia Cornelissen, zij schrijft voor de krant over retail en dus ook over grote fast fashion bedrijven. Nu zelfs snel niet meer snel genoeg is, lijkt een duurzame toekomst voor de mode steeds verder weg.  We vinden het heel leuk om iets van je te horen. Elfanie is te vinden op twitter @elfanie en je kan ook altijd mailen naar podcast@fd.nl. ------------------------------------------ Links en tips uit deze aflevering: Het artikel Michou Basu over haar bezoek aan de directeur mode van Chanel:  https://fd.nl/samenleving/1449284/de-modedirecteur-van-chanel-soms-lijkt-het-of-er-schaarste-heerst-in-onze-boetieken-we-verkopen-alles Het interview van Julia Cornelissen met vakbondsactivist Kalpona Akter: https://fd.nl/bedrijfsleven/1441519/we-vragen-niets-geks-alleen-dat-kledingmerken-werkers-betalen-waar-ze-recht-op-hebben ------------------------------------------ Redactie en montage door: Jildou Beiboer en Elfanie toe Laer Muziek door Visionair Ordinair ------------------------------------------ Abonneren op het FD kan via: www.fd.nl/abonneren See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's 1848 and a London-based company is changing the way that clothes are made and sold. E Moses and Son operate out of striking buildings across the capital. Men from all points of the compass are converging on the store with one thing in mind. They want a suit.  
In episode six of Torn, Gus Casely-Hayford finds that quick returns, division of labour, economies of scale and thoughtful innovative investment in advertising are among what will shape the history and present of low cost fashion.  While there is no evidence that E Moses and Son used sweated labour, their innovation led to plenty of their competitors to do so, particularly sweated women. 
Gus explores how the advent of sweatshops in the 1860s gave rise to exploitation in the garment industry. From the British city of Leicester that saw higher than average infection rates during COVID, to the capital of Bangladesh, Dhaka where over 1000 workers died in a building collapse in 2014, the legacy of exploitation continues to the present day. With historian Sheila Blackburn, child labourer-turned-activist Kalpona Akter, and archival material from the readymade suit manufacturers E Moses and Sons. Presenter: Gus Casely-Hayford Executive Producer: Rosie Collyer Producer: Tiffany Cassidy Assistant Producer: Nadia Mehdi Production Coordinator: Francesca Taylor Sound Design: Rob Speight A Novel production for BBC Radio 4

My guests today are Raakhi Shah, Chief Executive of The Circle, an NGO founded by British singer-songwriter Annie Lennox, which fights for a fairer world for women and girls, and Kalpona Akter, the leading garment factory activist in Bangladesh and an ambassador to The Circle. I'm so pleased to welcome them as guests during a week that counts both the anniversary of the Rana Plaza tragedy, and Earth Day. We also welcome respected novelist and literary critic Hermioine Hoby, with her first book review for The Green Dream Podcast: Rebecca Solnit's book, "Orwell's Roses."  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xZquOZONdHHBDFIRA8_e7hAII_o3zVbG4hXuLCuL4kE/edit?usp=sharing (Read the transcript) of this episode More abouthttps://www.danathomas.com/index.html ( Dana Thomas) More about https://www.hermionehoby.com/ (Hermione Hoby) More about https://www.linkedin.com/in/raakhi-shah-8628b24a/?originalSubdomain=uk (Raakhi Shaw) More about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalpona_Akter (Kalpona Akter) Read more about the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Dhaka_garment_factory_collapse (Rana Plaza disaster) Find https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/607057/orwells-roses-by-rebecca-solnit/ (Orwell's Roses), by http://rebeccasolnit.net/ (Rebecca Solnit) Sponsored by https://anothertomorrow.co (Another Tomorrow) Music by Eric Brace of https://redbeetrecords.com (Red Beet Records) Cover art by http://www.studionumberone.com (Studio Number One)

We are excited to share Radio Labour's January 25, 2022 excerpt, “Garment workers in Bangladesh need a living wage,” that covered The Labor Link's podcast interview with Kalpona Akter.  Summary: Kalpona Akter is a former child worker and labor activist from Bangladesh. She is the founder and Executive Director of the Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity and was awarded Human Rights Watch's Alison Des Forges award for Extraordinary Activism.  The Radio Labour team consists of labour educators, negotiators, research representatives, union members and others connected to the labour movement. Most of us work, or have worked, for a union, a labour studies centre, or a global union. The team is led by Marc Bélanger, an international labour educator, based in Canada. To learn more about Radio Labour, visit: https://www.radiolabour.net/. 

On this week's show, longtime labor activist, author and commentator Bill Fletcher, Jr. talks about January 6 and the ongoing threat to democracy by right-wing terrorism on the Black Work Talk podcast…Sharon Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, takes a global view on the challenges ahead for unions on RadioLabour… Bill Samuel, director of government affairs at the AFL-CIO, on the racist roots of the Senate filibuster on the Your Rights At Work radio show…AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Fred Redmond has been out walking picket lines across the country and he reported on those strikes on the America's WorkForce Radio podcast…on the Educating from the Heart podcast, Representative Geraldine Thompson discussed her new legislation that will enforce laws requiring Florida schools to include Black history in their curriculum instead of just once a year on Martin Luther King Jr. Day… A former child worker and labor activist from Bangladesh, Kalpona Akter is the founder and Executive Director of the Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity. You'll hear more from her on The Labor Link podcast…on the latest episode of The Gig Podcast, we learn what domestic and care work is, and its roots in exploitation and slavery…Judy Ancel is the host of the Heartland Labor Forum, one of the longest-running labor radio shows in the country. She talked with Empathy Media Labs about her origins as a rank-and-file union member, organizer, and troublemaker and her work as a labor educator and radio producer Highlights from labor radio and podcast shows around the country, part of the national Labor Radio Podcast Network of shows focusing on working people's issues and concerns. #LaborRadioPod @AFLCIO @BlackWorkTalk @radiolabour @DCLabor @AWFUnionPodcast @FloridaEA @empathymedialab @Heartland_Labor @podcastgig Edited by Patrick Dixon, Mel Smith and Chris Garlock; produced by Chris Garlock; social media guru Mr. Harold Phillips.

“I believe once you start work for worker rights, you cannot stop. You just can't stop yourself. I need to protest. I need to have these worker's back.” Kalpona Akter is a former child worker and labor activist from Bangladesh. She is the founder and Executive Director of the Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity and was awarded Human Rights Watch's Alison Des Forges award for Extraordinary Activism.  Learn more about Kalpona's work: https://twitter.com/kalponaakter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalpona_Akter https://www.thenation.com/article/world/kalpona-akter-interview-bangladesh/  About The Labor Link Podcast The Labor Link Podcast supports workers' rights in global supply chains by sharing personal stories and perspectives of the men and women organizing the workers who make our stuff. The Labor Link Podcast is hosted by Judy Gearhart of American University's Accountability Research Center and produced by Empathy Media Lab of the Labor Radio Podcast Network. Contact Judy Gearhart for media inquiries at gearhart@american.edu.  About the Host of The Labor Link Podcast Judy Gearhart is a senior researcher at the Accountability Research Center  and an adjunct professor at Columbia University. Previously she served as the executive director at the International Labor Rights Forum and programs director at Social Accountability International. She also worked in Mexico and Honduras on trade, labor rights, and democratic participation. About the Accountability Research Center The Accountability Research Center (ARC) is based in American University's School of International Service. ARC bridges research and frontline perspectives to learn from ideas, institutions, and actors that advance strategies to improve public accountability. Through extensive dialogue with partners and collaborators, ARC co-designs exploratory research that is relevant for their strategies and can contribute to international thinking about how change happens. #1u #UnionStrong #LaborRadioPod

In the latest special edition of the BoF Podcast, Kalpona Akter, founder and executive director of the Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity, joins BoF’s Imran Amed to discuss the impact of Covid-19 on the millions of garment workers left destitute as the world's largest retailers cancel orders.   Sign up for BoF’s Daily Digest newsletter here. Ready to become a BoF Professional? For a limited time, enjoy 25% discount on an annual membership, exclusively for podcast listeners. Simply, click here, select the Annual Package and use code PODCASTPRO at the checkout. For comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail: podcast@businessoffashion.com.For all sponsorship enquiries, it’s: advertising@businessoffashion.com.  

Welcome to this special report on how garment workers around the world are being impacted by COVID-19. Fashion is being severely impacted by the shutdowns. You might argue, the sustainable business is the one that survives this. But as usual, it is the worst off who bear the brunt, because they don’t have safety nets to catch them.  How is coronavirus impacting garment workers around the world? Why are activists calling for brands to #payup as factories reel under the strain of cancelled orders? And what's the outlook for a sustainable fashion industry long-term? Featuring Remake's Ayesha Barenblat, journalist Elizabeth Cline, union and NGO leaders Kalpona Akter, Rubana Huq and William Conklin, and factory owner Mostafiz Uddin, as well as the first-hand experience of a garment worker who's been laid off, this episode is a call for brands to act responsibly.  Love the show? Please consider rating and reviewing, share on social media, and don't forget to hit subscribe! Find Clare on Instagram and Twitter. The shownotes are on www.thewardrobecrisis.com  

Who made my clothes? Untangling the fashion supply chain, model Charli Howard gets a first-hand account of what it takes to stitch the western wardrobe from Bangladeshi garment-worker-turned-activist Kalpona Akter. Kalpona shares her journey from being a child working on a factory floor to becoming a frontline campaigner for jobs with dignity in the garment factories of Bangladesh and beyond. How can we be sure that £2 T-shirt didn't cost someone's livelihood - or even their life - as in the case of the Rana Plaza factory collapse of 2013? Well, now there's an app for that - sort of. Good On You co-founder Sandra Capponi explains how the app rates fashion brands on their impact on people, planet and animals. The app aims to empower shoppers to make ethical choices, while incentivising the industry to do better. Presenter: Charli Howard Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca Stratford

Speaking at BoF VOICES, the founder of the Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity outlines her campaign to establish fairer, safer working conditions across the garment industry. To watch Kalpona's talk at VOICES 2018 click here.  Sign up for BoF’s Daily Digest newsletter here: http://bit.ly/BoFnews. Ready to become a BoF Professional? For a limited time, enjoy 25% discount on an annual membership, exclusively for podcast listeners. Simply, click here: http://bit.ly/2KoRRBH, select the Annual Package and use code PODCASTPRO at the checkout. For comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail: podcast@businessoffashion.com.For all sponsorship enquiries, it’s: advertising@businessoffashion.com.

The first episode in the 3-part podcast series from Fashion Revolution - “Who Made My Clothes?” asks us to consider the stories behind what we wear, and introduces an ambitious research project that collects data from garment workers around the world. Tamsin Blanchard talks to Fashion Revolution’s Head of Policy Sarah Ditty, Dr Mark Anner, Penn State professor and Director of the Center for Global Workers’ Rights, Ethical Trading Initiative’s Debbie Coulter and Kalpona Akter, former child garment worker and Bangladeshi union activist, to examine garment worker’s collective voice in affecting change, the obstacles that make unionisation a challenge, and the progress being made. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Kalpona Akter is Executive Director of the Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity. An inspirational and influential figure in the country's union movement, she is a former child labourer who began working in a garment factory at age 12.   By 17, she'd been fired for standing up for her own rights, and those of her colleagues. ‘The day they fired this noisy woman, was the day they made a big mistake,’ she says.  Eighty per cent of garment workers are women, most aged between 18 and 25. Most have children and aren't paid nearly enough for their toils. The minimum wage in Bangladesh is about AUD $67 per month...  In this powerful Episode, Kalpona tells her story, explains what it’s really like for the 4 million garment workers in Bangladesh, and shares her thinking on Made in Bangladesh.  The WARDROBE CRISIS show notes unpack the issues addressed in each Episode.  Head over to www.clarepress.com/ to read yours and #bethechange  Music is by Montaigne http://www.montaignemusic.com.au/  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Interview with Kalpona Akter, a former child worker in the Bangladesh garment industry and Phil Robertson, Human Rights Watch Deputy Director, Asia Division. We discuss consumer choices and their impact on the garment industry and the responsibility that fashion brands have to take to secure safety and fair wages to factory workers. Find the video interview here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtlxo1yIUiE

Kalpona Akter is the Executive Director of the Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity, a labour NGO in Bangladesh. She is a former child worker who started work in garment factories when she was twelve. Kalpona set up the Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity in 2001 to campaign for improved conditions in the garment industry. Like many labour organisers in developing countries, Kalpona and her colleagues have experienced significant repression for the work that they do. In 2012, unknown assailants abducted, tortured, and killed Kalpona's colleague, labor union organizer Aminul Islam. April 4 is the 5 year anniversary of his death.

Labour updates from the Asia Pacific region.Interview with Kalpona Akter, former child garment worker and prominent union organiser and labour rights activist from Bangladesh.Asia Pacific Currents is a program of Australia Asia Worker Links.

Women in Clothes (Blue Rider) Skylight Books is thrilled to present three phenomenal writers -- Sheila Heti (How Should a Person Be?), Heidi Julavits (The Vanishers), and Leanne Shapton (Important Artifacts) -- for a discussion on their highly anticipated new book, Women in Clothes. This event will feature a clothing swap!  Attendees are encouraged to bring one special item of clothing that you'd like to swap, with your name and an interesting detail about the garment pinned to the piece. Men are welcome to participate in the swap, too. You don't have to bring an item to attend, but we encourage it. All leftover clothing will be donated. Women in Clothes is a book unlike any other. It is essentially a conversation among hundreds of women of all nationalities--famous, anonymous, religious, secular, married, single, young, old--on the subject of clothing, and how the garments we put on every day define and shape our lives.  It began with a survey. The editors composed a list of more than fifty questions designed to prompt women to think more deeply about their personal style. Writers, activists, and artists including Cindy Sherman, Kim Gordon, Kalpona Akter, Sarah Nicole Prickett, Tavi Gevinson, Miranda July, Roxane Gay, Lena Dunham, and Molly Ringwald answered these questions with photographs, interviews, personal testimonies, and illustrations.  Even our most basic clothing choices can give us confidence, show the connection between our appearance and our habits of mind, express our values and our politics, bond us with our friends, or function as armor or disguise. They are the tools we use to reinvent ourselves and to transform how others see us. Women in Clothes embraces the complexity of women's style decisions, revealing the sometimes funny, sometimes strange, always thoughtful impulses that influence our daily ritual of getting dressed.  Praise for Women in Clothes: "Thoughtfully crafted and visually entertaining.... A provocative time capsule of contemporary womanhood, this collection is highly recommended." --Publishers Weekly "Poems, interviews, pieces that read like diary or journal entries—all these responses help the editors fulfill their aims: to liberate readers from the idea that women have to fit a certain image or ideal, to show the connection between dress and 'habits of mind,' and to offer readers 'a new way of interpreting their outsides.' 'What are my values?' one woman asks. 'What do I want to express?' Those questions inform the multitude of eclectic responses gathered in this delightfully idiosyncratic book." --Kirkus Reviews Sheila Heti is the author of five books, including the critically acclaimed How Should a Person Be? She writes regularly for the London Review of Books, and collaborates frequently with other writers and artists. She lives in Toronto. Heidi Julavits is the author of four novels, most recently The Vanishers, winner of the PEN/New England Fiction Award. She is a founding editor of The Believer and an associate professor at Columbia University. Leanne Shapton is a Canadian artist, author, and publisher based in New York City. She is the author of Important Artifacts and Swimming Studies, winner of the 2012 National Book Critics Circle Award for Autobiography.

This week on Belabored: looking forward after the elections, Walmart workers on strike again, and the dangers of trading tax breaks for "job creation." Then, an in-depth look at the world of outsourcing: labor struggles in China and Bangladesh, the shady world of global temp agencies, and outsourcing right here at home. Featuring an interview with Bangladeshi labor organizer Kalpona Akter The post Belabored Podcast #30: Out (and In) Sourcing appeared first on Dissent Magazine.