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| Riot in Bahrain Factory After Worker Commits Suicide |
| 2005-03-28 |
| Five hundred Asian workers of a Bahraini garment factory rioted on Saturday night damaging machinery and factory premises after a fellow worker committed suicide. Human rights activists expressed concern over the incident at MRS Fashions, which produces one of JC Penny brands, and called for a thorough investigation into a number of suicides at the factory in the past. Madhu Babu, 28, was found hanging from the ceiling fan in an "isolation room" on the company premises. It was not clear why Babu, who is from Chittoor district in the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, had committed suicide. Babu, who is not married, arrived in Bahrain eight months ago to work as a line operator in the factory. His death sparked a riot among workers who went on a rampage for almost two hours and prevented police from removing his body. Workers blocked the path to Babu's room thus hampering the efforts of medical crews and police. It was not until riot police stepped in that the workers ended their protest and allowed the police to remove the body. The workers, mainly from India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, branded the room where Babu's body was found as a "torture room". They claimed that workers were kept there as punishment for failing to meet target goals on production lines. They also claimed that two other workers had committed suicide in the past, another died of heart attack and five others went insane as a result of the harsh work conditions that require them to work more than 12-hour shifts daily. "We get 37 Bahraini dinars ($98) as salary and if we meet production targets we receive up to 49 dinars ($130)," one worker said. The workers also claimed physical abuse by floor managers and said they were not getting proper food or medical care. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Human rights activists expressed concern over the incident at MRS Fashions, which produces one of JC Penny brands Connection to an American company = the only reason the HR wankers have an interest 'expressing concern' about it. |
| Posted by: Raj 2005-03-28 12:59:37 PM |
| #1 I would be so thrilled if Mr. Wife would cut back to mere 12-hour days. But then, he isn't working in a Third World piecework factory. It sounds like our Western factories at the end of the 19th century -- Company detectives beating newly organized workers bloody, socialist and communist labour leaders getting drunk on their own words, owners talking of "the natural order." I wonder how the wages and conditions mentioned compare to what the workers would have earned back home, and to what other Bahraini companies pay. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-03-28 7:13:55 AM |