David Welsh, currently country director for the Solidarity Center in Southeast Asia, has worked in both Bangladesh and Cambodia. He says in both countries, “it’s the same brands and the same export markets, primarily the U.S., North America, and the EU,” and “the same 15 to 20 brands monopolize the market and set the conditions worldwide.”

Solidarity Center Director of Asia programs, Timothy Ryan, says that the Bangladesh government and industry’s reaction to the empowerment of garment workers and their unions runs the risk of harming not only Bangladesh garment workers but the very trade deals that make the country’s garment and textile sector its economic engine.

Solidarity Center Director of Trade Union Strengthening Sarah McKenzie introduces two women union leaders from Brazil and Kenya visiting the U.S. on a 20-member, all-women Solidarity Center Exchange Program—Omamo, general secretary of the Amalgamated Union of Kenya Metalworkers, and  Trajano dos Santos, president of the Brazil garment workers union, Confederação dos Trabalhadores nas Indústrias do Vestuário (CNTV).