Apex Footwear Limited also known as Apex Adelchi is a renowned company in Bangladesh. And like other conglomerates enjoy impunity even for not meeting compliance at the factory in Gazipur’s Kaliakoir.
No one in the government or media knew what is happening inside the factory until Sunday when the death of a newborn was reported from the local hospital.
The worker, Hamida Akter, sought for leave on Saturday as she fell sick. But the factory supervisor, Ratan Mia, asked her to leave job instead. It is apparent that she had not been given maternity leave as per the law, an injustice commonplace towards the RMG workers.
Being refused to get leave for the day, Hamida fell unconscious in the factory toilet and gave birth to the baby. Doctors declared the baby dead after they were taken to Shafipur Modern Hospital.
We would not have heard about the incident had she not been taken to the hospital.
It is learnt that authorities are bound to pay the workers four months’ wages while granting maternity leave. This is why considering financial loss, the factory authorities usually deny granting leave and pursue the workers to leave job!
However, Apex is a prominent brand in Bangladesh and we demand exemplary punishment of the supervisor responsible for the death of the newborn and a thorough investigation into the attitude towards workers at the factory.
Look at the list of recognition it achieved. National export trophy for several years, AAFL Receives the prestigious WRAP Gold Certification, Compliance Certification by Business Social Compliance Initiative (Nominated for SuperBrands Dun & Bradstreet Rating Agency Award as Bangladesh’s one of the top 500 Companies), HSBC Export Excellence Awards 2010, Macy’s 5 Star Award 2010, 2011, 2012 & 2013.