On the 15th of May, protesters showed up in front of the Children’s Place in Colombia Heights. Their merchandise was found in the ruins of one of the factories in the collapsed Rana Plaza builidng in Bangladesh.
Midnight of the 15th of May is the deadline for retailers to sign the factory safety agreement that could have prevented this collapse, had it been in effect at that time. As of 6PM on May 15th, Children’s Place has not signed that agreement. Protesters were on hand to demand they do so, and were able to deliver a letter to the store manager. Unfortunately the response was a poorply-writtenm pre-printed form letter in reply. This did list a phone number, which everyone with a cell phone promptly called!
Just over 1,100 bodies were recovered from Rana Plaza by the time the Bangladeshi military gave up on recovery efforts.
Cops knew about the protest in advance, and formed a defense line in front of the door. This probably turned away many more customers than the picket line did, given how many people cross picket lines these days. The picket turned away more, so I suspect sure the Children’s Place lost money as a result of this protest.
Speaking of cops, the cops who usually show up at every protest were absent, perhaps in recognition of MPD’s role in starting the fighting at the GAP protest on Mayday. Speaking of the GAP, there was another protest there about the same collapsed factory building on Saturday, the 11th of May without problems.
DC Direct Action News 