Sorry. That was a hoax. Gap did not promise to compensate the families of workers killed in a factory fire.

18MR's prank site GapDoesMore.com raises questions about conditions for garment workers in Bangladesh



Yesterday, the website GapDoesMore.com -- launched shortly after Gap Inc.'s annual shareholder meeting -- announced that the mega clothing chain was finally going to compensate the families of seven workers killed last year in a fire at Aswad Composite Mills, a Gap supplier in Bangladesh. According to the press release, Gap Inc. would sign the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety.

What great news! The only thing is... GapDoesMore.com has nothing to do with Gap Inc. The website was an epic prank orchestrated by 18 Million Rising in an effort to pressure the clothier to ensure the safety and fair treatment of its workers. In reality, Gap Inc. has not taken responsibility or made any such promises.

Gap Gets Hoaxed With Fake Website Seeking Compensation And Better Working Conditions

Ingenious. The Yes Men would be proud. However, Gap did not take kindly to the fake news that it would be acting responsibly. It took the company less than three hours to get wind of the site and issue a statement decrying the "fraudulent" information on GapDoesMore.com. Gap has since managed to get the website (and its accompanying Twitter account @gapdoesmore) suspended.

Why all the hoaxing and shaming? 18MR explains:

Chinatown garment workers win $1.2 million in damages for labor law violations

Ah yes, the old phantom boss trick. Nice try.



Justice! Passing along this news from the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund... This week, a Manhattan federal judge awarded thirteen Chinatown garment workers over $1.2 million in damages for unpaid minimum wage and overtime pay owed between 2005 to 2010.

The plaintiffs -- thirteen Chinese immigrant garment workers represented by AALDEF -- were employed at the Walker Street Factory six or seven days a week, regularly toiling over 10 to 12 hours a day or even longer when the factory was rushing to complete some garments. The workers were paid by the piece and often did not earn the minimum wage or receive overtime pay.

Beats for Bangladesh: A Benefit Album in Solidarity with the Garment Workers of Rana Plaza

On April 24, an eight-story commercial building collapsed in the Savar district of Dhaka, Bangladesh, killing 1,127 and injuring over 2,500 people -- mostly women working in the five garment factories operating inside Rana Plaza. It is considered to be the deadliest garment factory accident in history, as well as the deadliest accidental structural failure in modern human history. Question: What can you do to help?

Mishthi Music presents Beats for Bangladesh: A Benefit Album in Solidarity with the Garment Workers of Rana Plaza. The album includes an eclectic 26 tracks for a donation of $15 (or more). Donations will go directly to the Bangladeshi Center for Workers Rights, the group on the ground helping the orphans and families of the victims of the Rana Plaza collapse.

Here's one way. Presented by the music blog Mishthi Music, the album is executive produced and curated by world reknowned hip-hop artist Brooklyn Shanti, and political activist/writer Tanzila 'Taz' Ahmed. It features a strong mix of tracks by South Asian artists from the across the United States and beyond. You can listen to the preview below: