Take action for the people who make your clothes!
F.A.S.T. – FAIR living wage, ADULT labour only, SAFE working conditions, No unpaid overTIME
The people who make F.A.S.T. possible
Mou Modhubontee
Mou is part of online based Poetry groups that always bring new dimensions to writing poetry. She has published five poetry books, and does charity events when she reads from and sells her books. Through cultural programs, she wants to bring everybody to one platform where Canadian multiculturalism is important. Mou will be bringing Bangladeshi singers and dancers to the May event, and providing Bangladeshi food.
Alarice Jones
Alarice Jones is a fashion designer and a personal wardrobe stylist, with an extensive background in merchandising and branding. Her fabulous clothes can be seen at Zade Jones Studio on line at www.zadejonesstudio.com or in person at 295 Harbord St., Toronto, Ontario. Alarice will be organizing the pop up fashion market of indie Canadian designers at the May event.
Robin Pacific
Robin is the lead artist and organizer of actionFAST. She went to Bangladesh in 2014 and had conversations with over 40 garment workers. Some of their words were turned into the Text Pieces for the exhibition in Dhaka in 2015, and for the May event. She designed the Mock Sweatshop and the Rana Plaza Memorial.
Mike Haliechuk
Mike Haliechuk is the lead guitar for the indie punk band Fucked Up. He is one of the key organizers of the Long Winter, a series of monthly music and art events held one night a month throughout the winter in Toronto. He is organizing a set of Canadian bands for the May event.
Leah Houston
Leah Houston is the Artistic Director of MABELLEarts. In 2014 she went to Dhaka and facilitated petal making workshops for the shaplas, with over 100 garment workers.
Bhupinder Sanghera
In 1998 Bhupinder began work as a union representative for the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, now Workers United Canada. Bhupinder has helped countless members take on bad employment practices and gain the personal confidence needed to achieve fairness at work. She will be bringing six garment worker members to the May event, to teach people how to sew, and to demonstrate their skills.
Ziauddin Ahmed (Zia)
Zia Ahmed is ActionFAST’s chief Bangladeshi collaborator. He has been our tour guide, translator, art exhibition installer and cherished friend. His marvelous tour company, ToursnTripsBD
can be found here:
M. Rafiqul Islam (Nasim)
Nasim is the Managing Director of Bengal Logistics Ltd. He provided logistics for our two trips to Bangladesh, and has been a source of support for this project in many ways, tangible and intangible.
Naasreen Khan
Naasreen Khan (shown with her husband Nasiruddin Khan) is a Bangladeshi translator. She lives in Toronto and interprets for the court system. She created the beautiful red Bengali script on the text pieces which were exhibitied in Dhaka in 2015.
Clare Samuel
Clare Samuel is a portrait photographer. In 2014 she photographed almost 100 garment workers in Dhaka, and subsequently photographed another 15 Canadian garment workers. She is interested in belonging and the delineation of borders, the relationship between Self and Other, and the individual self and their community or environment.
Zoya Islam
Zoya is a Masters candidate at Queen’s University. Her thesis project troubles the Canadian understanding of exploited women workers in the transnational garments industry. Zoya also works part-time in the non-profit sector.
Bilal, Sarah and Hana Syed
Siblings Hana, Sarah and Bilal Syed sing together as the band DEYSofficial. Together, they founded the non-profit organization, Global Youth Impact (GYI). GYI focuses on empowering youth locally and globally through raising awareness of global issues, social advocacy, workshops and community engagement. They have a chapter open at the University of Toronto's Scarborough Campus and the group will be volunteering at the May 4-5th event.