For Robina Akther, a 40-hour work week would be a vacation from what she's accustomed to.

"In a year I get only 10 days off," Akther said. In her first six months of working she did not have a single day off.

Akther was one of three Bangladeshi garment factory workers who described their struggles and hopes to win their rights.

The presentation Friday was one of 31 that will be made at universities in 17 states, according to Charles Kernaghan, director of the National Labor Committee. The New York-based committee sponsors the visits, in which the three workers share their stories.

Garment workers Akther and Maksuda, who does not have a last name, told an audience of about 35 people how they work 14 to 15 hours every day of the week for as little as seven cents per hour.

Maksuda was deprived of time off for maternity leave. She said she continued working long hours until she was eight and a half months pregnant.

"Since I was weak, I could not keep the production target," she said. When she asked for a break, her supervisor kicked her in the stomach, and she fell to the floor.

Maksuda had to leave the factory temporarily to care for her child and borrowed money to survive. When it came time for her to have the baby, she discovered the kick had damaged her child.

"After delivery, I found there was a bruise on my baby's head. Anytime someone touches it even lightly, she cries," Maksuda said.

Sk Nazma, a former garment worker and president of the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity, was the third speaker. She did not share her personal experiences in the factories but instead expressed hope for making things better in Bangladesh.

There are 1.8 million garment workers in Bangladesh, according to Nazma. She said the problem is not that the country has poor labor laws. Rather, it is that the existing laws are not enforced.

Kernaghan urged the audience to see the injustice of what Maksuda, Akther and other factory workers in Bangladesh go through.

"There's something wrong with what we're allowing to happen in the global economy," he said. He commended the women for the "enormous guts" it took them to come to the United States and talk about their troubles.

Kernaghan is not the only one affected by the workers' stories.

Sarah Breitzman, a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences, came to the presentation to research a paper on fair labor conditions for a political science class.

"It ended up being amazing," Breitzman said. "I think that'll totally help my paper. It really made me feel more emotionally attached to the subject."

Breitzman found the stories so moving she wants to present the idea of a program to aid Bangladesh workers to her sorority.

Kernaghan ended by pointing out a contradiction between what the women are doing and what they have to show for it.

"I think it's pretty clear that these are the hardest-working women in the world, and they're also the poorest," he said.