Outrage Builds After Collapse in Bangladesh (New York Times)
“As rescuers struggled on Thursday to reach survivors in one of the worst manufacturing disasters in history, pointed questions were being raised about why a Bangladesh factory building was not padlocked after terrified workers notified the police, government officials and a powerful garment industry group about cracks in the walls. [...]
“‘Even in a situation of grave threat, when they saw cracks in the walls, factory managers thought it was too risky not to work because of the pressure on them from U.S. and European retailers to deliver their goods on time,’ said Dara O’Rourke, an expert on workplace monitoring at the University of California, Berkeley. He added that the prices Western companies pay ‘are so low that they are at the root of why these factories are cutting corners on fire safety and building safety.’ [...]
“What is increasingly clear is that the collapse should not have been a surprise. Factory fires have killed hundreds of garment workers in the past decade. At the same time, many factory buildings are substandard and unsafe. Bangladeshi fire officials say the upper floors of Rana Plaza were illegally constructed. [...]
“Bangladesh is the world’s second-leading exporter of apparel, and the domestic garment industry depends on a low wage formula in which the minimum wage is about $37 a month. Garment exports are a critical driver of the Bangladeshi economy, which creates pressure to keep wages low and workers in line. Labor unions are almost nonexistent in the industry; one labor organizer, Aminul Islam, was brutally killed last year in a case that is still unsolved.”
See also:
Death Toll in Bangladesh Passes 1,100 (AP, May 11, 2013)
And see on anti-caste:
INDUSTRIAL MASS MURDER: 112 BANGLADESHI GARMENT WORKERS KILLED (December 17, 2012)
WHO WILL DEFEND LABOR RIGHTS UNDER THE DICTATORSHIP OF CAPITAL? BANGLADESHI WORKERS NEED A STATE OF THEIR OWN (August 23, 2012)
CLASS STRUGGLE IN BANGLADESH: WORKERS SAY WAGE HIKE WON IN 2006 IS NOT ENOUGH! (August 2, 2010)
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