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Some of those IMF and World Bank dictums are coming home to roost.Workers in Bangladesh are paid about $8 a week and live in corrugated shacks about five and one-half feet tall. An average sized adult standing in the middle of such a "shelter" can touch all four walls without moving. Wage slavery would seem to exist wherever capitalism sets up shop.
This is exactly the kind of unfettered free-market capitalism that the IMF and the World Bank has been demanding impoverished nations adopt to help them improve their economic conditions. Whenever such reforms have been imposed, wages and working conditions have both declined.
Kudos to Loblaws and Primark for owning up to their responsibility to the workers. Other labels were found in the rubble but the silence from other European and North American brands, has been deafening.
Are you speaking from personal experience?Workers in Bangladesh are paid about $8 a week and live in corrugated shacks about five and one-half feet tall. An average sized adult standing in the middle of such a "shelter" can touch all four walls without moving. Wage slavery would seem to exist wherever capitalism sets up shop.
And yet they somehow find a way to repeatedly impregnate everything in sight.
Police said Sunday night that the death toll had reached 622. Well over 200 bodies have been recovered since Wednesday, when authorities said only 149 people had been listed as missing. The stench of decomposing bodies remains amid the broken concrete of the eight-story Rana Plaza building, and it is anyone's guess how many victims remain to be recovered.
The April 24 disaster is likely the worst garment-factory accident ever, and there have been few industrial accidents of any kind with a higher death toll. It surpassed long-ago garment-industry disasters such as New York's Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire, which killed 146 workers in 1911, and more recent tragedies such as a 2012 fire that killed about 260 people in Pakistan and one in Bangladesh that same year that killed 112.
An architect whose firm designed the building said Sunday that it had not been designed to handle heavy industrial equipment, let alone the three floors that were later illegally added. The equipment used by the five garment factories that occupied Rana Plaza included huge generators that were turned on shortly before the building crumbled.
Masood Reza, an architect with Vastukalpa Consultants, said the building was designed in 2004 as a shopping mall and not for any industrial purpose. "We designed the building to have three stories for shops and another two for offices. I don't know how the additional floors were added and how factories were allowed on the top floors," Reza said. "Don't ask me anything else. This is now a sensitive issue," Reza said before hanging up. Government officials say substandard building materials, combined with the vibration of the heavy machines used by the factories, led to the collapse.
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The police control room overseeing the recovery operation said the death toll stood at 705 on Tuesday afternoon as workers pulled more bodies out of the wreckage of the eight-story building that was packed with workers at five garment factories when it collapsed on April 24. The factories were making clothing bound for major retailers around the world. The disaster is the worst ever in the garment sector, surpassing a fire that killed about 260 people in Pakistan and another in Bangladesh that killed 112 last year, as well as the 1911 garment disaster in New York's Triangle Shirtwaist factory that killed 146 workers. It is also one of the deadliest industrial accidents ever. No one knows what the final toll will be, as the exact number of people inside Rana Plaza at the time of the collapse was unknown. More than 2,500 people were rescued alive.
Hundreds of survivors blocked a major highway near the accident site in a Dhaka suburb on Tuesday to demand the payment of wages and other benefits. No violence was reported, although traffic was disrupted for hours. Local government administrator Yousuf Harun said they are working with the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association to ensure the workers get paid. The workers, many who made little more than the national minimum wage of about $38 per month, are demanding at least four months in salary. The workers had set Tuesday as the deadline for the payment of wages and other benefits.
Harun said no salary remained unpaid except for the month of April and there was an agreement for the workers to receive an additional three months of pay. After a team from the BGMEA arrived at the protest and pledged to make the payment later Tuesday, the workers left the highway, Harun said. The BGMEA had said Monday that it was preparing a "complete list" of workers employed in the Rana Plaza factories and the process would take a few more days. Bangladesh earns nearly $20 billion a year from exports of the garment products, mainly to the United States and Europe.
Authorities have not set any specific timeframe to complete the recovery operation at the building site, saying they will continue until all bodies and debris are removed. Officials say the building's owner illegally added three floors to Rana Plaza and allowed the garment factories to install heavy machines and generators, even though it wasn't constructed for industrial use.
Source
I heard some time and motion numbers last Sunday on Pacifica.Garment factory collapse toll goes over 700...
Bangladesh garment disaster death toll reaches 705
May 7,`13 -- Hundreds of garment factory workers who survived a building collapse in Bangladesh protested for compensation, as the death toll from the country's worst-ever industrial disaster passed 700.
The police control room overseeing the recovery operation said the death toll stood at 705 on Tuesday afternoon as workers pulled more bodies out of the wreckage of the eight-story building that was packed with workers at five garment factories when it collapsed on April 24. The factories were making clothing bound for major retailers around the world. The disaster is the worst ever in the garment sector, surpassing a fire that killed about 260 people in Pakistan and another in Bangladesh that killed 112 last year, as well as the 1911 garment disaster in New York's Triangle Shirtwaist factory that killed 146 workers. It is also one of the deadliest industrial accidents ever. No one knows what the final toll will be, as the exact number of people inside Rana Plaza at the time of the collapse was unknown. More than 2,500 people were rescued alive.
Hundreds of survivors blocked a major highway near the accident site in a Dhaka suburb on Tuesday to demand the payment of wages and other benefits. No violence was reported, although traffic was disrupted for hours. Local government administrator Yousuf Harun said they are working with the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association to ensure the workers get paid. The workers, many who made little more than the national minimum wage of about $38 per month, are demanding at least four months in salary. The workers had set Tuesday as the deadline for the payment of wages and other benefits.
Harun said no salary remained unpaid except for the month of April and there was an agreement for the workers to receive an additional three months of pay. After a team from the BGMEA arrived at the protest and pledged to make the payment later Tuesday, the workers left the highway, Harun said. The BGMEA had said Monday that it was preparing a "complete list" of workers employed in the Rana Plaza factories and the process would take a few more days. Bangladesh earns nearly $20 billion a year from exports of the garment products, mainly to the United States and Europe.
Authorities have not set any specific timeframe to complete the recovery operation at the building site, saying they will continue until all bodies and debris are removed. Officials say the building's owner illegally added three floors to Rana Plaza and allowed the garment factories to install heavy machines and generators, even though it wasn't constructed for industrial use.
Source
I heard some time and motion numbers last Sunday on Pacifica.Garment factory collapse toll goes over 700...
Bangladesh garment disaster death toll reaches 705
May 7,`13 -- Hundreds of garment factory workers who survived a building collapse in Bangladesh protested for compensation, as the death toll from the country's worst-ever industrial disaster passed 700.
The police control room overseeing the recovery operation said the death toll stood at 705 on Tuesday afternoon as workers pulled more bodies out of the wreckage of the eight-story building that was packed with workers at five garment factories when it collapsed on April 24. The factories were making clothing bound for major retailers around the world. The disaster is the worst ever in the garment sector, surpassing a fire that killed about 260 people in Pakistan and another in Bangladesh that killed 112 last year, as well as the 1911 garment disaster in New York's Triangle Shirtwaist factory that killed 146 workers. It is also one of the deadliest industrial accidents ever. No one knows what the final toll will be, as the exact number of people inside Rana Plaza at the time of the collapse was unknown. More than 2,500 people were rescued alive.
Hundreds of survivors blocked a major highway near the accident site in a Dhaka suburb on Tuesday to demand the payment of wages and other benefits. No violence was reported, although traffic was disrupted for hours. Local government administrator Yousuf Harun said they are working with the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association to ensure the workers get paid. The workers, many who made little more than the national minimum wage of about $38 per month, are demanding at least four months in salary. The workers had set Tuesday as the deadline for the payment of wages and other benefits.
Harun said no salary remained unpaid except for the month of April and there was an agreement for the workers to receive an additional three months of pay. After a team from the BGMEA arrived at the protest and pledged to make the payment later Tuesday, the workers left the highway, Harun said. The BGMEA had said Monday that it was preparing a "complete list" of workers employed in the Rana Plaza factories and the process would take a few more days. Bangladesh earns nearly $20 billion a year from exports of the garment products, mainly to the United States and Europe.
Authorities have not set any specific timeframe to complete the recovery operation at the building site, saying they will continue until all bodies and debris are removed. Officials say the building's owner illegally added three floors to Rana Plaza and allowed the garment factories to install heavy machines and generators, even though it wasn't constructed for industrial use.
Source
These were Nike factories located in Central America, I think.
Each operation performed by a worker was timed to the hundredths of a second.
Each garment sold for over $20.
Each worker received less than $1 per garment.
We live in a world where finance and production are global, yet labor and labor unions are not.
Apparently it's worse in Indonesia where the military helps capitalists keep a tight grip on wage inflation.
I don't know how bad it will get here.
About twenty years ago I had a neighbor who lost his job when the USAF base left town.
He eventually accepted a $20 bill for 8 hours of labor with some canned food thrown in.
Maybe that race to the bottom's being run on a circular course?
I'd like to see a "Free Trade" guy like Toro get on here and tell us how we are supposed to compete with this sort of nonsense...
No this isn't terrorism, it is unfettered capitalism. This is the world that Walmart has built. Incidentally, Walmart was one of the major customers of the collapsed building. This is the price that Third World workers pay for Walmart's price roll-backs.
World update to dragonlady; walmart is not the only company that outsources and it's unions and liberal's fault because they try to take the power away from entrepreneurs. Red tape, taxes, and unions have ruined industry for this country. Proudly brought to you by liberalism.
I'd like to see a "Free Trade" guy like Toro get on here and tell us how we are supposed to compete with this sort of nonsense...
No this isn't terrorism, it is unfettered capitalism. This is the world that Walmart has built. Incidentally, Walmart was one of the major customers of the collapsed building. This is the price that Third World workers pay for Walmart's price roll-backs.
World update to dragonlady; walmart is not the only company that outsources and it's unions and liberal's fault because they try to take the power away from entrepreneurs. Red tape, taxes, and unions have ruined industry for this country. Proudly brought to you by liberalism.
You would be happier if these crappy factory conditions were legal here, right?
Those nanny state regulations you corporate tools bitch about are what prevents this kind of tragedy in US factories.
And the disaster in West Texas is a perfect example of what happens when the US hollows out our regulatory departments.
Honest to GOD the GOP is the party of Ebenezor Scrooge.
They want to bring back the horror of the 19th century gilded age and leave THAT legacy to their children.
I hope you are not implying US Capitalists have ever exploited children?I'd like to see a "Free Trade" guy like Toro get on here and tell us how we are supposed to compete with this sort of nonsense...
No this isn't terrorism, it is unfettered capitalism. This is the world that Walmart has built. Incidentally, Walmart was one of the major customers of the collapsed building. This is the price that Third World workers pay for Walmart's price roll-backs.
World update to dragonlady; walmart is not the only company that outsources and it's unions and liberal's fault because they try to take the power away from entrepreneurs. Red tape, taxes, and unions have ruined industry for this country. Proudly brought to you by liberalism.
You would be happier if these crappy factory conditions were legal here, right?
Those nanny state regulations you corporate tools bitch about are what prevents this kind of tragedy in US factories.
And the disaster in West Texas is a perfect example of what happens when the US hollows out our regulatory departments.
Honest to GOD the GOP is the party of Ebenezor Scrooge.
They want to bring back the horror of the 19th century gilded age and leave THAT legacy to their children.
Wow. That sounds like Republican Policy. Didn't Mitt talk about buying such a plant?
Yes, the "emerging economies" in Asia have been pressured to adopt Chicago School free-market strategies by the World Bank and the IMF in return for loans and infrastructure investment. Especially unregulated prices and wages.
Reporters in Bangla Desh were told that North American companies have been asked by the workers for better prices so that working conditions in these factories can be improved. The North American companies have consistently refused these requests.
Wages are low and workers are often locked in the plant until the contract is completed. Competition for these contracts is fierce and the North American buyers will drop the contracts for any reason.
Why didn't you get a job or two?
Why...do you make this shit up as you go along AND why would I care?Why didn't you get a job or two?
I was no more than 8. That's when my folks were ordered to get their shit together. I got my first job at 13. I have a half sister that I didn't meet until I was 50, she got her first job at 11 and asked me why I took so long.
Why...do you make this shit up as you go along AND why would I care?Why didn't you get a job or two?
I was no more than 8. That's when my folks were ordered to get their shit together. I got my first job at 13. I have a half sister that I didn't meet until I was 50, she got her first job at 11 and asked me why I took so long.
I'd like to see a "Free Trade" guy like Toro get on here and tell us how we are supposed to compete with this sort of nonsense...
World update to dragonlady; walmart is not the only company that outsources and it's unions and liberal's fault because they try to take the power away from entrepreneurs. Red tape, taxes, and unions have ruined industry for this country. Proudly brought to you by liberalism.
You would be happier if these crappy factory conditions were legal here, right?
Those nanny state regulations you corporate tools bitch about are what prevents this kind of tragedy in US factories.
And the disaster in West Texas is a perfect example of what happens when the US hollows out our regulatory departments.
Honest to GOD the GOP is the party of Ebenezor Scrooge.
They want to bring back the horror of the 19th century gilded age and leave THAT legacy to their children.
It had nothing to do with labor laws, it was simply a badly built building. Because otherwise, if countries want to have bad labor laws, that's not our problem.
