What is Bangladesh, the land of death?
Every year many many (mostly female) garment workers die because of a factory fire. You’d think they would learn by now to make the garment factories safe. I swear the owners don’t give a crap about the lives of the workers.
“I ran down the stairs,” an injured woman said to a reporter, “but when I got to the third floor, they wouldn’t let me get out! They wouldn’t let me!”
She cries out at the last word, and it is truly heartbreaking to hear that despite the fact that the garments factory was on fire, the people who are in charge assured the workers that everything was fine and to keep working. Preventing people from escaping?! That’s the sickest thing ever!
And yet the stupid government never learns. You can buy permits for everything in Bangladesh, and bribery is ridiculously rampant. Just because the country has a large population doesn’t mean you can be careless with the lives of people. I saw some footage of some government official going around giving 1000 taka to the people who’s family member died and I wanted to slap him.
If you really care then fix the damn system! Handing out money is not kindness, making sure these stupid fires that characterize Bangladesh never happen again, that’s kindness. But does the government even care? No. They’re too busy setting up stupid tribunals to try innocent people with war crimes committed 40 years ago.
They’re too busy jailing everyone from the opposing parties. They’re too busy with the wrong things. Bangladeshi government, all I can say is, you won’t be in power forever. Get your priorities straight or you will get kicked out, the people will get to you, trust me.
JC Penney Goes Back On Promise to Compensate Bangladeshi Families Whose Loved Ones Burned to Death in Factory Fire
“On December 14, 2010, 30 Bangladeshi factory workers were burned alive when an easily preventable fire broke out in the unsafe, multi-story sweatshop in which they were working. These men and women worked for “That’s It Sportswear” producing clothing for famous U.S. brands.
Thanks to pressure from Change.org members, seven of the eight brands (including J.C. Penney) doing business with the factory owners – the Hameem Group – signed a commitment to ensure fair compensation for the injured workers and surviving family members of the workers who died and to take meaningful steps to stop the epidemic of workplace deaths at US brands’ apparel factories in Bangladesh. Now J.C. Penney has shamefully broken this pledge. Today, six of the eight brands continue negotiating in good faith to establish an adequate worker compensation fund and sustainable fire safety initiatives. J.C. Penney, however, has dropped out.
In Bangladesh, nearly 500 workers have died in factory fires during the past five years.”
The source leads to a petition you can sign with a click of your mouse.
Eight people were killed when a fire swept through a garment factory in Bangladesh Thursday
t.coDHAKA (Reuters) - Eight people were killed when a fire swept through a clothing factory in Bangladesh, police and an industry association official said on Thursday, as the death toll from the collapse
You know what's sad about the factory fires in Bangladesh, other than the fact that more than a 100 people are dead?
The fact that the poor workers, working overtime to feed their families, were told to ignore fire alarms, not to worry and to keep working. The exits were locked, for some reason, and so many people burned alive.
Can you imagine it? Trapped inside a garments factory, a great fire looming behind you, as you yourself are surrounded by the cloth that you use to make your living. The cloth that gives you hope for better days. That cloth burns, and as the fire comes closer, you bang on the door. You cry and plead and hit the door along with a group of your coworkers. “Please open the door!” Your coworkers, some of whom may include your sister, your daughter or your nephew, wail with you.
The garments factory owner should be charged with the cold hearted murder of more than a 100 people. He should pay for burning people’s mothers, fathers, and daughters alive.
I don’t understand why no one cares.
Has everyone become too desensitized? Deaths in headlines don’t faze you anymore?
Take a second to think about the boy in Grade 5, who is walking around in the city with pictures of his 5 relatives who died in the fire. “I don’t have anyone left.”
Can you imagine it? A handful of dust is the last you’ll see of your mother, as you sprinkle it into a hasty grave. The ashes, you do not know, if it is of your mother, or some garments equipment.
What about a mountain of dead bodies, burned beyond recognition. Can you imagine it? Can you imagine digging through the piles of flesh to look for maybe some limbs of your best friend?
All the government will do, is say that they will “investigate.”
Who will pay for the life of a human being, let alone more than a hundred. Can the price of life ever be paid? Think about it.
The levels of cruelty the human being is capable of never fails to amuse me.
Global Responsibility
The role of responsibility in international trade and commerce has been an important question in global political theory. The idea of countries being independent states that do not bear responsibilities of foreign causalities come into question when accidents occur such as, the recent fire in a garment factory in Bangladesh that killed more than 112 workers. The factory, like several hundred others in Bangladesh that supply clothing to brands such as Tommy Hilfiger and Gap, exports garments to foreign countries. If international trade is integrated among countries in this manner, then do companies such as WalMart, have greater responsibilities to ensure safe working environments for the workers of these factories?
In other words, is there now reason to believe that nations have greater global responsibilities than ever before?
Read the NYT article here.
