http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/04/25/bangladesh-tragedy-shows-urgency-worker-protections
The situation in Bangladesh is surprising,
considering that it’s a nation very similar to India that is an emerging
super-power.
On April 24th, 2013, hundreds of
factory workers died when the factory building collapsed, crushing all of them
at once. The worse part is that this tragedy was highly predictable. Huge
cracks had appeared all over the infrastructure the day prior to the tragedy
and even though the building had been evacuated a few hundreds workers were
forced to still go in and work.
Factory owners pay Bangladeshi workers some
of the least amount of wages when compared to all over the world. But even then
“they
did not have the decency to ensure safety of people who put
clothes on the backs of people all over the world.”
Moreover, this is not a sole incident.
Several such incidents have occurred in the past killing hundreds of more
workers.
Were all these deaths accidental?
Maybe Not! The reason is corruption.
Inspectors, upholding the Labours Act in
Bangladesh, take bribes from the factory owners instead of imprisoning them
when they find violations of safety provisions. The average bribe is considered
to be $13.
The
value of the lives of hundred workers is $13 in Bangladesh!
Once again the problem moves back to the
government of the nation. Its time there is a reform in the way system works so
that normal people get basic rights and living conditions.
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