10/5/13 – Reshma Alive After 17 Days But What Price Cheap Clothes

I have mixed feelings today. I rejoice that Reshma Begum was found alive in the collapsed buildings in Dhaka, Bangladesh after a torturous 17 days trapped below the rubble, but sad that over 100 people (mainly women) died and authorities are unable to tell the world how many people were in the building at the time.

Al Jazeera tells me that more than 3,000 workers were on shift on the morning of April 24 when the building suddenly caved in. Police have arrested 12 people including the plaza's owner and four factory bosses for forcing people to work on the day of the disaster, even though cracks appeared in the structure the day before. Well done to those who saved her.

But from my point of view, the underlying causal issues are still not up front on the world stage and the vulnerable remain without a voice. We should be challenging those further up the chain of responsibility. Why are questions not being asked of the Multi-National Corporations if not on points of law then at least on points of social justice and conscience. We hear that most workers were earning around $40 a month to make clothing for Western brands, but what profit margin pressures were the factory owners under from MNCs? It is a vicious cycle and one that can change with consumers demanding ethical practices from business leadership. Should I hold out hope that the inquiries into ethical manufacturing announced this week from companies like WalMart and JC Penny will go anywhere past this week’s headlines? I am especially cynical since my search revealled that this recent disaster in Bangladesh follows a fire that killed 112 in November at a factory that made goods for companies that included Wal-Mart. In fact, according to the Washington, D.C.-based International Labour Rights Forum, at least 1,800 garment workers in Bangladesh have died in fires or other disasters in factories since 2005. Has the US merely shifted the Triangle Shirtwaist Company offshore and absolved itself of responsibility? Perhaps international company managements learned to distance themselves after the Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal, India.

For those of you too young to know or who may have forgotten, Wikipedia tells us that the gas explosion at Bhopal is considered the world's worst industrial disaster. It occurred at night at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. Over 500,000 people were exposed to methyl isocyanate gas and other chemicals. The toxic substance made its way in and around the shantytowns located near the plant. Estimates vary on the death toll and the dispute still continues. The official immediate death toll was 2,259. The government of Madhya Pradesh confirmed a total of 3,787 deaths related to the gas release. Others estimate 8,000 died within two weeks and another 8,000 or more have since died from gas-related diseases. A government affidavit in 2006 stated the leak caused 558,125 injuries including 38,478 temporary partial injuries and approximately 3,900 severely and permanently disabling injuries.

As the UCC CEO, Warren Anderson was charged with manslaughter by Indian authorities. He flew to India with a promise that he would not be arrested; however, Indian authorities placed him in custody. Anderson posted bail, returned to the US, and refused to return to India. He was declared a fugitive from justice by the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Bhopal on February 1, 1992, for failing to appear at the court hearings in a culpable homicide case in which he was named the chief defendant. The chief judicial magistrate of Bhopal, issued an arrest warrant for Anderson on July 31, 2009. The United States has declined to extradite him citing a lack of evidence.

That disaster happened in December 1984 and only  in June 2010, seven ex-employees, including the former UCIL chairman, were convicted in Bhopal of causing death by negligence and sentenced to two years imprisonment and a fine of about $2,000 each, the maximum punishment allowed by Indian law. Perhaps I’ll visit Warren Anderson while I’m on Long Island next week and see if he thinks justice was done and if he has any wisdom or ethical advice for those involved in the current disaster. I wonder too if India has changed its laws? And if those disempowered in China and Bangladesh need our voice then don’t forget to watch over Cambodia as it seems that that is where these companies are ‘setting up shop’ next.

Please reflect upon how much you are willing to pay for ethically produced goods and act accordingly? The ivory trade was subdued because of the power of the people’s voice and subsequent international laws. If we can make a difference to the life of an elephant why are we struggling to do it for our own kind? Surely it is not because it is the fact that it is only women and children that the effort is lost? Check out the movie ‘Girl Rising’ if you’re interested in the benefits to the world if we educate more girls.