Working Life

Well, I saw a day or two ago that the Administration was going to cut off Bangladesh’s trade preferences. In one sense, okay, finally. But, on the other hand, it’s sort of a minor thing if you are thinking “this will protect workers”.

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I’m typically quite critical of the traditional media’s refusal to write about workers’ struggles on a regular basis, and without the “free market” spin. But this is an example of a strong story.

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Gee, scratch your head. Hundreds of people die in a horrific garment factory fire in Bangladesh. Then, just yesterday, 120 people die in a poultry factory in China. Is there a connection? Of course.

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I personally don’t need anything more to be outraged about the murder of hundreds of garment workers in the Bangladesh factory collapse. But, in these situations, a little something can trigger more outrage. I lost it after reading this.

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I’ve written a ton about phony so-called “free trade” and, a close cousin, the whole system of Generalized System of Preferences, which basically is a sham run by the World Trade Organization to open up countries to be plundered by big corporations. But, since the system exists right now, it’s a point of leverage to move a bit of safety into the lives of the garment workers in Bangladesh.

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In the annals of “this is no surprise” let me chalk up yet another example of the immoral behavior of the Wal-Mart family: it is not interested in signing on to a broadly accepted new safety code of practice in Bangladesh. No–the greed and avarice of the five Walton heirs, each of whom is worth around $20 billion, has no upper limit. Even if it means people get killed — though I guess if they aren’t white people and they are far away in another land, the Waltons just don’t care.

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The ghastly industrial killing field in the garment factory in Bangladesh has now claimed over 1,100 lives. Hard to even fathom. But, there is a sliver of hope that out of this massacre of workers will come a little improvement.

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The toll has risen to more than 800 in Bangladesh. I suppose that must be a threshold of human death and suffering that even Wal-Mart can’t ignore. So, the Beast of Bentonville and some of its sidekicks are getting together to set, uh, labor standards.

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Bodies. More bodies. More horror.

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I’m not sure what the ILO has in mind or can do — it is hostage to the politics of inertia. But, at least there is a chance this will keep the pressure on.

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