January 7, 2012
Although the material below was written some time ago, the "Triangle Fire" issue is still perfectly valid. This was brought home to me today on the radio program, "This American Life," in which Mike Daisey describes his visit to China to meet the people who made his iPhone. There is supposed to be a version you can listen to as an MP3, later today, at:
The Mike Daisey segment is now available at that site.
Mike Daisey has a one man show called "The Agony and Ecstacy of Steve Jobs," at The Public Theater in New York City, running from January 31 through March 4. You can get tickets at:
Note: Since I added this piece, it has been revealed that much of what Mike Daisey says in his presentation is fictionalized. He claims that although his claims are not completely factual, in that he did not actually do what he claims to have done, the facts regarding Foxconn and working conditions there are still true. It raises a larger controversey about journalism, as well as about working condtions in plants producing consumer items for America.
More importantly, working conditions are so bad in third-world countries that in December 2010, in Bangladdesh, there was a garment factory fire virtually identical to the Triangle Fire. The Bangladesh government has reported that 414 garment workers were killed in 213 factory fires between the years 2006 and 2009. In 2010, 191 people were killed in Bangladesh in a reported 20 incidents. 29 people were killed in the Bangladesh garment factory fire in December 2010.
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/workers-die-factories-tommy-hilfiger/story?id=15966305
http://www.theworld.org/2011/03/triangle-shirtwaist-factory-fire/
TRIANGLE FIRE
On March 25, 1911, a fire broke out in the sewing rooms of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City. The fire, which started on the 8th floor of the building, spread rapidly to the 9th floor, where hundreds of women and girls worked sewing clothing for long hours in virtual slave labor, for minimal pay.
The owners of the company, in an effort to prevent the employees from sneaking out for a cigarette, had locked the exit doors. The women tried to use the fire escape, but the overloaded fire escape pulled away from the building dropping many employees to their death. One hundred forty-six people, most women and girls, died either in the fire or in their effort to escape the fire.
The Triangle Fire marks the beginning of modern labor law, and resulted in prohibitions against child labor, requirements for decent working hours and conditions, and reasonable pay for work. All of the labor laws we have today are directly or indirectly the result of the Triangle Fire.
As we remember the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Fire, we should be asking ourselves, “Have we reverted to pre-Triangle Fire working conditions for the people who make the goods we use?” Considering that many of our consumer goods, including computers, now come from factories in China, the Philippines, Thailand, Mexico, and other places, where labor costs orders of magnitude less than it does in the United States.
Have we, in a quest to increase corporate profits, pushed working conditions for the people who make our goods back to pre-Triangle Fire levels? Is there a moral issue in child labor, too-long working hours, unsafe working conditions, etc.?
When globalization began to take hold during the Clinton administration, almost 20 years ago, there was an opportunity to require of foreign manufactures the same or equivalent working conditions as are required of American manufacturers.
We missed that chance, but it still isn’t too late to impose that requirement. This would let the success of foreign manufacturers benefit not only the owners of those factories, and their shareholders, as it is now, but also the people who furnish the labor to make the factories operate. Isn’t it time to impose this requirement? Not only would it benefit the workers in all those foreign countries, it would help make American labor more competitive and make a more level playing field for American workers..
The big argument against requiring proper treatment for foreign workers is that it could make the products we buy more expensive. This is undoubtedly a possibility, but my suspicion is that the profit margins in most products are sufficient to stay competitive, even with increased labor cost. For example, forty years ago, when Levi’s were made in the USA, they cost between $6 and $8 a pair. Now they cost close to $30 a pair and are made by cheap foreign labor. One pair I have has a tag that says "Made in Lesotho." I have nothing against the workers in Lesotho, but I want them to be treated as we would require American workers to be treated, not exploited.
The US textile industry has moved overseas, so the denim in the jeans is surely less expensive now than it was when the fabric was produced domestically. The labor is foreign. What else is there in a pair of blue jeans? Nothing. How much has the labor cost decreased, while the retail selling price was tripling or more? Or is all the increase in increased profits for the manufacturers and retailers? Who benefits? Is it moral for corporate profits to trump worker health and safety? Is the place where Levi’s are now made another Triangle Shirtwaist Factory?
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