Originally published on the CGS blog on June 7, 2013.
Two workers’ rights scandals have recently affected the international community.
On April 24th, Rana Plaza, a building home to several garment factories, collapsed in Bangladesh. More than 1,100 people died in the horrific accident. This week, less than two months after the tragedy in Bangladesh, a fire sparked by an ammonia gas leak in a Chinese poultry plant killed 119 workers.
These accidents could have been prevented.
Just days before the collapse of Rana Plaza, managers disregarded cracks in the building’s walls and reassured workers that the building’s infrastructure was secure. The Chinese poultry factory was touted by local government officials as “one of the top 100 agricultural processing companies” and was praised for “its advanced management concept and business model.” Clearly, these officials ignored or overlooked crucial warning signs that contributed to the gas leak.
What can be done to prevent disasters like these from happening in the future?
First, laws protecting workers’ rights must be enforced or reformed. According to the Chinese state media, survivors of the poultry factory fire stated it was standard practice to keep nearly all the factory doors locked during working hours. This practice is in direct violation of Article 24 of China’s emergency response law that “requir[es]…safety exits be kept open and clearly marked.” When Monday’s fire broke out, only one door was unlocked. Undoubtedly, if more doors had been unlocked, more people would have survived.
It’s particularly distressing that a similar tragedy has occurred in China before. In 1993, 87 toy factory workers perished in a fire because the building’s doors were locked. Omana George from the Asia Monitor Resource Center, a worker advocacy group, commented, “the fact that the workers were locked inside in exactly the same way as 20 years ago…shows that laws are not being enforced and inspections are not taking place. The law requires a safe working place, but these employers are under little pressure to ensure that.”
Managers must be held accountable for their factory’s condition. Geoffrey Crothall, of China Labor Bulletin, stated, “China has a raft of laws on workplace safety, but they are often vague and enforcement is lax. Industrialists are often linked in a web of corruption and cronyism with local bureaucrats. Departments responsible for safety are frequently underfunded and enjoy little authority.” This is unacceptable.
The workers’ rights situation is no better in Bangladesh. Labor activists have described the Bangladeshi safety and labor monitoring system as “inadequate” and have advocated for a new system specifically designed to regulate fire and building safety standards in garment factories. For this new system to be effective, however, the Western firms that manufacture products in Bangladesh must ensure that factory managers adhere to the system’s safety standards.
Second, more attention must be paid to building infrastructure. A team of engineers from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) found that, disturbingly, “three-fifths of garment factories in Bangladesh are vulnerable to collapse.” While these buildings will likely not collapse tomorrow, they will eventually. Bangladesh’s garment industry has been called “an essential engine for the Bangladeshi economy.” It employs approximately 3.5 million people and is the world’s second largest supplier of clothing. Since the garment industry is a vital part of the Bangladeshi economy, the infrastructure of garment factories must be fixed and maintained. The Western firms that use these factories to produce their products are responsible for funding the repairs.
Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, “everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.” Workers in China and Bangladesh are not working under “just and favourable conditions.” This must change.
Li Huizhi, a Chinese current affairs commentator, put it best in his blog post on the poultry factory fire: “Is this a factory or a prison? Does management take these workers for people or poultry?”
