The Failure of No Government Regulation
 

Hmmm

I guess profit and the foreign currency generated by the garment industry in Bangladesh comes first over building codes and worker safety.

The workers were told to come to work anyway even though a crack in the building was noticed yesterday.

Seems like it happens there all the time

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22275597

Well, at least we paid less for some underwear. That's what really matters in life. Grrr.


One of the reasons I had to get rid of Facebook was the callousness of some American consumers. A post that sticks out in my mind came from a financial guy on the east coast. He posted something stupid like, "Just bought a pack of pens at Staples for a dollar. I love China."

I thought about the workers in China and just thought dude, you don't know how much you are going to have to pay for those stupid pens someday.

It is a terrible tragedy

200 dead many still trapped. The building's owner is a member of the political party who currently controls the "regulatory" bodies that are supposed to regulate building construction. The bank workers were told to stay home. The poor clothing workers told to report to work. Very sad.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22289362

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...n_3167287.html


Look at the pictures this is terrible.
In 2006 I was on the Hospital Ship Mercy. We would anchor out near Indonesia and Philippines and do humanitarian ops. When we went to Bangladesh we anchored way out....about 45 miles from shore.
The water that far out in the ocean was brown...all from the pollution that the Bangladesh industries just let drain in the water. The toilet water on ship was black. They bascially dismantle old ships and oil tankers on the beach and let the chemicals float into the ocean while the workers salvage the metal.
There is a good piece on 60 minutes if you look it up.

My wife bought me some pants earlier this year corduroys...I looked at the label yesterday. Made in Bangladesh.

We look at the labels before buying, or if we are buying online we insist on knowing he country of origin. For underwear Fruit of the Loom is made in El Salvador, at least it is in the Western hemisphere. Haines used to be here but they up and moved to some Asian country so they got knocked off the list.

I was just last year that a building burnt down over there, apparently the emergency exits were locked or blocked, nice folks.

Here you go, sir!

http://uwearusa.gostorego.com/umb100.html

Thanks, added to my list of Favourites.

While worker safety laws are certainly lax to non-existent in Bangladesh, we have had two pretty big industrial explosions ourselves in the past couple of days (Mobile, AL and West, TX). With proper attention to safety, both of these incidents were certainly avoidable.

Likely because Congress keeps cutting the budgets of the agencies involved in inspection. If you can't change the regulations emasculate the regulators.

I got blasted again last week in Sears. I was needing a tool and asked for COO before going to checkout and a lady shopping over heard me asking and she asked what did it matter. I told her kindly, and explained that not only did it help keep Americans in work but the working conditions in China in which people take advantage of cheap labor were not so good. She came back at me with this: '' maybe so, but if we all decided not to buy products made in China then those people making very little in poor working conditions would be out in the street with nothing ''. I honestly didn't know what to say.