Bangladesh Building Collapse: Death Toll Reaches 746

[Sing_Sling]

What boggles my mind beyond my sorrow, is the comment that the injured won't be able to pay their medical bills without additional salary.

It seems almost beyond belief that there is still a world where the building owner or employer wouldn't cover the medical expenses for injuries.

My heartfelt condolences to all victims and their families.

I have a good memory. See you on the next Obama-healthcare thread.

Count me in as well.

Ditto!

Gut-wrenching photo . . .

[Scott]

Now it is 1,043 dead.

According to CNN: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/10/world/asia/bangladesh-building-collapse/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

[Credo]

Any updates on the death toll?

[beautifulthailand99]

Primark's update - though tucked away on their website and no posters or collections in the stores as they wouldn't want to associate the brand too closely with death and grief or their distant (sub-contracted) workers - would they ?.

http://www.primark-ethicaltrading.co.uk/bangladesh_update/bangladesh_update

[manarak]

Primark's update - though tucked away on their website and no posters or collections in the stores as they wouldn't want to associate the brand too closely with death and grief or their distant (sub-contracted) workers - would they ?.

http://www.primark-ethicaltrading.co.uk/bangladesh_update/bangladesh_update

insinuations that clients of these garment producing firms are somehow to blame, even only partially, for this tragedy are ridiculous.

[beautifulthailand99]

Primark's update - though tucked away on their website and no posters or collections in the stores as they wouldn't want to associate the brand too closely with death and grief or their distant (sub-contracted) workers - would they ?.

http://www.primark-ethicaltrading.co.uk/bangladesh_update/bangladesh_update

insinuations that clients of these garment producing firms are somehow to blame, even only partially, for this tragedy are ridiculous.

Hardly - if they profess to have an ethical sourcing policy then this should surely apply to monitoring on an ongoing and ad-hoc basis the environment in which their products are being manufactured to ensure they are safe and fit for purpose. My point I was trying to make was that Primark in particular who is very well known to UK customers as the ultimate cheapo cloths shop have shown little obvious outwards compassion publically to this tragedy.

There is an online petition http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/primarkjobs-mango-matalan-ensure-safety-for-workers-compensate-victims-of-building-collapse

[wooloomooloo]

...if they profess to have an ethical sourcing policy then this should surely apply to monitoring on an ongoing and ad-hoc basis the environment in which their products are being manufactured to ensure they are safe and fit for purpose.

Primark are not in the construction business, unless I'm mistaken.

[beautifulthailand99]

Nor are the council health and safety officers who check out our western workplaces. It is not beyond the wit of these multinationals to spend modest amounts on inspecting and verifying that their developing countries major suppliers are providing a safe and fit for purpose workplace.

[wooloomooloo]

There's no such thing as council health and safety officers in Bangladesh and Primark are not responsible for this fact.

Take your rose tinted spectacles off, mate.

[beautifulthailand99]

Let's hope that one of the outcomes from this terrible tragedy that Primark will step up to the mark that they set for themselves publically.

http://www.primark-ethicaltrading.co.uk/how_we_work

We do not own the companies or factories that produce our goods, but we
do have a responsibility to the workers in those factories, to our
customers and shareholders, to ensure that our products are made in good
working conditions.

[wooloomooloo]

Quite agree and Primark will guarantee no earthquakes into the bargain. How's about that?

[manarak]

Primark's update - though tucked away on their website and no posters or collections in the stores as they wouldn't want to associate the brand too closely with death and grief or their distant (sub-contracted) workers - would they ?.

http://www.primark-ethicaltrading.co.uk/bangladesh_update/bangladesh_update

insinuations that clients of these garment producing firms are somehow to blame, even only partially, for this tragedy are ridiculous.

Hardly - if they profess to have an ethical sourcing policy then this should surely apply to monitoring on an ongoing and ad-hoc basis the environment in which their products are being manufactured to ensure they are safe and fit for purpose. My point I was trying to make was that Primark in particular who is very well known to UK customers as the ultimate cheapo cloths shop have shown little obvious outwards compassion publically to this tragedy.

There is an online petition http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/primarkjobs-mango-matalan-ensure-safety-for-workers-compensate-victims-of-building-collapse

ludicrous - what you really mean is that these firms should source their products elsewhere, thus depriving these workers from income, and forcing their bosses to accept contracts that pay even less, for example such as making clothes for the Russian market.

Great!

[beautifulthailand99]

So nothing should change and the deaths are just collateral damage from the race to the bottom wages ways of a globalized market where lives don't matter just the bottom line of money, money,money Sadly you're probably right. Just thank your lucky stars that we're all born into a culture of plenty (posting on TVF is a luxury item compared to these poor souls that slave away in developing country sweatshops) and in this one life we have had a pretty good ride on this human journey. People are mostly good IMHO and very modest increases in retail prices for western consumers (just 1 or 2p an item - a H&M T-shirt costing £10 in store - of that just 1.5p goes to the worker - could make a very big difference to the lives that toil in the anonymous factories. Anonymous that is until they set on fire or collapse .

A jug fills drop by drop.

[manarak]

So nothing should change and the deaths are just collateral damage from the race to the bottom wages ways of a globalized market where lives don't matter just the bottom line of money, money,money Sadly you're probably right. Just thank your lucky stars that we're all born into a culture of plenty (posting on TVF is a luxury item compared to these poor souls that slave away in developing country sweatshops) and in this one life we have had a pretty good ride on this human journey. People are mostly good IMHO and very modest increases in retail prices for western consumers (just 1 or 2p an item - a H&M T-shirt costing £10 in store - of that just 1.5p goes to the worker - could make a very big difference to the lives that toil in the anonymous factories. Anonymous that is until they set on fire or collapse .

A jug fills drop by drop.

There is no race to the bottom for wages.

Have a look at this graph of the gross national product of Bangladesh:

https://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&met_y=ny_gnp_mktp_pp_cd&idim=country:BGD&dl=en&hl=en&q=gnp%20bangladesh

The country is developing exponentially, and so are wages there.

Currently, 90% of the country's buildings are not up to standards.

What do you want to do about it?

Western countries all have been through the same problems and had their own industrial tragedies.

It's a process of economic development, and also a question of the maturity of the legal system.

If the responsible persons (the owner of the building and the builder, the building inspectors, etc.) are adequately punished, it will function as a deterrent for the others and speed up the modernization of buildings. The same goes for work safety standards, etc.

Trying to blame western companies for the tragedy is sick.

[beautifulthailand99]

So nothing should change and the deaths are just collateral damage from the race to the bottom wages ways of a globalized market where lives don't matter just the bottom line of money, money,money Sadly you're probably right. Just thank your lucky stars that we're all born into a culture of plenty (posting on TVF is a luxury item compared to these poor souls that slave away in developing country sweatshops) and in this one life we have had a pretty good ride on this human journey. People are mostly good IMHO and very modest increases in retail prices for western consumers (just 1 or 2p an item - a H&M T-shirt costing £10 in store - of that just 1.5p goes to the worker - could make a very big difference to the lives that toil in the anonymous factories. Anonymous that is until they set on fire or collapse .

A jug fills drop by drop.

There is no race to the bottom for wages.

Have a look at this graph of the gross national product of Bangladesh:

https://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&met_y=ny_gnp_mktp_pp_cd&idim=country:BGD&dl=en&hl=en&q=gnp%20bangladesh

The country is developing exponentially, and so are wages there.

Currently, 90% of the country's buildings are not up to standards.

What do you want to do about it?

Western countries all have been through the same problems and had their own industrial tragedies.

It's a process of economic development, and also a question of the maturity of the legal system.

If the responsible persons (the owner of the building and the builder, the building inspectors, etc.) are adequately punished, it will function as a deterrent for the others and speed up the modernization of buildings. The same goes for work safety standards, etc.

Trying to blame western companies for the tragedy is sick.

Manarak you make good points - evolution not revolution - but both routes are bloody and litterered with corpses it would appear..But I hope whatever points I inelegantly make are not considered 'sick' .This tragedy must serve as one of the springboards for their upward trajectory of development progress - my 'bleeding' heart causes me many problems in Thailand - as my wife (wildly parapgrashing here) succinctly puts it sh&t or get off the pot . i.e what are you doing to change this except vent on a bulletin board. As ever she is right !

[manarak]

evolution not revolution - but both routes are bloody and litterered with corpses it would appear.

now that makes more sense

But I hope whatever points I inelegantly make are not considered 'sick'.

Well, your posts were insinuating that the western world is somehow responsible for what happened over there, because of the greed, etc...

A bit like "repent your sins"... LOL

I think that's a twisted representation of reality, unjustly blaming people and companies for things they can't do anything about.

Don't understand me wrong: there are things we can do something about, such as changing how the development grants are used and making fairer free trade agreements.

But globalization, especially free trade, benefits foreign poor people and penalizes the local western working class... A socialist's dilemma. Universal socialist answer: raise taxes!

For my part, I Johngalted out.

Edited May 13, 2013 by manarak