Nothing, unless you are thinking critically.
So did you hear about the huge fire that killed more than 100 people in Bangladesh the other day?
Here is the story:
The 100-plus workers who died in a fire late Saturday at a high-rise garment factory in Bangladesh were working overtime making clothes for major American retailers, including Wal-Mart, according to workers' rights groups.
Officials in Bangladesh said the flames at the Tazreen Fashions factory
outside Dhaka spread rapidly on the ground floor, trapping those on the
higher floors of the nine-story building. There were no exterior fire
escapes, according to officials, and many died after jumping from upper
floors to escape the flames.
As firemen continued to remove bodies Sunday, officials said at least
112 people had died but that the number of fatalities could go higher.
The Tazreen fire is the latest in a series of deadly blazes at garment
factories in Bangladesh, where more than 700 workers, many making
clothes for U.S. consumers, have died in factory fires in the past five
years. As previously reported by ABC News, Bangladesh has some of the
cheapest labor in the world and some of the most deplorable working
conditions.
Got that?
You go shopping for cheap crap and people DIE as a result.
That seems like news to me. Props to ABC and Yahoo News for covering this story ...
READ the original ABC News report.
"The industry and parent brands in the U.S. have been warned again and
again about the extreme danger to workers in Bangladesh and they have
not taken action," said Scott Nova, executive director of the Worker Rights Consortium,
an American group working to improve conditions at factories abroad
that make clothes for U.S. companies. Nova said the fire was the most
deadly in the history of the Bangladesh apparel industry, and "one of
the worst in any country."
That is called NEGLIGENT HOMICIDE!
WATCH the 'Nightline' report on deadly factories.
Workers' activists went into the burned-out remains today to document which major retailers were using the Tazreen factory.
They say they found labels for Faded Glory, a Wal-Mart private label, along with labels they said traced back to Sears and a clothing company owned by music impresario Sean "Diddy" Combs.
"There's no question that Wal-Mart and the other customers at this
factory bear some blame for what happened in this factory," Nova said.
Nova also said that Wal-Mart "knew exactly what's going on at these facilities. They have staff on site in Bangladesh."
Wal-Mart actually warned of dangerous conditions at the Tazreen factory
last year, in a letter posted online by the factory owner.
Wal-Mart told ABC News that the company has not yet been able to confirm that it was still making clothes at the factory.
In a statement, Wal-Mart told ABC News, "Our thoughts are with the
families of the victims of this tragedy. ... [F]ire safety is a
critically important area of Wal-Mart's factory audit program and we
have been working across the apparel industry to improve fire safety
education and training in Bangladesh.
"As part of this effort, we partnered with several independent
organizations to develop and roll out fire safety training tools for
factory management and workers. Continued engagement is critical to
ensure that reliable, proactive measures are in place to reduce the
chance of factory fires. "
In a statement, Sears disputed reports by activists that it sources
clothes from the Tazreen facility.
"Our thoughts are with the victims of
this tragedy," said the statement. "We can also confirm that Sears Holdings does not source from this factory."
"In addition, Sears recognizes that fire safety is a critical
international issue that we intend to address through specialized
training for management in those factories that produce merchandise for
Sears Holdings."
Worker Rights Consortium said that numbers of the labels of garments found in the factory could be traced back to Sears.
A spokesperson for Combs did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
What do you think? Still want to shop at Wal-Mart?
