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Sunday, November 25, 2012

History Repeating Itself - Why Walmart is Not a Good Deal



http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/11/25



Published on Sunday, November 25, 2012 by Common Dreams
Over 100 Workers Killed in Bangladesh Sweatshop Fire
Anti-sweatshop campaigners say 'negligence' and systemic mistreatment and disregard of workers to blame

A fire roared through a multi-story garmet  [sic] factory outside the capital city of Dhaka, Bangladesh on Saturday night, killing more than 110 people.

The garmet [sic] industry in Bangladesh makes clothes for many familiar brands in the US—including Wal-Mart, JC Penney, H&M, The Gap, and others—but poor working conditions in the nation's factories are well known and a pattern of fires have killed hundreds in recent years.

Read the whole thing and look at the pictures – really look at the picture.

BTW - The wages of the people who died were 15 - 20 cents per hour.

While this may be "news", this is now “new”.
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City on March 25, 1911, was the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of the city of New York and resulted in the fourth highest loss of life from an industrial accident in U.S. history. The fire caused the deaths of 146 garment workers,

the oldest victim was Providenza Panno at 48, and the youngest was 11 year old Mary Goldstein

The fire led to legislation requiring improved factory safety standards and helped spur the growth of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, which fought for better working conditions for sweatshop workers.

The right-wing wants to destroy unions and regulation – for corporate profits.
The right-wing wants to destroy child labor laws – for corporate profit.
The right-wing wants to take us back to 1911 and to the time of the robber barons.


A robber baron:  "Allegedly, their "questionable practices" usually included selling the product at extremely low prices (and paying their workers very poorly in order to do so), buying out the competitors that couldn't keep up, and once there was no competition, they would hike prices far above the original level." (wiki)
Sound familiar???????
 
The right-wing wants to destroy everything we have built instead of moving us forward.
What are a few lives in the wake of corporate greed?

It is up to us – to make sure that corporate profit does not rule America.
It is up to us - to not let personal want and greed lead to the degradation of others.
It is really up to us!
What kind of world do we want to live in?

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