GWEN IFILL (Newshour): The deadly factory fires that took hundreds of lives in Pakistan and Bangladesh recently are raising questions about working conditions in developing countries.
We turn again to Hari Sreenivasan for the story.
HARI SREENIVASAN (Newshour): Fire flared from the Tazreen Fashions factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh, late into night on Nov. 24; 112 people died in the blaze. And reports quickly emerged of working conditions so dangerous that they never had a chance to escape.
Days of protests erupted over accounts of locked emergency exits, faulty fire extinguishers and, above all, callous management.
MAHAMUDUL HAQUE, Bangladesh (through translator): When the fire alarm was raised, our factory managers told us nothing had happened. Get back to your work. The next moment, flames of fire blew up. Everybody died, everyone. How can we deal with this?
HARI SREENIVASAN: In fact, such fires in Bangladesh have become all too common. The country sends goods all the over the U.S. and Europe. The Tazreen factory, for example, had links through subcontractors to retail giants such as Wal-Mart, Sears and Disney.
But safety is often ignored in the pressure to keep production moving for a global supply chain. The International Labor Rights Forum says more than 600 people have died in Bangladesh garment factory fires since 2005.
And the Tazreen blaze was followed two days later by a 12-story fire in another part of Dhaka. There were no deaths in that blaze.
"Making Work Safety a Priority in Clothing Industry in Pakistan and Bangladesh" (Part-2) PBS Newshour 12/10/2012
Excerpt
SUMMARY: Bangladesh has one of the fastest growing apparel industries with exports estimated to triple by 2020, reaching as much as $42 billion. Hari Sreenivasan talks to Steven Greenhouse of the New York Times about why safety conditions are not improving for workers even as profits increase in nations such as Bangladesh and Pakistan.
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