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On Wednesday, 24 April 2013 in the Savar Upazila of Dhaka, Bangladesh where an eight-story commercial building named Rana Plaza, collapsed. The search for the dead ended on 13 May 2013 with a death toll of 1,139. (image/Creative Commons)
For more than two decades, more and more Americans have become aware of the exploitation and violence associated with much of the globalized garment industry producing more than 95 percent of our clothes. A series of media exposures, including the 1996 revelation that TV host Kathy Lee Gifford had endorsed a clothing line produced by Honduran children in sweatshop conditions, spurred a growing consciousness of labor abuses in many countries.
These exposures highlighted the persistent use of child labor, the absence of living wages that could sustain a decent livelihood for millions of workers, and the prevalence of unsafe working conditions. The latter issue was thrust dramatically into public awareness by the collapse in April, 2013 of Rana Plaza, an eight-story commercial building in Dhaka, Bangladesh that housed a number of garment companies supplying brands like Children's Place, Benetton, Cato Fashions, and the parent company of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger. The collapse of the building, which many workers had warned was unsafe, killed 1,139 workers and injured 2,500 more.
Although many of the major brands made public commitments to rectify such abuses, they continue to shed direct responsibility by contracting with local suppliers and subcontractors in different countries. They can easily move from country to country, supplier to supplier, to keep prices competitive while exerting downward pressure on workers' wages and working conditions.
This dynamic, too, has gained media attention along with the abuses themselves. TV satirist John Oliver focused on it last year in a segment of his show, "Last Week Tonight," while filmmaker Andrew Morgan devoted an entire documentary, The True Cost, to exposing the system and its detrimental effects on millions of people. Both Oliver and Morgan unveiled visual evidence of profound inequity, yet exploitation and deprivation persist while fashion industry executives have become some of the wealthiest people on the planet (e.g. Stefan Persson of H&M worth $28 billion; Amancio Ortega of Zara worth $57 billion).
Global Citizen
Many consumers who become aware of these problems are left with uncertainty as to a responsible course of action. Some have begun to look to fair trade certification as an answer, seeking out businesses that promise adherence to ethical labor and environmental standards. Yet considering the vast preponderance of garments manufactured by major brands, a number of critics argue that for the 40 million garment workers worldwide, a more comprehensive, sector-wide approach is needed.
One possible beginning step for individuals is a basic one: moving beyond the identity of "ethical consumer" to embrace the broader, more responsive identity of global citizen. The former is still closely identified with the products we choose, the latter with an awareness of the social relations defined by a globalized capitalist economy. As a more encompassing term, citizenship entails a responsibility for continuing self-education no matter what one's stage of life may be.
From this perspective, it may well be worth one's while to visit the websites of organizations like the Clean Clothes Campaign and the Asia Floor Wage Alliance. These umbrella organizations represent broad coalitions of trade unions and human rights organizations, and their response to the issues is political. They engage in advocacy, lobbying, and public education to support garmentworkers' rights (including freedom of association and union representation) across the national boundaries that transnational corporations so easily traverse. The Asia Floor Wage Alliance makes a crucial distinction between the legal minimum wage in many of the producing countries and a living wage that enables workers to support themselves and their families with dignity. And these organizations offer ways that individuals can help take a stand in solidarity with workers, including (on the Clean Clothes website) a link that provides information on the corporate behavior of specific labels.
It may be objected that with so many American jobs already lost overseas, our focus should stay squarely on retaining and growing jobs here at home. Yet the garment industry is itself a prime example of outsourcing; it wasn't very long ago that most of the clothes purchased in the U.S. were made by American workers. The same global economics affecting the welfare of workers in Bangladesh or Cambodia affect the welfare of workers here.
More than 50 years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote from Birmingham, Alabama, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality tied in a single garment of destiny." If he had written those words today from Dhaka or Mumbai, Phnom Penh or Jakarta, they'd ring as true now as they ever did.
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For more than two decades, more and more Americans have become aware of the exploitation and violence associated with much of the globalized garment industry producing more than 95 percent of our clothes. A series of media exposures, including the 1996 revelation that TV host Kathy Lee Gifford had endorsed a clothing line produced by Honduran children in sweatshop conditions, spurred a growing consciousness of labor abuses in many countries.
These exposures highlighted the persistent use of child labor, the absence of living wages that could sustain a decent livelihood for millions of workers, and the prevalence of unsafe working conditions. The latter issue was thrust dramatically into public awareness by the collapse in April, 2013 of Rana Plaza, an eight-story commercial building in Dhaka, Bangladesh that housed a number of garment companies supplying brands like Children's Place, Benetton, Cato Fashions, and the parent company of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger. The collapse of the building, which many workers had warned was unsafe, killed 1,139 workers and injured 2,500 more.
Although many of the major brands made public commitments to rectify such abuses, they continue to shed direct responsibility by contracting with local suppliers and subcontractors in different countries. They can easily move from country to country, supplier to supplier, to keep prices competitive while exerting downward pressure on workers' wages and working conditions.
This dynamic, too, has gained media attention along with the abuses themselves. TV satirist John Oliver focused on it last year in a segment of his show, "Last Week Tonight," while filmmaker Andrew Morgan devoted an entire documentary, The True Cost, to exposing the system and its detrimental effects on millions of people. Both Oliver and Morgan unveiled visual evidence of profound inequity, yet exploitation and deprivation persist while fashion industry executives have become some of the wealthiest people on the planet (e.g. Stefan Persson of H&M worth $28 billion; Amancio Ortega of Zara worth $57 billion).
Global Citizen
Many consumers who become aware of these problems are left with uncertainty as to a responsible course of action. Some have begun to look to fair trade certification as an answer, seeking out businesses that promise adherence to ethical labor and environmental standards. Yet considering the vast preponderance of garments manufactured by major brands, a number of critics argue that for the 40 million garment workers worldwide, a more comprehensive, sector-wide approach is needed.
One possible beginning step for individuals is a basic one: moving beyond the identity of "ethical consumer" to embrace the broader, more responsive identity of global citizen. The former is still closely identified with the products we choose, the latter with an awareness of the social relations defined by a globalized capitalist economy. As a more encompassing term, citizenship entails a responsibility for continuing self-education no matter what one's stage of life may be.
From this perspective, it may well be worth one's while to visit the websites of organizations like the Clean Clothes Campaign and the Asia Floor Wage Alliance. These umbrella organizations represent broad coalitions of trade unions and human rights organizations, and their response to the issues is political. They engage in advocacy, lobbying, and public education to support garmentworkers' rights (including freedom of association and union representation) across the national boundaries that transnational corporations so easily traverse. The Asia Floor Wage Alliance makes a crucial distinction between the legal minimum wage in many of the producing countries and a living wage that enables workers to support themselves and their families with dignity. And these organizations offer ways that individuals can help take a stand in solidarity with workers, including (on the Clean Clothes website) a link that provides information on the corporate behavior of specific labels.
It may be objected that with so many American jobs already lost overseas, our focus should stay squarely on retaining and growing jobs here at home. Yet the garment industry is itself a prime example of outsourcing; it wasn't very long ago that most of the clothes purchased in the U.S. were made by American workers. The same global economics affecting the welfare of workers in Bangladesh or Cambodia affect the welfare of workers here.
More than 50 years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote from Birmingham, Alabama, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality tied in a single garment of destiny." If he had written those words today from Dhaka or Mumbai, Phnom Penh or Jakarta, they'd ring as true now as they ever did.
For more than two decades, more and more Americans have become aware of the exploitation and violence associated with much of the globalized garment industry producing more than 95 percent of our clothes. A series of media exposures, including the 1996 revelation that TV host Kathy Lee Gifford had endorsed a clothing line produced by Honduran children in sweatshop conditions, spurred a growing consciousness of labor abuses in many countries.
These exposures highlighted the persistent use of child labor, the absence of living wages that could sustain a decent livelihood for millions of workers, and the prevalence of unsafe working conditions. The latter issue was thrust dramatically into public awareness by the collapse in April, 2013 of Rana Plaza, an eight-story commercial building in Dhaka, Bangladesh that housed a number of garment companies supplying brands like Children's Place, Benetton, Cato Fashions, and the parent company of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger. The collapse of the building, which many workers had warned was unsafe, killed 1,139 workers and injured 2,500 more.
Although many of the major brands made public commitments to rectify such abuses, they continue to shed direct responsibility by contracting with local suppliers and subcontractors in different countries. They can easily move from country to country, supplier to supplier, to keep prices competitive while exerting downward pressure on workers' wages and working conditions.
This dynamic, too, has gained media attention along with the abuses themselves. TV satirist John Oliver focused on it last year in a segment of his show, "Last Week Tonight," while filmmaker Andrew Morgan devoted an entire documentary, The True Cost, to exposing the system and its detrimental effects on millions of people. Both Oliver and Morgan unveiled visual evidence of profound inequity, yet exploitation and deprivation persist while fashion industry executives have become some of the wealthiest people on the planet (e.g. Stefan Persson of H&M worth $28 billion; Amancio Ortega of Zara worth $57 billion).
Global Citizen
Many consumers who become aware of these problems are left with uncertainty as to a responsible course of action. Some have begun to look to fair trade certification as an answer, seeking out businesses that promise adherence to ethical labor and environmental standards. Yet considering the vast preponderance of garments manufactured by major brands, a number of critics argue that for the 40 million garment workers worldwide, a more comprehensive, sector-wide approach is needed.
One possible beginning step for individuals is a basic one: moving beyond the identity of "ethical consumer" to embrace the broader, more responsive identity of global citizen. The former is still closely identified with the products we choose, the latter with an awareness of the social relations defined by a globalized capitalist economy. As a more encompassing term, citizenship entails a responsibility for continuing self-education no matter what one's stage of life may be.
From this perspective, it may well be worth one's while to visit the websites of organizations like the Clean Clothes Campaign and the Asia Floor Wage Alliance. These umbrella organizations represent broad coalitions of trade unions and human rights organizations, and their response to the issues is political. They engage in advocacy, lobbying, and public education to support garmentworkers' rights (including freedom of association and union representation) across the national boundaries that transnational corporations so easily traverse. The Asia Floor Wage Alliance makes a crucial distinction between the legal minimum wage in many of the producing countries and a living wage that enables workers to support themselves and their families with dignity. And these organizations offer ways that individuals can help take a stand in solidarity with workers, including (on the Clean Clothes website) a link that provides information on the corporate behavior of specific labels.
It may be objected that with so many American jobs already lost overseas, our focus should stay squarely on retaining and growing jobs here at home. Yet the garment industry is itself a prime example of outsourcing; it wasn't very long ago that most of the clothes purchased in the U.S. were made by American workers. The same global economics affecting the welfare of workers in Bangladesh or Cambodia affect the welfare of workers here.
More than 50 years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote from Birmingham, Alabama, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality tied in a single garment of destiny." If he had written those words today from Dhaka or Mumbai, Phnom Penh or Jakarta, they'd ring as true now as they ever did.
"What will come out next about Bove?" said one senator as a confirmation vote loomed. "That's precisely the problem with this disaster of a nominee. And why Senate Republicans are rushing through his nomination."
With the U.S. Senate poised to vote as early as Tuesday on Trump administration official Emil Bove's nomination for a lifetime appointment as a federal judge, a third whistleblower came forward with information about Bove's conduct at the Department of Justice and Democratic senators made their latest push to stop his confirmation.
As The Washington Post reported, a whistleblower shared evidence with lawmakers that Bove, the principal associate deputy attorney general and a former personal attorney to President Donald Trump, misled the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding his role in the DOJ's dismissal of corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
During his confirmation hearing in June, Bove told senators that U.S. District Judge Dale Ho granted the DOJ's motion to dismiss the Adams case because it "reflected a valid exercise of prosecutorial discretion."
He denied the existence of the DOJ deal with Adams to drop the charges in exchange for the mayor's cooperation with Trump's mass deportation agenda, saying that "the suggestion that there was some kind of quid pro quo was just plain false."
The decision to drop the charges led several prosecutors to resign from the DOJ in protest.
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), who serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee and condemned Republicans' decision to advance Bove's nomination earlier this month, first received evidence from the third whistleblower, according to the Post. Several other Democrats have also reviewed the evidence, which Booker told the outlet was "significant."
"We have substantial information relevant to the truthfulness of the nominee," Booker said on the Senate floor, calling on Republicans on the committee to review the new evidence.
"Another whistleblower has come forward with evidence that raises serious concerns with Emil Bove's misconduct. Senate Republicans will bear full responsibility for the consequences if they rubber stamp Mr. Bove's nomination."
Lawyers for the anonymous whistleblower told the Post on Tuesday that they had turned over the new information provided by the person to the DOJ inspector general.
Booker was joined by Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) on Tuesday in calling on the DOJ's inspector general to promptly open an investigation into Bove in light of the latest whistleblower complaint.
"In the event these whistleblower complaints and other reports have not already prompted investigations by your office, we urge you to undertake a thorough review of these disclosures and allegations," said the lawmakers.
Two other whistleblowers have come forward in recent weeks, alleging Bove told DOJ lawyers to ignore court orders that would impede Trump's mass deportation agenda. Former DOJ attorneys and federal and state judges have urged the Senate to oppose his nomination.
Schiff condemned Republicans on the committee for attempting to dismiss the whistleblowers' complaints.
"What will come out next about Bove?" said Schiff. "That's precisely the problem with this disaster of a nominee. And why Senate Republicans are rushing through his nomination. Before more disqualifying information can come out."
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) emphasized that the fight to stop Bove's confirmation "isn't over, even when subservient Senate Republicans ignore another whistleblower and shove this character through their new-low, hide-the-ball Senate confirmation process and onto the bench."
Republicans can afford to lose only three votes for Bove and still confirm him with a tie-breaker vote from Vice President JD Vance. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) are expected to oppose him.
Josh Sorbe, a spokesperson for Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the Judiciary Committee's ranking member, said the latest complaint is "another damning indictment of a man who should never be a federal judge."
"Another whistleblower has come forward with evidence that raises serious concerns with Emil Bove's misconduct," said Sorbe. "Senate Republicans will bear full responsibility for the consequences if they rubber stamp Mr. Bove's nomination."
"Our labor organization has every intention to oppose this merger," said SMART-TD, America's largest railroad operating union.
Major unions on Tuesday slammed plans for an $85 billion merger between railway giants Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific.
As The New York Times reported, the proposed merger would have the benefit of creating the first rail network in the U.S. that would span from coast to coast and would run through 43 different states by linking Norfolk Southern's eastern railroads with Union Pacific's western rail network.
On the downside, however, it would represent a massive consolidation of the American rail industry by giving one corporation control of roughly 40% of rail freight throughout the U.S., and it was immediately panned by labor leaders as bad for railway workers.
SMART Transportation Division (SMART-TD), America's largest railroad operating union, said that "our labor organization has every intention to oppose this merger when it comes before the Surface Transportation Board for approval."
The union specified multiple concerns about the deal, including what it described as Union Pacific's "troubling safety record" under its current management.
"Publicly available data from recent years reveals [Union Pacific] leads the industry in accidents, incidents, injuries, and fatalities," the union said. "This trend reflects a broader corporate culture that, in our view, prioritizes aggressive operating ratios over worker and public safety."
SMART-TD also criticized Union Pacific for having "a pattern of disengagement and hostility" toward labor relations, while also expressing concerns that Norfolk Southern, which it describes as having "more progressive labor and operation policies," could adopt Union Pacific's tactics under a merger.
The Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS) raised similar concerns about worker safety and laid out a list of demands that would have to be met before it would give the merger its blessing. Namely, the union said that "safety standards must be strengthened not sidelined, in the name of efficiency," and that "signal staffing must not be cut further." BRS also demanded "direct labor consultation during all phases of integration" and "enforceable safety guarantees and transparency in operational changes."
Just 32% of respondents—including only 8% of Democrats—said they backed Israel in a new Gallup poll.
As the Palestinian death toll from Israel's obliteration of Gaza officially topped 60,000—likely a significant undercount—a Gallup poll released Tuesday revealed that U.S. public support for Israel's war on the Palestinian enclave plummeted to an all-time low, even before the widespread publication of horrifying images of Gazan children dying of starvation.
According to the Gallup survey of 1,002 U.S. adults conducted between July 7-21, 32% of overall respondents said they approve of Israel's war on Gaza launched in response to the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack. That's down from 42% in September 2024 and 50% in October 2023.
Conversely, 60% of overall respondents now disapprove of Israel's war, which is the subject of an ongoing International Court of Justice genocide case filed by South Africa. That's up from 48% disapproval last September and 45% in October 2023.
Those polled were sharply divided along partisan lines. Republican respondents were the only group whose support for Israel's war increased, with 71% approving in the new poll, up from 66% in September 2024 and matching the 71% approval rating in October 2023.f
Among Independents, only 25% said they approved of the war, down from 41% in September 2024 and 47% in October 2023.
Democratic approval of Israel's war dipped into the single digits for the first time, with just 8% supporting the action. That's a precipitous plunge from Democrats' 24% approval in September 2024 and 36% in October 2023.
For the first time in Gallup's survey, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's overall approval among Americans dipped into negative territory, with 52% of respondents viewing him unfavorably. Just 29% of respondents said they had a favorable view of Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza including murder and forced starvation.
The new Gallup poll was published on the same day that the Gaza Health Ministry said the death toll in the Palestinian enclave topped 60,000 amid relentless Israeli bombing, daily attacks on aid-seekers, and a worsening starvation crisis. Most of those killed have been women and children. The ministry said at least 147 Palestinians—88 of them children—have died of severe malnutrition since October 2023.
At least 145,870 Palestinians have also been wounded, and approximately 14,000 others are missing and presumed dead and buried beneath rubble.
Multiple peer-reviewed studies in the esteemed British medical journal The Lancet have concluded that Gaza Health Ministry casualty figures are likely a vast undercount.
A separate poll of New York City Democratic primary voters published Tuesday by Data for Progress and the Institute for Middle East Understanding Policy Project for Semafor found that 78% believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, 79% want the U.S. to restrict arms transfers to Israel, and 63% say that the next mayor of New York City should enforce the ICC warrant for Netanyahu's arrest.
The poll revealed that a +42-point net favorability rating for New York City Democratic mayoral nominee and Palestine defender Zohran Mamdani, -12-point net favorability for Independent challenger Andrew Cuomo, and -62-point net favorability for Eric Adams, who is also running independently.