Nearly A Century After Triangle Shirtwaist, International Workplace Standards Fail Workers

Locked exit doors trap workers in a fiery disaster. Hundreds die. Some leap from windows multiple stories high, suffering severe injury. This is the story of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City in 1911. It is also the story of the Ali Enterprises fire in Karachi, Pakistan last month. The fire and the resulting deaths demonstrate a need for more stringent and impartial regulation of international labor standards in our global economy.

As Declan Walsh and Steven Greenhouse of the New York Times write in a Sept. 19^th article, the organization charged with inspecting and certifying Ali Enterprises is Social Accountability International. SAI is largely funded by corporations, and typically certifies low-cost suppliers as meeting international workplace safety and health standards. University-funded auditing groups that perform a similar purpose contend that corporation-supported auditing organizations have a profit-driven motive that incentivizes certification of suppliers that might not actually be in compliance with basic standards. The tragedy in Karachi is one terrifying example of the consequence of the unreliable nature of their certifications.

Fortunately for American workers, the tragedy at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory spurred legislative action that improved workplace standards and inspired the growth of a worker-led movement for better pay and conditions. Hopefully, the Karachi fire will lead to similar standard changes in the global workplace. Those who live in advanced countries that are purchasing sweatshop products need to stand up and demand the enforcement of international labor standards. It is a tragedy that, in an effort to make jeans “more efficiently,” a company eliminated safety provisions and caused three hundred men and women to lose their lives.