The deaths continue to mount from the April 24 collapse of Rana Plaza in Dhaka, Bangladesh, which housed five garment factories making clothes for Western brands like Gap and H&M. As of May 11, the death count has reached 1,000 workers.
The tragedy was not caused by nature, but by capitalist employers who forced their workers back into buildings for the sake of profit, even though authorities had told them they were unsafe.
The disaster came just months after a fire in another Bangladeshi garment factory killed hundreds. It too could have been avoided had the employers put in place the most basic of health and safety protections.
Halfway around the world, on April 14, a hellish explosion at the West Texas Fertilizer Company devastated the small town of West, Texas. It killed at least 30 people, including several first responders, and injured some 200 others. The force of the explosion flattened a 50-unit apartment complex, demolished about 50 houses and battered a nursing home and several schools. Dozens of other homes were reported to have been damaged.
In the wake of the disaster, questions are being raised about the failure of government agencies to provide protection to workers at the plant and the people of the town. Early analyses point to a collapse of government regulatory oversight — OSHA had not inspected the plant for 29 years — and bad corporate practices. The company had 1,300 times more explosive anhydrous ammonia on-site than it was authorized to store.
West is a small bucolic town located in central Texas, settled by Czech and German immigrant farmers and incorporated at the end of the 19th century as a railroad town. However, during the era of chemical-intensive agriculture, West transitioned to become home to West Fertilizer, which produces fertilizers from chemicals, including anhydrous ammonia.
A large-scale company harboring explosive chemicals should not be located near residential areas. But West Fertilizer not only produced products important to the farming economy of West, it also provided employment to West residents.
West residents may have assumed they were protected by government oversight of the plant, but essentially there was none. In the United States, there are 16 worker deaths per day because of recklessness on the part of their employers. The criminal punishment for reckless negligence leading to death is appallingly low: At most, a $70,000 fine and six months in jail. There have been very few criminal prosecutions under this law.
The collapse of regulation
The story of West, Texas, follows similar stories of how nonexistent regulation has led to mining disasters; oil well blowouts; airline accidents; outbreaks of food poisoning; the production and sale of dangerous toys and infant formula; truck, bus and train accidents; and corporate fraud.
But if these disasters are so widespread, why do they recur with such regularity? Why can’t the government prevent them?
The short answer is that, despite significant technological advances in accident prevention and a long list of proposed reforms, capitalist governments lack the will or power to change how the system works. The real power is held by capitalists who manage the for-profit system. Particularly since the late 1970s, the capitalist class has been on a rampage to reduce regulations, break up labor unions and eliminate all government interference that might get in the way of “competitiveness” — in other words, profit.
That is the case with environmental regulation as well. Many modern environmental agencies and laws, including the Clean Water and Clean Air Acts, were developed in the early 1970s, when the U.S. ruling class was in turmoil, the rank-and-file labor movement was rising, the U.S. military was defeated in Vietnam and Black rebellions had shaken the country to its foundation. The environmental reforms were largely passed under the Republican Nixon administration, showing that the decisive factor in winning reforms is the organization of the people, not which politician is in office.
When the social movements subsided and a new economic crisis hit in the late 1970s, the capitalist class took it as an opportunity to strike back, and they have been undermining regulations for the last 30 years.
Considering that liberal regulation has largely failed to protect workers and the environment, what is the answer? We must rebuild strong social movements and fighting workers’ organizations that can defend their members’ interests on the job and in their communities.
From Bangladesh to Texas, the capitalist class cuts corners, treats workers as disposable and abuses the environment in an endless effort to secure higher profits. Ultimately, we need not just policy change, but systemic change — a revolution to take the power out of the hands of the ruling capitalist class.
