WebProNews

Tag: Factories

  • Postville Explosion Latest In String Of Fires

    Postville, Iowa saw rescue crews swarm in early this morning after an explosion rocked a laminate plant.

    As of now, it’s unknown what caused the explosion at Norplex-Micarta, though an investigation is ongoing. Three people were injured in the blast; one critically so, and had to be taken by helicopter to Iowa City, where there is a hospital with a special burn unit.

    The building was full of flammable materials which had to be contained by officials so smaller fires wouldn’t start; luckily, the first explosion set off the sprinkler system, which helped fire fighters in their efforts. Investigators estimate the damage at around $5 million. Plant manager Alan Johnson released a statement, saying, “We are waiting for further updates. Our prayers are with our employees and their families.”

    The fire is the latest in a string of explosions around the country; last week, a blast took out a chemical factory in Geismar, Louisiana, killing at least one person and injuring more than sixty. Just a few days ago, an explosion at a nitrogen plant in Donaldsonville, Louisiana killed one person and left seven more injured. A gas leak in Westminster, Colorado injured two and severely damaged several homes last week.

  • Disney Pulls Out Of “High Risk” Countries

    Disney Pulls Out Of “High Risk” Countries

    Disney has given the order to cease production of their licensed items in what they call “high risk” countries; namely, Bangladesh, Ecuador, Venezuela, Belarus and Pakistan. Bangladesh is the first to go, with the latter four losing factories by next spring.

    The company’s decision comes at a time when horrific factory accidents are on the rise; last November a fire at Tazreen Fashions Factory in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, left 112 people dead, and another fire in Pakistan killed 262 garment workers just two months before. With the news of last week’s factory collapse that killed more than 400, Disney made the decision in order to back health and safety conditions.

    “After much thought and discussion we felt this was the most responsible way to manage the challenges associated with our supply chain,” said Bob Chapek, president of Disney Consumer Products.

    Although the news won’t be taken lightly by those who are in favor of big companies sourcing from countries where the jobs are desperately needed, Disney reps say they aren’t averse to working with Bangladesh in the future; however, they will only be working with factories which are in a partnership with the Better Work program. Run by the International Labor Organization, it ensures health and safety conditions for factory workers.

    Image: Disney.com

  • Child Labor in India is Still a Major Problem

    Child labor in India continues to be an alarming problem despite laws that forbid such practices. During a recent raid of three textile factories and a metal processing plant, authorities found dozens of underage children hard at work. Although police managed to round up 26 underage laborers, officials believe that many more may have fled the scene.

    In addition to embroidering women’s clothing, some of the children were working with extremely dangerous acids and metals. When questioned about their jobs, most of the children gave simple, generic answers, responses they’ve been trained by their employers to give whenever inquiries are made about their work.

    Presently, there are believed to be 50,000 children working in New Delhi, many of which are handling hazardous materials on a regular basis. Since poverty is so rampant in the country, children can often be found begging in the streets for change or sifting through trash for a bite to eat. Many of them are lured into the factories by the promise of food and a place to sleep, though often they are sold to employers by their cash-strapped parents.

    India’s charity “Save the Child” has made a concentrated attempt to rescue as many children as possible from the clutches of these opportunistic factory owners. The organization claims to have saved more than 1,300 kids last year alone. However, with an estimated 50,000 still hard at work for employers that take advantage of the country’s poverty, there is still a lot of work ahead.

    According to reports, India is the home to the largest number of child laborers.

  • Chinese Working Conditions Give Apple a Rotten Spot

    According to a recent article, Apple’s clean image has recently taken a hit after The New York Times reported about the conditions in which some of the factories of its Chinese network have been found.

    The employees building the iPad, iPhone and similar devices, labor in very harsh conditions. Reportedly the employees work extremely excessive overtime, they’re often required to work everyday and many live in crowded dorms. Reports have been given that workers stand so long that their legs swell to a point where they can no longer stand.

    One former Apple executive was quoted as to saying:

    “We’ve known about labor abuses in some factories for four years, and they’re still going on, why? Because the system works for us. Suppliers would change everything tomorrow if Apple told them they didn’t have another choice.”

    On the other hand many Chinese residents feel that Apple’s presence in their country is positive. They feel that if it weren’t for the company, the morale of the people would be much worse.

    Recently a few Chinese residents were asked about the conditions of Apple’s factories, here are a few of their translated comments.

    “Apple is definitely a vampire factory. But if you boycott Apple, what would those workers eat without demand (for Apple products)? By then they would even lose their job!”

    “If people saw what kind of life workers lived before they found a job at Foxconn, they would come to an opposite conclusion of this story: that Apple is such a philanthropist.”

    “Without Apple, Chinese workers will be worse off. I hope China can some day soon have dozens of its own companies like Apple, who (only) work on high-end research and development and send manufacturing lines to Africa.”