Date: 2013
Type: Other
Keynote lecture [by Laura Boldrini, President, Italian chamber of Deputies, at SOU2013]
The State of the Union Conference, 2013, Afternoon session, Migration and citizenship, Keynote lecture
BOLDRINI, Laura, Keynote lecture [by Laura Boldrini, President, Italian chamber of Deputies, at SOU2013], The State of the Union Conference, 2013, Afternoon session, Migration and citizenship, Keynote lecture - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/70955
Retrieved from Cadmus, EUI Research Repository
As I speak rescue workers and volunteers are busy digging through the rubble in Dhaka, searching for the bodies of those still missing aer the factory they were working in collapsed just over two weeks ago. e hundreds of workers who were in the building at the time, over 700 of whom have lost their lives - and the many millions like them in Bangladesh and elsewhere – worked long hours in dangerous conditions for the equivalent of a few dozen euro a month. Bangladesh must, of course, do more to ensure adequate working conditions and better wages, but the primary responsibility for what happened in Dhaka – and for the countless other such incidents in sweatshops around the world – lies with us. e ‘Rana Plaza’ workers produced garments for Western rms, many of which were European. eir ‘slave labour’, as Pope Francis has so aptly described it, was and is the result of Western – and European – companies’ unbridled quest for prots. It was also the result of a tendency, on the part of private enterprises worldwide, to ee from countries where labour laws and government enforcement protect workers. And our governments have, so far, been unable to stem this tide – or have responded to it by dismantling safeguards for workers in their own countries. Are we – is Europe –relinquishing its role at the forefront of the global battle for rights?
Additional information:
This contribution was delivered on the occasion of the EUI State of the Union in Florence on 09 May 2013; This intervention was part of the recorded SoU afternoon session that took place on 9 May 2013 available on Youtube
Cadmus permanent link: https://hdl.handle.net/1814/70955
Series/Number: The State of the Union Conference; 2013; Afternoon session; Migration and citizenship; Keynote lecture
Publisher: European University Institute
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