It is easy to forget. Most of us work in buildings where safety can largely be taken for granted, and fire drills are annoying disruptions in which a security official seizes the chance to talk loudly and repeatedly on the public address system, stopping us from doing any work. 历史容易忘却。如今，大多数人的工作场所安全基本有保障，安全演习变成了一种讨厌的例行公事。安全官员抓住消防演习的机会，通过广播反复大声讲话，吵得我们完全无法继续工作。

In the past, that was not true of US and European textile factories. The collapse of the Pemberton mill in Massachusetts in 1860, and the fire at Triangle Shirtwaist factory in Manhattan in 1911 each killed about 145 workers, mostly women. That helped to establish the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union and led to health and safety laws. 但在过去，美国和欧洲的纺织厂里却不是这般光景。1860年的马萨诸塞州彭伯顿(Pemberton)工厂大火和1911年的曼哈顿三角纺织厂(Triangle Shirtwaist，该厂生产一种当时的流行服装——荷叶边下摆的女士衬衫——译者注)火灾分别导致约145名工人丧生，其中多数为女工。后一起事件促成了国际妇女服装工人联合会(International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union)的成立，以及相关卫生和安全法律的出台。

The collapse of the Rana Plaza textile factories should be a watershed for Bangladesh. But the deaths of more than 400 women, who made garments for retailers such as Primark and Mango, will not be enough. Previous disasters, such as the Tazreen Fashions fire last November, in which at least 110 workers died, did not change attitudes. 内有多家纺织厂的拉纳大厦(Rana Plaza)倒塌，应该成为孟加拉国工厂安全的一道分水岭。但400多名为Primark和Mango等零售商生产成衣的女工之死，将不足以改变局面。去年11月的Tazreen Fashions制衣厂大火，造成至少110名工人死亡，但已经发生的此类灾难，一直未能起到促使孟加拉国改变对工厂安全态度的作用。

The only thing that could is concerted action by western retailers and brands to enforce the conditions for higher standards on Bangladesh’s 5,000 ready-made-garment factories. Without that, it will fail to overcome lack of will, poor governance and corruption, and will squander its best chance of strong growth. 唯一可能起到作用的是，西方零售商和品牌共同努力，要求孟加拉国5000家成衣制衣厂提高安全标准。否则，孟加拉国将难以克服意愿不足、治理不力和腐败的问题，并搞砸这个实现强劲增长的绝佳机会。

The first thing western companies need to do is the simplest: to stay in the country and to keep providing jobs for women, not to withdraw because they fear being tainted by association. Despite everything, the industry provides better-paid jobs than the alternative – working on rural farms – and has helped to emancipate women. 西方企业的第一个任务是最简单的，那就是：留在孟加拉国，继续为女性提供就业岗位，不因担心受到牵连而撤出该国。不论如何，服装业提供了相对务农而言收入更高的工作岗位，并一直在推动孟加拉国女性的解放。

“In principle, the chance for women to get out of the home and to gain money, status and independence, which used not to happen, is welcome. The last thing we want is for a boycott to stop that,” says Rachel Wilshaw, Oxfam’s ethical trade manager . 乐施会(Oxfam)道德贸易经理雷切尔•威尔肖(Rachel Wilshaw)称：“为女性提供机会，让她们做到过去无法做到的事情——走出家门，获得收入、地位和独立，这种做法在道义上是受欢迎的。我们绝不希望这种做法因为一场抵制而终止。”

It has also helped Bangladesh as a whole. As with China, basic factory jobs have been crucial in improving living standards. Although still poor compared with other south Asian economies, its poverty rate has fallen from 60 per cent of the population in 1992 to about 30 per cent, according to the World Bank. 西方服装企业在孟加拉国设厂，还使该国整体受益。同中国一样，基础性工厂就业岗位一直对提高民众生活水平具有重要意义。世界银行(World Bank)数据显示，尽管孟加拉国仍然比其他南亚经济体贫困，但该国贫困人口占总人口比例已从1992年的60%降至30%左右。

Poverty fell rapidly in the first decade of the century as western companies shifted production from an overheating China to south Asian countries including Bangladesh, Vietnam and Cambodia. “The light is starting to shine ever brighter on Bangladesh,” wrote McKinsey, the consultants, last year. 本世纪头十年，随着西方企业将生产从经济过热的中国转移至孟加拉国、越南和柬埔寨等亚洲南部国家，孟加拉国的贫困率迅速下降。咨询公司麦肯锡(McKinsey)去年写道：“孟加拉国的前景越来越光明。”

With wages rising in China, Bangladeshi workers – whose minimum wage is now $37 a month – are a bargain. The World Bank estimates that productivity in well-run factories is on a par with China, while wages are about a fifth of China’s average. Bangladesh also has capacity – its 5,000 garment factories compare with 2,000 in Vietnam and 250 in Cambodia. 相对于工人工资不断上涨的中国，工人最低工资目前为每月37美元的孟加拉国是个划算的选择。世界银行估计，孟加拉国运营良好的工厂生产率与中国不相上下，而工人的工资只有中国平均水平的五分之一左右。孟加拉国也有充足的产能：该国拥有5000家制衣厂，高于越南的2000家和柬埔寨的250家。

Many factories, however, are not at all well-run. Bangladesh estimates that it has 7m child workers; fires and collapses are common; working conditions are routinely poor; labour organisers are victimised. Apparel companies and suppliers told McKinsey that only 50 to 100 of the 5,000 factories had “very high” compliance standards. 然而，孟加拉国许多工厂远不能用“运营良好”来形容。据孟加拉国估计：该国雇佣了700万名童工；火灾和建筑垮塌是家常便饭；工作环境通常十分恶劣；工会组织者屡遭处罚。麦肯锡从服装企业和供应商处获悉，在5000家工厂中，只有50至100家秉持“很高”的合规标准。

That creates an opportunity. The gulf in wages and capacity between Bangladesh and its rivals means it can raise standards and improve conditions without threatening its competitive advantage. “Bangladesh could still be a low-cost country without being exploitative or dangerous,” says Peter McAllister, executive director of the Ethical Trading Initiative. 这蕴含着一个机遇。比起其他竞争对手国，孟加拉国低得多的工资和高得多的产能意味着，提高安全标准和改善工作环境，不会威胁该国的竞争优势。道德贸易联盟(Ethical Trading Initiative)执行董事彼得•麦卡利斯特(Peter McAllister)称：“即便孟加拉国不再对工人极尽剥削、让他们在危险的环境中工作，该国仍将是一个低成本国家。”

The second thing brands and retailers must do is band together. The factories they directly oversee in export zones tend to be better run. But they exert weak influence over the contractors and subcontractors that comprise most of the industry. Retailers use auditors to inspect suppliers but lack the information or power to stop abuses. 各西方品牌和零售商的第二大任务是：一致行动。这些企业在孟加拉国出口区直接监督的工厂往往运营更为良好，但它们对主导孟加拉国服装业的承包商和分包商施加不了多少影响。西方零售商通过审查机构审查供应商，但这些零售商缺乏制止恶习所需的信息和能力。

Rana Plaza shows the difficulties. Planning and building controls are lax in Bangladesh and there is no simple way to check whether a factory is properly built. Raising building standards is beyond the power of any single company – it needs concerted action. 拉纳大厦事故让这些难题展露无遗。孟加拉国在规划和建筑方面监管松懈，也没有简便的办法能检验工厂的建设是否合规。任何一个公司都无法凭借一己之力提高建筑标准——它们需要共同行动。

Collectively, companies could push the government to overcome the obstacles of corruption, hidden army influence and factory owners who double as politicians. They hold the buying power in a sector that makes up 13 per cent of gross domestic product. 如果共同行动，西方企业可以敦促政府克服种种障碍：腐败、军队暗中影响、以及工厂老板兼任政界职务。毕竟，这些企业对一个占孟加拉国国内生产总值(GDP)13%的行业拥有购买力。

The third imperative, which comes least easily, is to open the doors to unions. Bangladesh has a dismal human rights record in relation to organised labour. Aminul Islam, a prominent activist, was abducted and killed in April, having previously been harassed and beaten. 西方企业的第三项任务最不轻松：向工会敞开大门。孟加拉国在对待工会组织方面的人权记录十分糟糕。去年4月，著名活动人士阿明•伊斯兰(Aminul Islam)被绑架并杀害，他生前曾被骚扰和殴打。

The refusal of managers at Rana Plaza to listen to workers’ concerns was one cause of the disaster. Cracks had been noticed in the eight-storey building and some other businesses had closed, but the textile managers told them to go inside. 拉纳大厦那些工厂的经理对工人的担忧置若罔闻，是导致灾难发生的原因之一。有人曾注意到这座8层楼的大厦墙体多处开裂，大厦内其他一些企业已经关门停业，但那些纺织厂的经理让工人继续在大厦里工作。

John Sifton, Asia advocacy director of Human Rights Watch, notes that retailers such as Walmart tend to “look upon organised labour as a pain in the ass”. In Bangladesh, however, labour activists – and workers themselves – can be a better source of information on potential problems than managers. 非政府组织人权观察(Human Rights Watch)亚洲宣传主管约翰•西夫顿(John Sifton)提到，沃尔玛(Walmart)等零售商往往“将工会视为眼中钉”。但在孟加拉，从劳工活动人士以及工人那里，比从工厂经理那里更容易获取有关潜在问题的信息。

The industry can play a big role in getting Bangladesh over the hurdle to being a middle-income country. It is also a force for equality in a Muslim country where female emancipation is contested. 服装业能够起到很大的作用，帮助孟加拉国突破阻碍、跻身中等收入国家之列。在一个女性正在争取解放的穆斯林国家，服装业还是推动性别平等的一支力量。

But it is unacceptable for hundreds of workers to die in preventable industrial tragedies that were largely eliminated a century ago in other countries. It must stop. 然而，容忍数百名工人被本不应发生的行业惨剧夺去生命，这让人无法接受。在其他国家，发生这种惨剧的可能性在一百年前已被基本消除。孟加拉国的这种情况必须改变。