A few years ago, my eyes were opened to the dark side of the construction industry. In 2006, young Qatari students took me to go and see the migrant worker camps. And since then I've followed the unfolding issue of worker rights.
Pred nekaj leti so se mi odprle oči in spoznal sem temno stran gradbene industrije. Leta 2006 so me mladi Katarski študenti peljali na ogled kampov delovnih migrantov. In od takrat sledim razvijajočemu se problemu delavskih pravic.
In the last six months, more than 300 skyscrapers in the UAE have been put on hold or canceled. Behind the headlines that lay behind these buildings is the fate of the often-indentured construction worker. 1.1 million of them. Mainly Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan and Nepalese, these laborers risk everything to make money for their families back home. They pay a middle-man thousands of dollars to be there. And when they arrive, they find themselves in labor camps with no water, no air conditioning, and their passports taken away.
V zadnjih šestih mesecih je gradnja več kot 300 nebotičnikov v Združenih arabskih emiratih (ZAE) začasno ustavljena ali preklicana. Za naslovnicami, ki ležijo za temi zgradbami, so usode gradbenih delavcev, pogosto pogodbenih. 1,1 milijona njih. V glavnem Indijci, Pakistanci, Šrilančani in Nepalci. Ti delavci tvegajo vse, da bi zaslužili denar za svoje družine v domovini. Posredniku plačajo tisoče dolarjev, da bi bili tam. In ko prispejo, se znajdejo v delavskih kampih brez vode, brez klime in z odvzetimi potnimi listi.
While it's easy to point the finger at local officials and higher authorities, 99 percent of these people are hired by the private sector, and so therefore we're equally, if not more, accountable. Groups like Buildsafe UAE have emerged, but the numbers are simply overwhelming. In August 2008, UAE public officials noted that 40 percent of the country's 1,098 labor camps had violated minimum health and fire safety regulations. And last summer, more than 10,000 workers protested for the non-payment of wages, for the poor quality of food, and inadequate housing.
Čeprav je lahko pokazati s prstom na lokalne uradnike in višje oblasti, 99 odstotkov teh ljudi najame zasebni sektor, zato smo mi enako, če ne celo bolj, odgovorni. Pojavile so se skupine kot je Buildsafe UAE, vendar so številke preprosto ogromne. Avgusta 2008 so javni uslužbenci ZAE ugotovili, da je 40 odstotkov od 1.098 delavskih kampov v državi prekršilo predpise o minimalni zdravstveni in požarni varnosti. Prejšnje poletje pa je več kot 10.000 delavcev protestiralo proti neizplačilu plač, slabi kakovosti hrane in neprimerni nastanitvi.
And then the financial collapse happened. When the contractors have gone bust, as they've been overleveraged like everyone else, the difference is everything goes missing, documentation, passports, and tickets home for these workers. Currently, right now, thousands of workers are abandoned. There is no way back home. And there is no way, and no proof of arrival. These are the boom-and-bust refugees.
Potem pa se je zgodil finančni zlom. Ko so izvajalci propadli, ker so bili tudi oni prezadolženi, tako kot vsi ostali, je razlika v tem, da je pri njih vse izginilo, dokumentacija, potni listi in vozovnice za vrnitev teh delavcev domov. Trenutno, ravno zdaj, je na tisoče delavcev zapuščenih. Ni načina, da se vrnejo domov. Ni poti in ni dokazov, da so sploh prispeli. To so begunci gospodarske rasti in padca.
The question is, as a building professional, as an architect, an engineer, as a developer, if you know this is going on, as we go to the sights every single week, are you complacent or complicit in the human rights violations? So let's forget your environmental footprint. Let's think about your ethical footprint. What good is it to build a zero-carbon, energy efficient complex, when the labor producing this architectural gem is unethical at best? Now, recently I've been told I've been taking the high road. But, quite frankly, on this issue, there is no other road.
Vprašanje je, če kot gradbeni strokovnjak, arhitekt, inženir, razvojnik, če veste, da se to dogaja, ko gremo na gradbišča čisto vsak teden, ali ste samozadovoljni ali sokrivi pri kršenju človekovih pravic? Pozabimo torej na vaš ekološki odtis. Razmislimo o vašem etičnem odtisu. Kakšna je korist od gradnje brezogljičnih, energijsko učinkovitih kompleksov, če se z delovno silo, ki gradi ta arhitekturni presežek, ravna v najboljšem primeru neetično? Pred kratkim so mi rekli, da ne iščem bližnjic, da sem moralen. Ampak, odkrito povedano, glede tega vprašanja drugačna pot ne obstaja.
So let's not forget who is really paying the price of this financial collapse. And that as we worry about our next job in the office, the next design that we can get, to keep our workers. Let's not forget these men, who are truly dying to work. Thank you. (Applause)
Tako ne pozabimo, kdo v resnici plačuje ceno finančnega zloma. Ko nas skrbi naš naslednji posel v pisarni, naslednji načrt, ki ga lahko dobimo, da obdržimo delavce, ne pozabimo teh ljudi, ki resnično umirajo, da bi delali. Hvala. (Aplavz)