Over 5,000 women and men died in the 11th September 2001 attack on the World Trade Center. During the days that followed, US President George Bush called for “infinite justice” and a “crusade”. Also in 2001, 5,912 US citizens died in accidents at work, but there were no presidential calls for justice for the families, or redress for the families who lost their loved ones.

Quite the opposite: President Bush appointed Eugenie Scala, a long-time opponent of protective workplace legislation, to be his top legal adviser on safety and employment issues. A succession of safety laws have already been axed or stalled.

Often-avoidable workplace accidents kill over a million people worldwide each year. A further million die of work-related cancers. Employers are rarely brought to justice, and almost never face the manslaughter or criminal charges that would normally be levelled where negligence, corner-cutting, contempt for the law or apathy led to a loss of life. There is a wilful disregard for human rights and justice at work.

Multinational companies, often with Government complicity, spend millions to evade justice at home. They deny workers their medical records and fair compensation. They victimise those who dare complain. They impose dangerously slack standards at home, and even more dangerously low safety standards abroad.

One of the most appalling examples is Union Carbide’s pesticides plant in Bhopal (India). When it blew up in 1984, an estimated 16,000 died and tens of thousands have developed chronic illnesses since. The 14,824 compensations for death agreed so far average £900. No executive has yet faced any charges. The US courts have refused requests to consider the ongoing compensation dispute in the States.

Another example is UK-based multinational company Cape plc’s asbestos mine and mill near Prieska (South Africa), which dumped asbestos-ridden waste around the village. Hundreds have already died and 6,000 of the village’s remaining 25,000 inhabitants are dying a slow death from asbestos disease, but Cape faces no criminal charges. Instead it has created an £8 million fund to fight off compensation claims and made strenuous efforts to stop any claims being heard in the UK.

Thankfully, these efforts have failed. A UK court heard the first case in April 2002. The international union federation ICEM urged the four major UK investors - Rutland Trust plc, Monpellier Group plc, Fidelity Investment International and M. & G. Investment Management - to settle the victims’ claims.

Ed.- Perhaps the court could also order the companies to remove the dumped asbestos.