ＴＥＤのホームページには
をクリックしてください。直接、ここ
で観ることもできます。"the financial collapse happened" とは2008年9月のリーマン・ショックのことを指していると思われます。
【話題】 金融危機の犠牲になる出稼ぎ労働者
【時間】 ３分６秒
【要約】
１．建築業界の暗闇
２．ＵＡＥの出稼ぎ労働者
インド、パキスタン、スリランカ、ネパールから
仲介者に数千ドルを払って過酷な生活環境
３．労働者の99％は私企業に雇われている
ＵＡＥ国内の労働者キャンプの40％が違法な衛生環境、防火基準
労働者の抗議行動
４．金融危機出稼ぎ労働者はすべてを失い、帰国すら出来ない
５．建築のプロとして
倫理面を無視しないで！
金融危機の犠牲になるのは現場の労働者たち
【語彙】
boom-and-bust ：バブル崩壊
migrant ：出稼ぎ
unfolding ：展開
often-indentured ：頻繁な労働契約
complacent ：無関心な
complicit ：加担した、なあなあ
gem ：逸品
at best ：せいぜい
high road ：王道
dying to work ：死ぬほど仕事が必要な
ちなみに仕事しすぎて死んでしまうのは "die from overwork"
【transcripts】
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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)