20、 Obama
B1 Intermediate US 228 Folder Collection
After playing the video, you can click or select the word to look it up in the dictionary.
Loading...
Report Subtitle Errors
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)
    You must  Log in  to get the function.
Tip: Click on the article or the word in the subtitle to get translation quickly!

Loading…

B1 Intermediate US

【TED】Cameron Sinclair: The refugees of boom-and-bust (Cameron Sinclair: The refugees of boom-and-bust)

228 Folder Collection
Zenn published on September 10, 2017

Learning Words

loading

Comments

Loading…
More Recommended Videos

  1. 1. Search word

    Select word on the caption to look it up in the dictionary!

  2. 2. Repeat single sentence

    Repeat the same sentence to enhance listening ability

  3. 3. Shortcut

    Shortcut!

  4. 4. Close caption

    Close the English caption

  5. 5. Embed

    Embed the video to your blog

  6. 6. Unfold

    Hide right panel

  1. Listening Quiz

    Listening Quiz!

  1. Click to open your notebook

  1. UrbanDictionary 俚語字典整合查詢。一般字典查詢不到你滿意的解譯，不妨使用「俚語字典」，或許會讓你有滿意的答案喔