Not much has changed from the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire 100 years ago to the catastrophe/mass murder in the Smart Export Garments factory in Bangladesh. They just move the most exploitative jobs around the globe. At the center, or forward edge, of this demonic regime is our old friend Wal-mart.
In the clothing factory in Bangladesh
They locked the doors, no fire escape
They told the workers to remain
At their machines despite the flames
120 workers died
the factory owners hemmed and lied
they paid the workers 20 cents
Don’t know how they pay their rents
Just like 100 years before
When immigrant women made the clothes we wore
Shirtwaist factory fire vaporized the shop floor
These conditions are illegal now and here
So they outsource suffering to some other hemisphere
You’ll find Walmart’s flag unfurled
Where you find the cheapest labor in the world
Christmas gifts made by Asian elves
Sent to the planet’s most enormous shelves
Yes there’s always low prices at Walmart
Always low prices at Walmart
Somebody said
If you don’t like it go work at a different store
Seems he forgot his history and a whole lot more
Like the weekend and the eight-hour day fights
Forgot or never learned about workers’ rights
Seems he forgot most of the story
Guess that’s why he loves his faded glory
Forgot about the women’s vote
And many other victories of some note
These conditions are illegal now and here
So they outsource suffering to some other hemisphere
You’ll find Walmart’s flag unfurled
Where you find the cheapest labor in the world
Christmas gifts made by Asian elves
Sent to the planet’s most enormous shelves
Yes there’s always low prices at Walmart
Always low prices at Walmart
You would never want to see the faces
of those in desperate need of pay raises
Meanwhile you cheaply fill your shopping cart
Always low prices at Walmart
You would never want to see the broken lives,
broken bodies, broken hearts
There’s always low prices at Walmart
And while we’re speaking of things inappropriate
They’re workers, not associates
One of the reasons for low prices at Walmart
Now the checkout lady prays
For food stamps to augment her wage
Employed workers on the dole
A 21st century retail dust bowl
These conditions are legal now and here
No need to outsource suffering to some other hemisphere
You’ll find Walmart’s flag unfurled
Where you find the cheapest labor in the world
Christmas gifts made by Asian elves
Sent to the planet’s most enormous shelves
Yes there’s always low prices at Walmart
Always low prices at Walmart
You’ll find Walmart’s flag unfurled
Where you find the cheapest labor in the world