New York Manhole Covers, Forged Eight thousand miles from Manhattan, by barefoot, shirtless, whip-thin men forging these prosaic pieces of the urban jigsaw puzzles.
See NYT video slideshow below
From Ladles of Molten Metal
Why??? They are the "Low Cost Leader":
New York City's Department of Environmental Protection gets most of its sewer manhole covers from India. When asked in an e-mail message about the department's source of covers, Mark Daly, director of communications for the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, said that state law requires the city to buy the lowest-priced products available that fit its specifications. Workers at foundries in India are paid the equivalent of a few dollars a day, while foundry workers in the United States earn about $25 an hour.
After watching this disturbing video of dangerous worker conditions and lack of basic worker safety or fire protection, Indian officials answered:
At the Shakti Industries foundry, "there are no accidents, never ever. Period," Mr. Modi said. "By God's will, it's all fine."
A. K. Anand, the director of the Institute of Indian Foundrymen in New Delhi, a trade association, said in a phone interview that foundry workers were "not supposed to be working barefoot," but he could not answer questions about what safety equipment they should be wearing.
So much for quality, environmental protection or work safety.
