Indian Manhole Production Photos "Disturb" Con Ed

On the front page of the NY Times section A, there was a photograph of some workers in Haoro, India and an article titled "New York Manhole Covers, Forged Barefoot in India." And in fact, the workers are barefoot, bare-chested, bare-handed, and bare-headed as they work in an iron foundry, making manhole covers for Con Ed and other cities.

The Times explains that a photographer, J. Adam Huggins, who works with the newspaper brought the story to its attention - on a trip to NYC, Huggins noticed (like others have) that some manhole covers say "Made in India" and became curious about the manhole manufacturing industry when returning to India. Huggins narrates a slide show of incredible photographs.

Con Ed told the Times, "We were disturbed by the photos. We take worker safety very seriously," and said it's revising its international work agreements to make sure they include safety requirements. The NYC Department of Environment, which gets most of its manholes from India, via a city spokesman, said "state law requires the city to buy the lowest-priced products available that fit its specifications." And Shakti Industries, which is where the Times' photographs were taken, claims that there have been "no accidents, never ever. Period," though workers' rights advocates suggest accidents are largely underreported.

Some more facts from the article: The melted metal is about 2,500-degrees Fahrenheit, an Indian factory safety act (from 1948) only requires goggles as protective gear and Indian foundry workers are generally paid the equivalent of a few dollars a day, while American workers are paid at least $25/hour.

Photographs of Con Ed manhole cover and NYC Sewer manhole cover by Triborough on Flickr, who also notices that some city manholes are made in China

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on November 26, 2007 6:00 PM

Comments [rss]

Kojak

I hear Indian Manholes are tighter than Chinese manholes. We should stay with Indian production so no one too portly will fall in if the manholes break.

bklyngrrl

#4, brilliant comment! ConEd does it again. Great PR.

JenChungsBaby

As a New Yorker who would have to pay the price for more expensive manhole covers if they were made elsewhere, I say keep making them in India.

Toby von Meistersinger

OK, put the foundry in upstate somewhere where they need jobs. That would make it more palatable for those in Albany. Make the locally produced goods a must buy for government and let the people in India get jobs as amazon.com customer service reps since competence and language skills are not a requirement for that Indian job.

DaLata

*Chinda =China.

DaLata

ever since american companies have gone into struggling economies, like India, we've seen a surge in immigrants from those respective countries to the US. never mind providing employment for otherwise unemployed paupers in those countries. India is a rising economy as is Chinda, two countries who do not adhere to sensitive labor laws of the US.

sure, let's bring these jobs to the US so that people can be paid minimum wage,have little to no job security while management sits back and uses fancy words like "supply and demand" and "downsizing"

JRod5417

Toby- You forgot pedestrians falling through sidewalk grates.

Elderta

babyhitler makes a good point.

Vidiot

Where are the manhole cover doormats made?

togglegoggle

They seem to love the fact that they have work. And that in 40 years, their economy will leap ours. Our billionaire mayor should at least send them some shoes though.

I agree with a poster above that some hipster 'craftsman' here in NYC would love to make the covers though - so authentic and reeeeeaaal, man.

citychik

"...as they work in an iron foundry, helping manhole covers for Con Ed..."

They help manhole covers?

Not James Frey

edNYC - love it. Do they still make license plates?

books

'set up a foundry somewhere in the city' - lol, yeah thats what NYC needs, to return to its industrial roots, start opening factories and steel mills so the man hole covers can say made in NYC...we can be the next Pittsburgh!

matty

"What is really needed is to set up a foundry somewhere in the city that could make the manholes, employ people who need jobs and provide a benefit to the local economy. Also add a clause to the rubbish "low bid" regulations giving preference to an in city/state company since it would do something good for the city and state. Plus, the things don't have to be shipped half way across the planet."

seconded.

westernqueensland

I noticed these beautiful artifacts of globalization a couple of years ago. I think that they are beautiful. When I lived in Berkeley(CA)they had a foundry that made Kenworth Engine Blocks. It stunk. Check out the photo on my webpage: http://sgregoire.googlepages.com/tadeuszko%C5%9Bciuszkoskywaymanholedawn

babyhitler

don't you people understand why you live so well? it's cause other people don't.

maevemealone

Sure their cost of living is less in India, but so is there standard of living. These workers make $3/day and live in diseased shanty town shacks. The cost of living in anything remotely close to something you would be comfortable stepping foot in is remarkably close to Western prices.

Såkandulæredet

What happens to these workers if the city takes their business elsewhere, or decides to spend a little more for manhole covers made in places with stricter safety regulations where the workers aren't treated like this?

I'm just playing devil's advocate for a second, but would these poor people be out of work? Would this factory shut down until they could find some other buyer? I'm not really sure.

Mostly I think the pictures disturb ConEd because they are mad that someone released these photos to the NYTimes, so that now they might have to pay more for their manhole covers.

I don't know about safety issues regarding the actual manhole covers themselves. They are just iron discs with a stamp on them. The cover either fits, or it doesn't fit. The safety issues are for the workers in the factory making them.

ed_Extinct

here's an idea:

bring the labor back to the united states and have convicted felons make manhole covers.

Toby von Meistersinger

Well add something else to the list of what doesn't bother ConEd.

For those of you keeping score at home:

Blackouts

Gas Explosions

Steam Pipe Explosions

Electrocuting Pedestrians

Electrocuting Dogs

Having livery cabs monitor trouble spots

High salaries for the CEO

Plus, think of the lax environmental standards and of course the energy needed to ship the bloody things from overseas. Plus there is always the safety issues for things made in countries with lesser standards of quality control.

What is really needed is to set up a foundry somewhere in the city that could make the manholes, employ people who need jobs and provide a benefit to the local economy. Also add a clause to the rubbish "low bid" regulations giving preference to an in city/state company since it would do something good for the city and state. Plus, the things don't have to be shipped half way across the planet.

Not James Frey

Seeing how your sausage gets made

isn't always so pleasing.

But workers toiling in less-than-safe conditions

is a problem that won't soon be easing.

DaLata

"Some more facts from the article: The melted metal is about 2,500-degrees Fahrenheit, an Indian factory safety act (from 1948) only requires goggles as protective gear and Indian foundry workers are generally paid the equivalent of a few dollar a day, while American workers are paid at least $25/hour."

that's the whole point of outsourcing products. let's also consider the variances between the cost of living in the US in contrast to India. That doesn't take away from the conditions the workers operate in are anything but deplorable. Still, why isn't the Indian government getting involved?

in an earlier post on this site, it was mentioned that the city is cracking down on street merchants selling illegal goods. but here, you have goods that are purchased and utilized legally though the distributor makes their workers toil in horrendous conditions.

i smell a huge increase in electricity rates guys.

p.s. did the Times reporter confer with those workers? Maybe working barefoot and shirtless acted as some sort of stimulus. Or maybe they were really big fans of Queen.

Såkandulæredet

Obviously these workers are paid an extremely small amount, but how much is a few dollars a day worth where these people live? How far does that go? They are able to (barely) scrape by a living with that amount of money so the cost of living is much less over there. It's not the same as being paid a few dollars a day in the US. Of course they should be paid a lot more. I still hate how these news stories never equalize the wages that these people earn and instead just do exchange rate conversions.