In India, Union Carbide was a high-profile multinational company. A measure of that prominence was attributable to the role UCC and UCIL had played in the "Indianization" of industry in that country. UCC had been one of the first multinationals to invest in India, demonstrating willingness to offer expertise, readiness to comply with Indian laws, and acceptance of a gradual approach to developing Indian consumer markets. Union Carbide's investment had gained widespread good will or so they thought.Whatever UCC contributions to national industrialization goals, the political arguments expediently recast as ...view middle of the document...
Hazardous chemical industries take advantage of more lax safety regulations, which often results in disaster. Mining industries exploit the wealth of the country for only a few rich landowners. Since many of these natural resources are in finite supply, developing countries have little hope of relying on them for future security once they are used up. Manufacturing and service industries introduce poverty to many areas by attracting more people to a factory than they can employ. They typically pay much less to third world employees than to Americans, which suggest a double standard of labor value. If they pay wages to third world employees that are higher than what indigenous businesses can pay, then they attract the best workers, which hurt employers in surrounding businesses. Also, all of the above types of businesses destroy the local culture by introducing an American climate.Along the way it had become rather convenient for some Indian officials to ignore the goodwill and contributions that UCIL had made to India during more than a half century of doing business there. The government of India brought a suit against Union Carbide in the United States, even though the disaster occurred in India and the nation has a well-established court system based on the same legal principles as those in the United States.
