fyi, we call our subway system in Boston area the 'T'. TM
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Human rights and labor activists are voicing outrage that the Patrick administration could soon award a staggering $1.3 billion subway contract to a rail enterprise owned by the repressive Communist Chinese government, saying the deal would be a “terrible disgrace.”

“If the left-leaning Massachusetts blue staters love to boycott things that break the wrong way on issues of rights, why does China get a pass on all of that?” said Tom Cushman, a human rights activist and professor at Wellesley College.

“If this were an entity that was known to be hostile toward transgendered people or gay people or who violated the rights of minorities, people would be up in arms over a contract like this. But (they) do all those things. They are hostile toward all those people, but China doesn’t register on the screen of the morally outraged.”

Changchun Railway Vehicles — a subsidiary of state-owned China CNR Corp. — is among a handful of finalists vying for one of the state’s most lucrative transportation contracts.

The winning bidder — which could be named as early as Wednesday, when the MBTA board of directors meets — will score a $1.3 billion contract to deliver 74 Red Line cars and to replace the entire Orange Line fleet of 120 cars with 152 new ones.

Cushman said he once took part in a seminar in Salzburg, Austria, years ago when Deval Patrick was general counsel of Coca-Cola.

“He was really concerned about Coke’s human rights record,” said Cushman. “If I had his ear, I’d say, ‘What you did with Coca-Cola’s human rights record was great. Maybe bring up human rights matters now with the Chinese.’ ”

Patrick’s first trade mission as governor was in 2007 to China, where he was urged by state Rep. Byron Rushing to press human rights issues and working conditions. The governor said he would discuss those issues in private with Chinese officials, but he noted that foreign policy was the responsibility of the U.S. State Department.

Charles Kernaghan, who heads the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, a labor advocacy group, said it would be a “terrible disgrace” to sign a contract with the Chinese rail company.


“I think it’s really dumb. It’s wrong. It’s dangerous,” said Kernaghan, who famously exposed Honduran sweatshops used to produce Kathie Lee Gifford’s clothing line.

“That billion dollars is going into the pocket of the (Chinese) government and the way the workers are treated, they have no voice, they have no rights, it’s difficult to improve their wages. They have no right to form a union.”

http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion..._t_bid_derailed