Tune:  "Esperando” by Santana

            Workers of the world, awaken!

            Workers of the world, awaken!

In 1911 was the Triangle fire.

The factory turned into a funeral pyre.

A hundred forty-six garment workers met their maker.

Now the bosses moved the work to Southeast Asia—

Vietnam and China and Indonesia,

And they expect us all to have collective amnesia.

            Workers of the world, remember!

            Workers of the world, remember!

In twenty-thirteen, a hundred years after,

In Bangladesh came a terrible disaster

Eleven hundred dead at the Rana Plaza,

Eleven hundred children and mothers and fathers.

Their bodies were crushed or they suffocated,

And thousands more were crippled or mutilated.

            Workers of the world, are dying!

            Workers of the world are dying!

Those workers died due to shoddy construction.

All the companies care about is more production,

Production and profit and the almighty dollar.

It’s time for us to rise up and to scream and holler,

To shout to the world of our rage and loathing,

And fight for a better way to make our clothing!

            Arise (arise) and organize (and organize),

            Arise (arise) and organize (and organize).

            Workers of the world, awaken!

            Workers of the world, remember!

            Workers of the world are dying!

            Workers of the world, take action!

            Arise (arise) and organize (and organize),

            Arise (arise) and organize (and organize).

Copyright by Paul McKenna 2015