Pakistan: The Jute King

Pakistan's entire economy is tightly interwoven with jute, which is second only to cotton as the world's most widely used natural plant fiber. Last week Pakistan's vital jute industry was snarled in a strike of nearly 60,000 workers who are demanding higher wages. Some mills were the scenes of clashes, and others resolutely evicted all workers. The mood was different at the mills of one jute maker, who has retained the good will of his striking workers by continuing to provide them with their regular fringe benefits of inexpensive company housing and rice at below-market prices.

Such shrewdness irked other...

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