Capitalist neglect in infrastructure has cost workers’ lives in the Baltimore Key Bridge collapse. Six out of eight workers on the bridge–all of them Latin-perished when a container ship lost power and steering, crashing into the bridge’s support pier. Their deaths were no accident, but rather the racist indifference of their non-union company, Brawner Builders. In a communist world Progressive Labor Party (PLP) is fighting for, catastrophes may still happen, but much less frequently because our motivation will be for the working class, not profit, which drives Brawner Builders and every other scumbag capitalist enterprise.

Workers’ lives don’t matter to bosses

Brawner was previously investigated and cited four times for failing to protect its workers against falls at construction sites. For their workers on Key Bridge, they failed to provide a safety boat, required when employees are working over, or adjacent to water. Worst of all, Brawner had made no arrangement, in case of an emergency, for contacting their workers on the bridge. 

According to a local newspaper, “…One former construction worker said crew members likely could have hopped in a truck and sped off the 1.6-mile bridge if they’d been reached by phone or radio” (Baltimore Sun, 3-29-24). Failing that, if the required safety boat had been in place that night, it may have been possible to rescue them from the Patapsco River.

State bosses also to blame for deaths

Engineers have said the bridge had sparse protection for its main support pillars. About three minutes before impact, the ship’s pilot had issued an emergency mayday, tried to slow the ship by dropping anchor, and radioed for tugboats to assist. That quick mayday distress signal saved lives, providing enough warning time for others to stop oncoming traffic at both ends of the bridge. However, the eight construction workers on the bridge that night were repairing potholes. 

Before the Key Bridge was built, the original plan, in 1968, was for a tunnel. In fact, construction of approach ramps for that tunnel was started, but then calculations showed that a chunk of money could be saved, and more traffic carried, by building a bridge instead. “It was a terrible place to build a bridge – over a main shipping channel – at the harbor entrance... The Association [of Maryland ship pilots] raised as big a fuss as possible about the whole idea but, as usual, we were outvoted by the politics of the state.” (Captain Brian Hope, Bay Pilot: A History of the Association of Maryland Pilots). 

Another policy behind this tragedy was not using tug boats to help guide cargo ships as they approach the bridge, and go under it. “The 5,000-horsepower tugs, which only minutes earlier had helped guide the ship [Dali] out of its berth at the Port of Baltimore and peeled off, quickly turned back and raced toward the Dali. But it was too late… Maritime experts interviewed by The Associated Press say they could have made a difference if the tugs had stuck by the ship longer, in a position to see it drifting off course and potentially nudge or tow it back in line. Such extended tugboat escorts aren’t required or even customary in Baltimore or at many other U.S. ports, mostly because of the costs they would add for shippers.” (Associated Press 3-29-24). 

Racism

Every construction worker on the Key Bridge was an immigrant. They traveled here, years ago, from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. Now, capitalism has stolen their lives. Construction, under capitalism, is a high-hazard industry with workers exposed to serious risks. Immigrants from Central and South America are over-represented in this industry, making up about a third of U.S. construction workers. Being pushed disproportionately into this dangerous work is a significant aspect of racism.

Another facet of racism, regarding the bridge collapse, has flooded social media. Racists are blaming Black workers. They make an asinine argument – because Baltimore is a predominantly Black city with a Black mayor and a majority Black city council, and because Maryland’s governor is also Black – that the fall of the bridge is rooted in incompetence by Black officials. They call Brandon Scott a “DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) mayor.” On the other hand, it must be pointed out that all politicians – no matter what their racial background – are loyal to the capitalist system for which the profit motive is valued more than life itself. Capitalism is the real root of the Key Bridge disaster. 
It must also be pointed out that Francis Scott Key, for whom the bridge is named, was an enslaver. In fact, he was born to massive slaveholding wealth. As a District Attorney in Washington DC, he prosecuted abolitionists. 

Working class love

There has been massive support for the families of the six workers who plummeted to their deaths from the Key Bridge. Latino Racial Justice Circle quickly raised $98,000, and a City Office of Immigrant Affairs has been given many donations – totaling $418,000 at this time – for the families. 

The love for our class will become a victorious force when millions of working class fighters join the PLP. We can and must defeat the capitalist system. We desperately need a world in which egalitarian communism liberates our class. Yes, some disasters may still occur, but far fewer. For those that do occur, we will handle them with love for our class, not love of money.