Finally, the multinationals are heavily criticized for driving unduly hard bargains with their host nations and communities, often playing one group or country against another to achieve exceptional concessions.
These bargains may take many forms: rights to retain a controlling interest
for a set period of time; excessive rates of return; local tax concessions
or access to subsidies and other forms of host government support; freedom
from government regulation; or regulations of reduced stringency.
The multinational often achieves a position where it can do pretty well as
it wishes. Some of the most obvious examples of abuses are found in the
field of occupational health and safety and in the general conduct of
multinationals in relation to the safety of the communities and markets
they serve. Free of government regulations, they often end up operating
hazardous factories or dumping hazardous products onto an unsuspecting
public. It has been suggested that safety standards in some multinational
plants in the Third World are decades behind those in the West. The
ever-present danger posed by such plants was vividly illustrated by the
1984 tragedy at the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, which took over
2,500 lives and maimed thousands more.