| Report on Codes of Conduct in the Garment and Textile Industry Seminar
26th-30th November 2001, Bangkok, Thailand The seminar was jointly organised by DAGA (Documentation and Action Group Asia), URM-CCA (Urban Rural Mission - Christian Conference of Asia) and Bread for All (Switzerland) with assistance from AMRC (Asia Monitor Resource Centre) and HKCIC (Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee). It was held at the Royal Benja Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand. About 35 participants attended from a variety of organisations and backgrounds, such as labour unions/organisations, community based groups, consumer based groups and partners both from within and outside of the DAGA/URC-CCA network. The expectation of most participants was to learn more about codes. Those new to the codes debate/issue sought to gain a general overview and understanding to determine the usefulness of codes to workers and their work. Others familiar with codes wanted to learn from each others experiences and debate issues such as: transparency, monitoring, verification, relationship of the south to consumer based campaigns and linking codes to trade agreement. Aims The general aims of the seminar are: -
to better understand the issues related to labour standards, codes of conduct and independent monitoring, -
to get a good picture of current initiatives in the field of labour rights and codes of conduct, especially in the textile industry and in Asia -
to discuss what local people and organisations in Asia could and should do in order to make codes of conduct a real instrument for workers' empowerment and improvement of their working conditions.
More concretely, the Objectives of the seminar are: 1) To inform and discuss about: -
Labour standards and labour rights-related initiatives (ILO, local laws, etc.) -
codes of conduct in the textile industry (different kinds of code and the problems they raise): content, implementation, monitoring -
the Clean Clothes Campaign (model code, results, etc.) -
the pilot projects launched by the Swiss and Swedish Campaign (independent monitoring)
2) To define together ways and strategies to involve organisations and people of the local civil society in all this process, especially in: -
workers' rights promotion (campaigns, workers' education and organisation) -
independent monitoring (gathering of information, interview of workers outside the factories, elaboration of a complaint system, etc.) -
creation of better synergies between South and North organisations.
The presentations given follow the attached agenda. A summary is provided below: DAY ONE: -
The Welcome, Introduction and Orientation was given by Chan Ben Seng, Rev Josef Widyatmadja & Miche Egger; -
Mapping of Participants - Apo Leung and Kelly Dent -
The Historical Analysis of the Textile Industry was not given as Dr MP Joseph was unable to make the seminar until later due to visa problems. Chan Ka Wai presented a paper on Working Conditions and Labour Rights in the Textile and Garment Industry - CHAN Ka Wai -
Introduction to Codes of Conduct - Micheal Egger -
Panel 1: Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) - Ineke Zeldenrust
Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility - David Schilling
Swiss Pilot Project - Isabelle Scherer -
Panel 2: China Project ) - Jennifer Zhou
Indonesian Campaign Rusti Hutajulu SISBIKUM & Samsinar Sormin Union Leader - NIKE Factory Indonesia
Thai Labour Campaign - Lek -
Evening Workshop - Stories from Workers.
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Report Back by reporters from Workshops (Stories from Workers); -
Asian Experience of Codes of Conduct - Critical Analysis; Stephen Frost, AMRC -
Issues of pricing and Subcontracting - Parry Leung and Vicki Chan , HKCIC -
Role and Involvement of NGOs and the Church - Father Joe Dizon, WAC
Workshops to discuss: The different roles and division of labour of groups/unions in the north and the south in relation to Codes of Conduct - who sets the agenda and how does it involve local partners? How can the various groups/unions work together; Workers Education: What type and how to use for labour organising; Ideas for follow up and future work DAY THREE: -
Report Back from Workshops (workshop reporters); -
Workshops to discuss follow up activities in sub regional groupings: Report Back from the sub regional Workshops -
Discussion and finalisation of draft Statement/Communiqué from the workshop -
Evaluation and final comments -
Closing
Report Backs from the Workshops Day One: Evening Workshop - Stories from Workers GROUP ONE:Report by Sheik Rahaman (Bangladesh) Thailand - Three Unionists from a Thai factory were present and reported that there are 190 members in their trade union. Workers feel that something has changed in their factory after the formation of the union. Employers do not like the union and practices various types of harassment. Employers do not follow codes. Indonesia - Samsinar worked in Nike since 1997. She established another union in 1998. The working conditions are very bad. Code is displayed in the factory but the document is in English. Most of the workers do not read English. This is a common practice and is also common in Thailand. Pakistan - Kamran Sidiq presented a general overview of the textile and garment industry in Pakistan and the social economic challenges that are faced by the industry. In Pakistan, the textile industry employs almost exclusively men while the garment industry employs approximately 60% women. Majority of these women are unmarried and between 18-25 years. Legislation on social standards is largely satisfactory in Pakistan and rather exhaustive. However, there are many loopholes and exemptions with regard to the number of employees of a factory, the sector or employment and the location of the industry. New regulations regarding the form and the exhaustive practice of subcontracting may be required. Implementation and monitoring is a serious problem in both countries. Coordination between Ministries and Departments is poor. GROUP TWO:Report by Stephen Frost (Hong Kong) Thailand - Through belonging to the trade union workers now feel powerful and in a position to counter the bullying of the management. They can assert their rights in the factory.
They asked in return "what do you propose to do with the information that you have collected from us?" This is a very strong challenge to the participants of the seminar - who ultimately benefits from the researches done? China- Workers need to be in the position to be able to bargain and negotiate with the management. Most workers are unaware of codes. Where buyers or monitors/auditors do visit companies, workers answer their questions as instructed by management. Generally workers are scared to go to the Labour Ministry for fear of losing their jobs or resident status (in the area they are working). Sri Lanka - Asoka Weerasinghe presented a paper from a questionnaire of some garment workers. Sri Lanka's apparel export industry has established itself as the leading export industry. It has now replaced tea exports as the leading foreign exchange earning industry, amounting to 42% of Sri Lanka's total value of exports. The recent "Clean Clothes Campaign" which has been launched by some European counterparts may have beneficial effects on the workers in garment factories in Asian Countries like Sri Lanka. While the issues and objectives of the campaign are justified and laudable, if implemented this may cause increase in the cost of production of clothes in the Asian Region. DAY TWO:Workshops to discuss: The different roles and division of labour of groups/unions in the north and the south in relation to Codes of Conduct - who sets the agenda and how does it involve local partners? How can the various groups/unions work together; Workers Education: What type and how to use for labour organising; Ideas for follow up and future work. GROUP ONE:Report by Stephen Frost (Hong Kong) -
Because of the "spread out" structure of the industry - investors in one corner of the triangle, the producers in another corner, and the consumers in the third, the division of labour has become important. -
Can the campaign work across borders? E.g. Can the CCC work in Thailand? Campaigns that exist in Thailand are directed at workers and not at consumers. Can northern campaigns also be aimed at educating the workers in Thailand? -
In Korea, the teachers union had a very good education campaign in schools. -
Bangladesh has a very small consumer market as far as brand name is concerned. There is little interest in working conditions. This is similar for Sri Lanka where the group who consumes brand label products is small. India, brand consciousness is also low. -
In summary, there are 3 different types of countries:
(i) Producer countries with a very small consumer market - Laos, Cambodia, Bangladesh etc
(ii) producing countries with a growing consumer market - Thailand, Indonesia
(iii) consuming countries with small producer markets - e.g. western market, Korea & Hong Kong -
Question is how to have an effective programme that is suitable for all three categories. Hong Kong, for e.g. has a very strong consumer potential but the awareness and concern is very low. -
Can campaigns counter advertising? Nike appears on billboards, and on TV but CCC does not appear in the same volume/level/mediums. -
The right to organise with regard to campaigning - how can the northern campaign ignite interest and awareness in this area. For a long time the focus of the campaign has been focused on the behaviour and reputation of the company. How can we link across these regions a campaign on the right to organise? How to make the campaign on the right to organise as interesting and acceptable as the anti-Nike campaign? One of the starting points is to focus on FTZ. Can we lobby governments to change situation in FTZs to allow the workers to organise? -
Translate campaign work that is consumer focused to campaigns that include the right for workers to organise. -
Seven Commandments for campaigns: -
Campaigns on demand - that originate from workers and are followed through on, possibly with links to other countries, if similar issues. Not determined in North. -
Dynamic relationship - not one group dictating the direction of the campaign -
To be starting from the point where the workers are organised -
Be prepared to work in a coalition -
Respect the trade union's agenda -
Deciding where we fit into the spectrum -
Set a basic menu of strategy
Discussions:
Respecting the agenda of the TU may not be universally applied - eg TU in china GROUP TWO:Report by Asoka Weerasinghe (Sri Lanka) -
Identified the different sectors that are involved and discussed the connection between each of these groups. -
Distinction between education and training -
Training for alternative employment and self-employment is also important. -
Other training skills in relation to management - accounting, conducting meetings, -
Education activities on TU, rights of workers, etc. -
Problem of time - many workers prefer doing overtime than to come for training.
GROUP THREE:Report by David Schilling (USA) -
Understanding that campaigns that have emerged in the north have helped change the national agenda -
The North-South relationship should be restructured, from the experience of the workers; -
equality of relationship - bottom up -
trust level - how accountable are we to each other -
fill the gap between the campaigns and what is happening at the grassroots level
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Co-ordination of groups - groups in the North and South should not have competing agenda -
Homework - need for better information -
Education: more about training - focus on training of trainers -
Need to answer the question of resources -
Who will do the training? -
Focus around workers rights, codes of conduct, labour laws, collective action -
Gender perspective in the training - need to be sensitive to the needs and concern for the workers, not just ratio balance in gender participation.
GROUP FOUR:Report by Ashim Roy -
Various elements involved - no child labour, no forced labour, right of association right of collective bargaining, minimum hours of work, minimum living wage, etc. -
Linking the development perspective and the code of conduct. It cannot be only a CoCo strategy. One southern view is that CoCo should be linked with fair trade between the north and the south. Need to build coalitions with groups that view the CoCo within the perspective of the development issue. CoCo should enable workers to organise. -
Monitoring is another important issue. How to distinguish a good code and a "PR" code. -
Implementation and monitoring should be connected to their supplying and ordering policy. Also the pricing policy. -
What are the criteria the Northern partners should have in the south - the campaign should be complementary to the partners in the south. Where there is no union, the campaign should help the formation of unions. Whether there are unions, the campaign should strengthen their ability for collective bargaining. -
Education should be focused on health and safety, organising, bargaining process -
Pilot project as a process of testing and experimentation. -
Coalition building is important. -
Need to look at the campaign from the perspective of what it can contribute to social transformation.
Discussions:
Measurements - how to develop the set of measurements - how to quantify what is the benchmark. Key Issues and Follow-up The final statement/communiqué from the workshop indicates in a general sense the views of seminar participants. It also indicates broadly areas of agreement -the most critical factor is that workers must be supported in their efforts to organise democratic unions. Codes with their advantages and disadvantages, can only be one tool that may be used to support worker organising, implementation of labour rights, ILO Conventions and for awareness raising, depending on the specific circumstances. Other key issues that arose from the seminar, where further debate and/or learning and/or resourcing is necessary are not covered by the statement/communiqué. Some of these key issues/areas include: -
Generally participants felt that the seminar met most of the stated and ambitious aims and objectives of the organisers and their own expectations. Probably the least met objective was discussion, sharing of experiences and positions on monitoring (including independent monitoring), verification and transparency; -
Further follow up on these areas (above) may be appropriate with those who have experiences in the codes debate issue, either from the perspective of worker organising or monitoring or both. Production of simple resource material could also be useful here for widespread further learning (it is acknowledged that some of this material already exists); -
For those participants new to the codes debate, follow-up, especially within the DAGA/URM-CCA Network, with additional information and further opportunities to meet and discuss how the seminar has helped, if at all, organisations with their work in communities/with workers, along with further identification of issues for discussion/learning. There may be a need to further examine implementation issues surrounding the various types of codes, including the various codes developments such as SA8000, WRAP, FLA, ETI, Pilot Projects etc; -
Controversial areas need to be debated further for example: -
Can organisations/unions who organise also monitor? -
What are the respective roles of Unions and NGO's in monitoring and codes verification? -
What, if any, is the relationship between Codes, the development model, fair trade and trade agreements? -
What campaigns do Asian Unions/NGOs want? How to organise a widespread campaign that involves the north/consumer groups on ILO Conventions such as Freedom of association, the right to organise and collectively bargain? -
The relationship and dynamics between increased informalisation of subcontracting chains, labour laws and codes. This would also include the informal sector and homeworkers, -
Pricing;
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Resourcing issues are critical and need further attention in all areas: organising, worker education and training, train the trainer, code implementation, monitoring and verification; -
Gender issues within the whole codes debate need to be explored further for example are gender issues included in code development, monitoring and verification; -
Codes are one tool in a long chain and complicated with the retailers, companies and brand names in one end and the suppliers and workers on the other end of the chain. Need to bring these two ends to understand each other. -
Worker Education and Training across Asia is critical to workers organising the implementation of labour law, ILO Conventions and codes.
DAGA and URM-CCA would like to express gratitude and thanks to Bread for All for funding this important seminar, for their support in organising it and their contribution to the programme. Written by: Chan Beng Seng (DAGA) and Kelly Dent (TIE-Asia)
December 2001 |
