Oct 2003,

The Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) is deeply concerned about working conditions in factories producing clothing for Mr. Price, in South Africa and in other countries in the Southern African region. Since 2000 one of the organisations within the network of the CCC in the Netherlands, the research organisation SOMO, has worked together with research organisations in South Africa to look into the production of clothing in the Southern Africa region, among which production for Mr. Price. SOMO has conducted interviews with factory management, investment boards, labour inspectors, trade unions and workers in 6 countries in Southern Africa: Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana, Mauritius, Madagascar and Malawi.

The results of the research are disturbing. Reported abuses include compulsory overtime, poverty wages, verbal and physical abuse, humiliating body searches, and violations of workers' right to freedom of association.

Reported abuses in factories producing for Mr. Price

The research found that workers producing clothing for Mr Price often work overtime. Some work 7 days a week, on a target system that effectively makes workers put in a lot of overtime without being paid. In a factory in Malawi, for example, the workers are supposed to work a normal working week of 48 hours. However, the target is set so high that the workers can never reach it. This means, the workers have to meet the targets in their "own time". Production finishes 3-6 hours late approximately 7 times a fortnight. This overtime is compulsory and uncompensated. If workers leave the factory prior to the target being met they are fired.

In Lesotho the workers reported that when the production targets are not reached, they have to work unpaid overtime (since management clocks them out at 5pm). Punishments for workers not achieving the targets can include being clocked out earlier the next day, even though they have to remain at work.

The minimum wages are set very low to attract investments and buyers which means one person cannot survive on it, let alone a family. In Malawi, for example, the wages are as low as 8 dollars per fortnight. Workers that were interviewed by SOMO in the different countries all mentioned the hardships of trying to survive on these wages. Many workers have to borrow money to get through the month and their situation is deteriorating in an endless debt cycle.

In Malawi the workers are penalised heavily for making mistakes: they are fined for reporting to work 5 minutes late, for making mistakes (which can cost them half their wages for a fortnight), for talking, and for not reaching the target. In Lesotho workers reported being dismissed without a hearing.

Union organising is very difficult in most of the factories researched. In Swaziland the workers were very afraid to join the union or even talk about the trade union in the factory. In many factories, management is successfully keeping the union out of the factory as workers are afraid of losing their jobs. The management does not " want a union and gets along nicely without a trade union". In some factories, management verbally abuses workers, insults them and sometimes assaults them.

The health and safety conditions are appalling in most of the factories visited. In a factory in Malawi, where workers were sewing shorts for Mr Price at the time of SOMO's visit, the doors were locked once the workers were inside which could be lethal in case of a fire. Workers have different types of health problems caused by dust and bad working conditions. In most countries there is neither health care nor any health scheme at the factories.

In most factories, when workers are sick their wages are cut or they are dismissed. There is no paid sick leave, no accumulated paid leave and no maternity leave. In Lesotho pregnant workers have to "work hard, standing the whole day and doing overtime". Most of the women work until the full term of their pregnancy. Some were even known to try to hide their pregnancies, when they are the sole breadwinner in a family.

The Clean Clothes Campaign urgently calls on Mr. Price to take labour abuses in its supply chain seriously. It is Mr. Price's responsibility to ensure that the products it is selling are made under good conditions, in South Africa as well as in the rest of the world.

For your information, the CCC is a coalition of consumer organizations, trade unions, researchers, human rights groups, world shops, and other organizations that aims to improve working conditions in the garment industry worldwide. The campaign informs consumers in 11 European countries about the conditions in which their garments and sportswear are produced, and cooperates with similar campaigns in North America. Increasingly, consumers are interested in purchasing garments that are produced in factories where good labour standards are observed.

The research reports are available from the SOMO website at www.somo.nl/.