19 Oct 2000,
ILO on Labour Practices in the Footwear, Leather, Textiles and Clothing Industries

A new International Labour Organization Report on Labour Practices in the Footwear, Leather, Textiles and Clothing Industries has come out.The report was prepared for a tripartite meeting taking place in Geneva Oct 16-20. There is extensive discussion in the report on voluntary initiatives and their role in raising labour standards in the sector.

press release:

Global employment levels in textile, clothing and footwear industries holding stable as industries relocate Asia's job share is growing fastest Clandestine sweatshops pose risks to industry/workforce Monday 16 October 2000 ( ILO/00/38 )

GENEVA (ILO News)
Employment in the production of textiles, clothing and footwear remained stable at approximately 30 million jobs during the 1990s, after suffering a global decline of 16% during the 1980s. However, during the last decade, the geographical distribution of jobs in the industry shifted dramatically toward Asia, with China emerging as a major producing power in the industry, according to a new report * issued by the International Labour Office (ILO).

The report, prepared for a tripartite sectoral meeting which gets underway at ILO headquarters in Geneva on Monday, says that Asia's share of total employment in the TCF industry rose from 69% to 72% during the period 1995-1998. "Among Asian countries," the report notes, "China is by far the largest employer," accounting for nearly 20% of the global workforce. In 1998, China was also the world's largest exporter of clothing (over $30 billion).

Indonesian employment grew substantially during the period and TCF jobs more than doubled in Bangladesh. Thailand and Sri Lanka also registered gains.

Other countries that saw increases include Lesotho, Botswana, Jordan, Kuwait, Tunisia and Mauritius, although most of them increased from a very low base.

In sheer numbers, India is the second largest employer in TCF industries, but during the latter half of the 1990s the country registered a decline, of about 10% below its 1980 total of TCF jobs. By 1998, "India's share of world textile employment had fallen to less than 10% of the world total," the report notes.

Among the large European employers in TCF industries, "only Turkey saw a substantial rise in employment in the 1995-98 period". Another major employer, Italy, "saw little change in this same period". Countries with the relatively highest losses in textile employment during the last two decades include Poland, Hungary, the UK, Spain, France, Hong Kong (China) and Germany. In the period 1980-98, Russia, which previously accounted for approximately 14% of all TCF jobs, "disappeared from the list of top employers".

Clothing employment in the Americas "fell steadily throughout the 1990-98 period", the report finds. Europe saw a fall in employment numbers of nearly 50% between 1990-98, partly due to a sharp decline in employment in Central and Eastern Europe. However in spite of the large job losses in Europe, "European clothing output fell by only 10% during the 1990s, suggesting a substantial rise in productivity during the period," according to the ILO report.

"In general," the report notes, "the less developed countries were the gainers in textile employment throughout the period under consideration and the more developed countries the losers." The ILO says the trend "is scarcely surprising, given the high labour content in clothing production".

At the end of the 1990s, the report finds, "some of the largest exporters of clothing to world markets were among those with the lowest labour costs: China, Indonesia, Pakistan and Viet-Nam, with labour costs under US$0.45 per hour". Average hourly wage rates in the textile industry "are generally the highest in European countries," says the report, averaging around $10 per hour. Japan is second highest at $9.40 per hour, followed by the US $7.64 and Canada $6.81. Hong Kong (China) reported the highest wage rate among Asian countries $3.50, which was also higher than wages in such European countries as Latvia, Portugal and Slovenia.

"The TCF industries", according to the ILO analysis, "are a good example of globalized industries, in which production and trade change their location or direction relatively easily." This internationalization, the agency says "has partly slowed down wage increases in these industries and kept wage levels below those of other industrial sectors". Delegates to the meeting, which includes representatives of governments, employers and worker organizations from 42 countries, will examine production trends and labour practices in an intensely competitive industry that is increasingly dominated by large multinational groups using global supply networks.

They will address the variety of labour problems affecting the TCF industry. For example, the report notes that in spite of widespread government and industry initiatives, clandestine sweatshops remain common in the textile, clothing and footwear (TCF) industries of both developed and developing countries. Child labour and forced labour are particular problems in these informal enterprises and the use of child labour is widespread in TCF production, especially when subcontracting arrangements make use of home workers.

Nearly half the global workforce involved in the production of textiles, garments and shoes are women and wage inequalities seem to be their universal lot. "Whatever the share of female employment in total employment in these industries," the report says, "one thing seems universal: women's wages in the TCF industries are lower than those of men." In Europe, for example "men in the TCF industries receive wages which are 20-30% higher than those for women".

Much formal sector investment in TCF industries is concentrated in Export Processing Zones (EPZs), which have created many jobs in absolute terms. However the report notes, "there are concerns about the quality of these jobs and the social consequences of zone development". Among the concerns are the abundance of low skill "dollar a day" jobs, offering little scope for career advancement and the absence of social infrastructure (such as sanitary facilities and dormitories) for the large and overwhelmingly female workforce of many zones.

Industries are having increasing recourse to voluntary codes of conduct as a result of pressure from civil society and the media and also in an attempt to enhance valuable brand image, a development which, the ILO report says "testify to the emergence among enterprises of a sense of social responsibility in a globalizing economy". While welcoming such initiatives, the ILO report notes that "for the time being, only larger enterprises are promoting such practices" and the results they yield are far from clear. The report warns that "little is known as yet of the social impact, particularly in the developing countries".

http://www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/sector/techmeet/tmlfi00/index.htm