In the Workplace
Standards in the Bulgarian Garment Industry

In May 2001 a new Clean Clothes Campaign was launched in Bulgaria. In October 2001 the new CCC Bulgaria organized a workshop along with the Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation (BGRF) as part of the project "Clean Clothes in Bulgaria and Romania - an Exchange, Education, and Research Project in the Garment/Sportswear Sector." Additional project partners are the Bulgarian trade union Podkrepa, the Romanian coordination for the Balkan of the East European ICFTU women's network, the German women's rights NGO Terre des Femmes, which coordinates the CCC's activities in Eastern Europe, and the French trade union CFDT, a member of the French CCC (the Collectif "De l'ethique sur l'Étiquette").

This meeting was organized by the Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation with the financial support of the Swiss Fondation des Droits de d'Homme au Travail. Bulgarian participants included activists from consumer organizations, women's rights organizations, trade union representatives from the national and local level, researchers, lawyers, labor inspectors, representatives from the ministry of labor, the ministry of the economy, the Bulgarian Garment Exporters Association, and from the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Sofia. Researchers, and NGO and trade union activists from Turkey, Yugoslavia, Romania, the Netherlands, France and Poland also participated.

From the workshop: "10 years ago we had a few garment factories in some major Bulgarian towns, now we have hundreds, but we still have the same number of labor inspectors" -- Bulgarian labor inspector. "We will launch a code of conduct soon" -- chairperson of the Bulgarian Garment Exporters Association.

This first project seminar was the first multi-stakeholder gathering, as well as the first international meeting held in Bulgaria on initiatives to improve working conditions in the garment industry. Participants heard the initial findings of research done by the Bulgarian CCC on conditions in the Bulgarian garment industry, and discussed how to better facilitate regional and European exchange on information related to working conditions in the industry, and how to form coalitions to work toward improving conditions.

During the lively discussions, a strong need for further research and information on the actual situation in the garment industry in the region and above all on international supply chains was expressed. Participants were interested in receiving more information and education on the issue of codes of conduct and the independent monitoring/verification of compliance with such standards. Specifically, they were looking for more information on the OECD guidelines for multinational enterprises and the 1999 resolution of the European Parliament on the conduct of multinational enterprises.

The presentation of the initial results of the Bulgarian CCC's 2001 garment industry research kicked off a very interesting discussion between Bulgarian participants. The research was carried out in two regions in Bulgaria: in the southwest (Sandanski, Petrich, Blagoevgrad, Gotse Deltchev) and in the northeast (Varna and Dobritch). Information was collected from state institutions (customs office, labor inspectorates), trade unions, and by interviewing workers and managers; and by visiting garment factories. The research findings document very serious violations of nearly all basic labor rights (the exceptions were forced labor, and only rare reports of discrimination).

Workers in the garment industry do not have job alternatives. The bad economic situation of many families and of the national economy in general forces Bulgarian garment workers to accept bad working conditions. Usually in the factories it is hot during summer and cold during winter. Even in unionized factories committees on occupational health & safety, which are legally required, do not exist.

As a rule, overtime is not properly accounted for. Workers are paid less for their overtime hours than they should be and work far more than the legal limit. At certain times there is a lot of overtime work to be done. For example, when large orders come in and quotas need to be reached, women reported having to work 27 days a month, with 92-100 hours overtime per month. In most interviews, workers said that their labor contracts include a wage that equals the legal minimum wage (approximately 50 Euros), and therefore the social security contributions they pay are done so on that basis. The wage for the overtime work is paid off-the-record. Wages are paid on a piece rate, but hardly regularly. Wages ranged from between 60 and 200 Euros net per month, including overtime. Generally, there are no unions in smaller shops (less than 300 employees). Some of the bigger production facilities are organized. But management has a very bad attitude towards trade unions. Cases of illegal dismissal of trade unionists were reported. All companies that were investigated produced under the Outward Processing Trade system (OPT) and exclusively produced for export. The OPT system refers to production in which all or part of the material utilized is "temporarily exported" by the buyer to the processing regions. This set up is advantageous for foreign buyers because they avoid paying tax on the entire product when it is re-exported to the EU.

In the future, the Bulgarian/Romanian project participants will intensify their regional cooperation with organizations in the Balkans, Turkey, and Greece, because in the search for lower social standards continuous relocation of garment production takes place throughout the region. Meetings will also be held at the local level in Bulgaria and Romania with trade union activists, workers, NGO activists, researchers, and labor inspectors. The CCC program in Bulgaria will continue its close partnership and cooperation with the other European CCCs and work to raise public awareness in Bulgaria of working conditions, on opportunities of multi-stakeholder initiatives for improving labor standards, and on good practices in the sector. More effort will be put into the identification of mechanisms that will facilitate better implementation of domestic law, for example information exchange, the introduction of new regulations, the signing of collective bargaining agreements (CBAs), using the courts for labor disputes, and monitoring and verification of compliance with labor standards. CCC Bulgaria will publicize the campaign's goals, particularly the CCC model code of conduct in Bulgarian.