The stories gathered together in this edition of the newsletter
highlight one of the paradoxes of the garment and sports
shoe industries: that while these industries are constantly
changing, many of their characteristics also continue to
remain the same.
Garment
companies are constantly on the move, relocating and restructuring
their operations. The feature article on Taiwan is a snapshot
of some of the important industry trends in recent years,
from the increase in manufacturing in some parts of Asia,
to the rise of the Asian manufacturing multinationals based
in Taiwan and Hong Kong, and the shift in production to
other Asian countries, importantly China, and to Central
America, and Africa. And as production seems to forever
be moving from one place to another, it is also moving increasingly
into the hands of workers who find themselves in what has
come to be known as the informal economy. The article on
Turkey is a reminder of how the challenges of supporting
homeworkers should be a priority among labor rights activists,
as production is outsourced more and more to such workers
who are the lowest paid, enjoy the lowest level of legal
protections, and have the least job security.
But despite different trends in terms of where garment
production is located geographically or how this work is
structured, be it in factories, small workshops, or in homes,
concerns about the actual working conditions remain the
largely the same. As the article about the fire in the Agra,
India factory that cost 43 people their lives demonstrates,
basic health and safety standards have yet to be met in
many workplaces. And, as the article on the CCC's World
Cup campaign makes clear, working conditions in the sportswear
industry are still seriously problematic. The industry not
only continues to be a venue for the violation of workers'
rights, it also is a cause of substantial environmental
damage, as the report from Tirupur indicates. So, while
the CCC tries to keep abreast of the new challenges presented
by the changing industry, campaigners still remain clearly
focused on the core issues that are of concern to the workers
who produce clothing and footwear and their communities.
This does not mean that strategies stay stagnant within
the campaign. New approaches for pushing multinational companies
to take responsibility for working conditions and new strategies
for facilitating worker empowerment are always being considered.
This issue of the newsletter includes a report on a seminar
that focused on the legal possibilities for pressuring companies
to observe workers rights. Could courtrooms or parliaments
become the next battleground for workers' rights?
Meanwhile, the report from India on the formation of a
CCC Tamil Nadu Task Force reveals some of the organizing
being undertaken by local groups in one country where garments
are produced. Initiatives like these point to the dynamic
nature of the campaign and the activists who continue to
promote an agenda of cleaning up the industry and supporting
workers' struggles.
