Index

NEWSLETTER 22, Oct 2006 New Resources

"The Bittersweet Working Life in Shenzhen" videos

US-based Sweatshop Watch has produced a collection of worker-made videos as a public education tool for students, workers, and consumers to learn about the lives of factory workers in China. The video's present a first-person perspective of Chinese workers; audiences witness where the workers live, what food they eat, moments of fun, and ultimately are exposed to what they call a bittersweet life. The videos may be watched individually or as the complete series (total running time is 20 minutes). The videos are in Mandarin, with English and Chinese subtitles and are accompanied by a facilitation guide for use during workshops.

Available from sweatinfo@sweatshopwatch.org, suggested donation $US 10

Threads of Labor: Garment Industry Supply Chains from the Workers' Perspective

Threads of Labour consists of 10 essays on working conditions, economic structures and organising strategies related to the global garment industry. The book reports on an action research project, coordinated by Women Working Worldwide, linking ten different organisations in nine countries (Bangladesh, Bulgaria, China, India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri-Lanka, Thailand and the UK). The research sheds light on the structures of the global garment industry and the scope for resistance in those countries. The various chapters provide information on recent major trends in the sector, ranging from supply chain management to the phase-out of the MFA. Importantly, this book explores ways in which workers might begin to develop new forms of organisation suited to securing rights within this context.

Edited by Angela Hale and Jane Wills, published by Blackwell Publishing, UK, 2005. ISBN:1405126388

Quick Fix - Die Suche nach der schnellen Lösung: Was bringen Sozial-Audits den Näherinnen der Sweatshops?

In November 2005 the CCC released a report - Looking for a Quick Fix: How weak social auditing is keeping workers in Sweatshops - that critically assessed the workplace social audit system adopted by brand-named companies and retailers. Now available in German, this report, draws upon the social auditing experiences of approximately 40 factories in eight countries and suggests a number of ways through which the monitoring of codes of conduct can be improved.

Available from INKOTA-netzwerk, Greifswalder Str. 33a, 10405 Berlin; tel. (030) 42 89 111; e-mail: hinzmann@inkota.de; www.inkota.de

Does Monitoring Improve Labor Standards?: Lessons from Nike

This academic study, written by Richard Locke, Fei Qin, and Alberto Brause (MIT Sloan Working Paper, No. 4612-06, July 2006), uses Nike's database on factory audits to explore whether or not monitoring for compliance with corporate codes of conduct actually leads to remediation in terms of improved working conditions and enforced labour rights. The evidence presented suggests that notwithstanding the significant efforts and investments by Nike and its staff to improve working conditions among its suppliers, monitoring alone appears to produce only limited results. Instead, this research indicates that monitoring need to be combined with other interventions focused on tackling some of the root causes of poor working conditions.

Available at: http://www.reports-and-materials.org/
Does-Monitoring-Improve-Labor-Standards-July-2006.pdf

Meaningful Change:
Raising the Bar in Supply Chain Workplace Standards

This reference paper, prepared by Roseann Casey and jointly published by Harvard University Kennedy School of Government and the Friderich Ebert Stiftung, covers the code monitoring initiatives in the apparel, toy, footwear and electronics industries. One conclusion is that while "monitoring is an essential and valuable tool, monitoring alone has not proven to cause positive change for workers at the factory level." The report further argues that monitoring should be "part of a larger compliance process which must be based on legitimate international law and standards and underlying principles, and must include creative and effective remediation strategies."

Available at:
www.fes-geneva.org/reports/BangkokJuni2006/BackgroundStudy.pdf

Haiti - Dominican Republic Export Processing Zones: Taking on Grupo M: EPZs in the Dominican Republic and Haiti

This ICFTU Briefing (Nov. 2005, No. 15) focuses on the day-to-day exploitation of workers in the export processing zones of the Dominican Republic and Haiti who produce clothing for leading international brands. The briefing reports on the anti-union tactics used by manufacturers such as Grupo-M to repress workers. Much attention is given to the Codevi FTZ factory that produces garments for Levi Strauss and Sara Lee. In 2004 an international urgent appeal was issued to support Codevi workers in their long struggle to win union recognition. Union members faced violence and illegally dismissed, but in the end negotiations between SOKOWA (trade union) and management took place. The briefing details how local action combined with international solidarity can make all the difference.

Available at: http://www.icftu.org/www/PDF/LMSDossier15-05HaitiDomre.pdf

Fair Wear Foundation Background Study:
Bangladesh

This January 2006 study from the Fair Wear Foundation (FWF) is part of a series on countries in which the FWF and their (prospective) member companies operate. Earlier studies cover China, India, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Tunisia, and Turkey. The Bangladesh study provides an overall context to assess the limits and possibilities to improve labour standards. This includes an overview of current legislation and relevant court cases regarding the labour standards, health and safety laws and regulations and an inventory of the stakeholder organisations that could be asked to participate in the partner network (part of the FWF structure for verifying compliance with labour standards). The main body of this text was written by Khorshed Alam, from AMRF Society, Alternative Movement for Resources and Freedom Society.

Available at:
www.fairwear.nl/tmp/Background%20study%20Final%202006.pdf

ETI Homeworker Guidelines

In developing countries, as many as 300 million people - more than half of them women - do paid work at home, making a significant contribution to household incomes among predomi-nantly poor families. But despite their importance, few home-workers have legal status as employees and many are vulnerable to exploitation. The Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), a UK-based alliance of companies, trade unions and NGOs, has just produced guidelines for responsible corporate practice in the area of homeworking. All companies with homeworkers in their supply chains are invited to test these guidelines and give ETI their feedback.

Available at: www.ethicaltrade.org/d/homeworkers

ICFTU's Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights

Every year the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) publishes a detailed report on union violations around the world. In 2005: 115 trade unionists were murdered for defending workers' rights, while more than 1,600 were subjected to violent assaults and some 9,000 arrested, according to the Survey. Nearly 10,000 workers were sacked for their trade union involvement, and almost 1,700 detained. Many of these violations concern workers in the garment and sportswear industries and include a number of cases taken up by the CCC.

Available at: www.icftu.org/survey2006.asp?language=EN

Is Fair Trade a Good Fit for the Garment Industry?

The first in a series of discussion papers from the Maquila Solidarity Network exploring critical issues, challenges and debates in the labour rights movement. This paper examines ethical trade and fair trade, fair trade certification and fair trade clothes and other important issues involved in the debates around fair trade in the context of the global garment industry.

Available at: http://www.maquilasolidarity.org/resources/codes/pdf/Discussion Paper 1.pdf