|
|
|
|
 |
Summary:
"Child Labour and Labour Rights in the Sporting Goods
Industry: A Case for Corporate Social Responsibility"
Social Sector Group, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in New Delhi
- may 2002
Introduction
This study seeks to (re)examine the issue/problem
of child labour and other labour standards in the football industry
in India. This builds upon the previous studies done on the
industry in the recent past.
A study on the status of child labour in the industry was
done in 1998 by V.V. Giri National Labour Institute (India).
In June 2000 the India Committee of the Netherlands (ICN) published
the report, 'The Dark Side
of Football - Child and Adult Labour in India's Football
Industry and the Role of FIFA'. This study showed that the contractual
agreements between FIFA and the football manufacturing companies
who use FIFA and FIFA-owned logos are violated with regard to
almost all the labour rights that are an integral part of those
contracts.
As a follow-up to these reports and the FIFA-supported monitoring
and rehabilitation programme started in 2000 by the Sports Goods
Foundation of India (SGFI), it was deemed fit to re-examine
the current status in the industry. ICN contracted the services
of the Social Sector Group, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
in New Delhi to do an objective assessment of the ground realities.
Study Methodology
The study was conducted during February-April 2002 in the
football producing areas of Jallandhar and Batala, Punjab. It
involved a survey of 450 households (261 in Jallandhar and 189
in Batala), 20 stitching units in Jallandhar and visits to a
few stitching centres in Jallandhar. Nearly 50 per cent of these
households were involved in football stitching as their primary
occupation. A whole range of stakeholders were also interviewed
and their opinions sought on the state of labour standards in
the industry. A stratified sample of households from Jallandhar
was also surveyed to allow for a comparative analysis of the
dynamics in the level of labour standards between 1998 and 2002.
The quality of the inspection system and the rehabilitation
of child stitchers were also assessed.
Findings
The main findings of the study are clubbed into the following
sections: Findings from the field - Implementation of Labour
Standards, Quality of the inspection system and Rehabilitation
of the child stitchers. These will be published at the end of
May 2002 on the website www.indianet.nl.
1. Findings from the field
-
Implementation of Labour Standards
These findings cover Child Labour, Wages, Gender Discrimination
on Wages, Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining,
Employment Relations (including sub-contracting) and Health
& Safety.
-
Child Labour
Nearly 30 per cent of all football-stitching households
surveyed had at least one child employed in football stitching.
The proportion of such households was 36.50 per cent in Batala
and 24 per cent in Jallandhar.
The activity status of children indicates the following:
-
Only Working (OW): Jallandhar
- 9.17 per cent, Batala - 7.32 per cent; in 1998, this
was 9.67 per cent for Jallandhar.
-
Only School Going (OSG): In the 5-14 age
group, Jallandhar 42 per cent and Batala 30 per cent.
-
Working and School Going (WSG):
Jallandhar - 46.33 per cent;. compared to 1998, there
has been a decline in the WSG category children in Jallandhar
from 64.23 per cent . This decline has been mainly offset
by an increase in the proportion of the OSG category of
children in Jallandhar.
The problem of full time workers is found to be more of
a rural phenomenon in Jallandhar and urban in case of
Batala.
Gender dimensions of the problem of child labour reveal
that while 17 per cent of all girl children in Batala
belong to the OSG category, the corresponding figure for
Jallandhar is more than double (38.64 per cent).
It is clear that child labour has far from disappeared
from the football industry in India, although some decline
seems to be there in the proportion of the WSG category,
as mentioned above, and also a concomitant rise in the
share of the OSG category.
-
Wages
There are large differences between the wages received
by workers in the stitching centres, registered units and
the unregistered units for the same work. The wages of stitchers
at the centres range between Rs. 22-28 per ball. Registered
stitching units pay around Rs. 14 - 20 per ball of an average
quality. However, the workers in the unregistered home-based
stitching units only get a wage rate of Rs. 11 per ball.
Field discussions indicate that on an average a stitcher is
able to stitch four balls per day (of quality II) in the registered/unregistered
units.
The sports goods industry is marked with seasonal variation
in the wage rates. In the peak season, it is estimated that
the average earnings per day for a stitcher in the peak season
are: Rs. 88-112 at the stitching centres (>7 workers);
Rs. 56-80 at the registered stitching units (<7 workers);
and Rs. 44 at the unregistered home-based stitching units.
The average earning for stitchers in the registered stitching
units would be Rs.58 per day (based on sample data that on
an average a stitcher earns Rs. 14.50 per ball and is able
to stitch four balls per day).
During the slack season the stitching rates generally come
down to 50-60 per cent of the peak season wage rates in both
registered and unregistered units. Considering the current
minimum daily wage of Rs. 82.08 in Punjab for unskilled (agricultural)
labour as a benchmark (as there are no official minimum wage
rates for stitching of footballs), stitchers at both, registered
and unregistered stitching units, still earn an income which,
on an average, is far below the official minimum wage.
-
Gender discrimination on wages
There are vast gender-wise wage differences. This issue
does not arise at the stitching centres as no women are employed
at these centres. However, it is relevant to the stitching
units (which are essentially home-based) and to the unregistered
units. In both types of units women get about Rs. 5 to 6 for
stitching half of a football (known as Khokha). The discussions
with women indicate that the wages received by female stitchers
is generally Rs. 5 less per ball than what men get at the
stitching units. On an average, a women stitcher at such units
is able to earn two-thirds of her male counterparts working
in the centres.
The stitchers at the stitching centres are not required to
provide any stitching material, while the home-based workers
are. They get a piece rate of Rs. 10-11 per ball. The cost
of the stitching material is around Rs. 2 per ball. The net
piece rate for the female workers is thus only Rs. 8-9 per
ball.
The wage gap between male and female stitchers further widens
during peak seasons. The wages for the same work during the
peak season goes up to Rs. 20 per ball at the stitching units
from an average of Rs.14. However, discussions with female
workers at these unregistered stitching units indicate that
the increase in wages for them does not exceed Re.1 per ball.
Thus, even though the wages are paid on a piece rate basis,
equal remuneration for the same work does not seem to be the
practice in production of footballs.
-
Freedom of association and collective bargaining
The focus group discussions with the stitchers' community
in the sample areas indicate that there are associations of
stitchers in nearly one-third of the football stitching areas.
The workers are not satisfied with the style of functioning
of these associations, as the associations do not negotiate
for a wage increment. The manufacturers come to the 'negotiating
table' with their fixed ideas in mind and revised wages are
announced in the name of bipartite wage negotiations. Normally
the exporters unilaterally increase the wage rates by Re.
1-1.50 per ball every year. Effective collective bargaining
thus does not take place.
-
Employment relations (including sub-contracting)
As far as employee- employer relations are concerned,
it is easier to establish such relations in the stitching
centres. The greater the level of contracting and/or sub-contracting,
the lesser the degree of established employment relations.
Most often the stitchers are not even aware of the names of
their principal employer. The contractors do not reveal this
information to the stitchers. For the stitchers, in the case
of both the registered and unregistered home-based units,
the contractor is the principal employer. Benefits such as
bonus, overtime and regular health check-ups are only given
to a limited number of stitchers in the stitching centres;
in the registered and unregistered units, these benefits are
hardly ever provided. A few companies do give a monthly salary
and a guaranteed bonus, as well as overtime rates.
-
Health and Safety
A number of adult stitchers complained of backache and
eye-related problems. Among other reasons, about 10 per cent
of the households included for re-survey in the present study
(which were earlier surveyed in 1998), reported that continued
morbidity due to occupational health hazards had forced them
to move out of football stitching as their primary source
of income. There is no public primary health care system and
there is a complete lack of support for advanced medical treatment
from the contractors and exporters.
2. Quality of the inspection system
A monitoring program was launched by the SGFI in January 2000.
The program runs through a mechanism of internal monitoring
by companies themselves and external monitoring by the auditor
- Societe General de Surveillance (SGS) - on the basis of a
list of stitching units provided by the companies. The monitoring
is restricted to the members of the SGFI (32 exporters at present).
The membership of SGFI covers 95 per cent of all exporters of
sports goods.
It was found that at present there are approximately 2900 stitching
units being monitored by the SGS. However, focus group discussions
with the stitchers in the sample areas indicate that many units
are yet to be brought under the inspection and monitoring umbrella
of SGS. The home-based workers who are not a part of the registered
stitching units or centres are left out of any protective provisions.
The focus group discussions with villagers and stitchers in
the sample villages reveal that the number plates indicating
the SGFI registration number are generally fixed on those households:
-
which are completely dependent on the sports
goods industry for their livelihoods
-
which are not involving children in stitching
of footballs
-
where all stitchers are above the age of
14 years.
It is clear that there is a possibility of missing out on a
large number of unregistered units. The same discussions indicate
that of the total households that are involved in the stitching
of footballs, roughly one third are registered. This also includes
those households where production is done for exporters who
are not members of the SGFI
The existence of a relatively large proportion of unregistered
home-based stitching units reflects the still rather limited
penetration of SGFI's inspection and monitoring system of football
production in Jallandhar and Batala.
The SGS has a total of 8 to 10 teams comprising of two members
each and on a given day, every team visits approximately 4-6
units, which may be located in different localities or villages.
Taking an average value of five stitching units/centres visited
by every team, it may be inferred that on a given day approximately
40-50 stitching units/locations are inspected. Assuming that
randomness is maintained in the selection and the next day a
list of other units is drawn, it is estimated that the possibility
of visiting the same unit would come only after 60 days, rather
than six weeks (or 42 days) as indicated by SGS. SGS maintains
that ever since the project on social protection was launched
and they entered as the monitoring agents, the frequency of
inspections has been lowered from three weeks to four weeks,
to the current six weeks. The focus group discussions held with
adult stitchers in the sample areas indicate that inspections
take place once in six months. It is clear that the frequency
of visits to the same unit/centre is rather low. With such a
low frequency, it is likely that the standards reinforced by
inspection would have relapsed by the time of the next audit.
Discussions in the relatively high concentration zones of football
stitching indicate that the initial rigour in the inspection
is gradually waning. Sometimes the inspections are reduced to
casual visits to the contractor and the information is taken
from them rather than from the stitchers. In nearly 20 per cent
of the cases, the contractors working for specific exporters
happen to be the internal monitors of the companies.
The SGS inspection does not cover a number of labour standards
that are part of the contracts between FIFA and sporting goods
companies. These include absence of child and bonded labour,
equal opportunity and remuneration, freedom of association and
collective bargaining and the payment of at least local minimum
wages. However, only the issue of child labour is the focus
of this inspection. A systematic attempt to monitor and verify
other labour standards is missing.
3. Rehabilitation of the child stitchers
Supported by UNICEF and Save the Children as members of the
SGFI Steering Committee, SGFI has appointed CRRID to organise
self help groups, to focus on social mobilisation and finally,
to phase children out of football stitching. The SGFI has adopted
4 out of 27 National Child Labour Project (NCLP) schools, run
with financial support from the Ministry of Labour, Government
of India. The funds are provided by the Government of India
and the SGFI manages them.
The rehabilitation activities of SGFI are centred around the
urban areas. Though there is a high enrolment rate, the managers
of the rehabilitation centres feel that the problem of retention
of children is far more severe. In terms of basic infrastructure
and drinking water facility, these centres appear to be better
placed. On the other hand, nutritional support, provision of
teaching and learning aids and vocational training at these
schools are inadequate. Efforts towards institutionalising the
process of awareness generation, parent-teacher interaction,
convergence with health care service providers (both public
and private) seems to be some of the good initiatives by the
SGFI.
Lack of efficient government educational facilities in rural
areas does not provide any option to the parents except to put
the children to work. There is a low rate of rehabilitation
of working children compared to the figure of nearly 200 children
that were found working during audits by the SGS monitors. Overall,
the NCLP schools managed by SGFI are covering only 50 per cent
of the children from the sports goods industry.
Conclusion
Although progress has been made with regard to elimination
of child labour and provision of better wages through monitoring
and setting up of stitching centres and units, the actual labour
conditions do not yet reflect the FIFA agreement with sporting
goods companies. Child labour is prevalent and other labour
standards are still grossly violated. The inspection system
not only shows severe shortcomings with regard to its present
mandate (elimination of child labour), but also lacks the mandate
from SGFI to monitor all rights at work that are part of the
present contract between FIFA and the sporting goods companies.
The presence of UNICEF and Save the Children in the SGFI Steering
Committee does not seem to make a difference in this respect.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
