Contents Introduction Angela Hale 5 Executive Summary 7 Garment Industry Subcontracting Chains and Working Conditions. Research Overview Jennifer Hurley Introduction 9 Section 1: The Research Interests of the Partner Organisations 9 Section 2: The Operation of Subcontracting Chains in the Garment Industry 10 Section 3: Trends in Subcontracting 17 Section 4: Issues for Women Workers in Subcontracting Chains 19 Conclusion 26 SOUTH ASIAN REPORTS Subcontracting Chain in the Garment Sector of Bangladesh and State of Labour Standards. Karmojibi Nari, Bangladesh 1. Introduction 27 2. A Brief Account of the Growth of the Export-oriented Ready-made Garments (RMG) in Bangladesh 28 3. Subcontracting Chain in the Garment Sector of Bangladesh 32 4. Working Conditions at the Production End of the Subcontracting chain and the Extent of Deprivation of the Garment Workers from their Labour Rights 42 5. Conclusion 55 References 56 Women Working in the Informal Sector in SRI Lanka Producing clothing and accessories for export Transnationals Information Exchange - Asia Sri Lanka Introduction 57 Case Studies 63 Methodology 67 Findings 70 Discussions 80 Implications for Organising 85 Conclusions 86 Recommendations 87 Bibliography 88 Subcontracting Chains in the Garment Industry of India Union Research Group India Rohini Hensman and Chanda Korgaokar Industry Overview 90 The Garment Industry in Bombay 91 Research Overview 92 Supply Chain Overview 93 Detailed Information Chains 97 Case Studies 100 Conclusions 100 References 103 1 Subcontracting Chain in Garment Industry of Pakistan Working Womens Organisation Pakistan Background 104 Introducion of Textile Industry 106 Future Scenario of the Clothing Industry 111 Challenges of WTO and MFA 111 Ready-made Garments Industry: Problems and Prospects 112 Knitwear (Hoisiery): Bright Prospects for Export 117 Working Conditions of Women Workers in TNC 119 Trade Unions 120 Most Important and Suprising Findings 121 Subcontracting in Pakistan 121 Levi Strauss 121 GAP 124 Ammar Textiles 127 Highnoon Textiles 127 Massod Textile 128 IRFAN Group 129 Exporters Dealing with Retailers / Brand Names 130 Case Studies 133 Conclusion 134 SOUTH EAST ASIAN REPORTS Subcontracting in the Garment Industry in Thailand Friends of Women Thailand Thai Garment and Textile Industry 135 Goverment Regulations for Supporting Thailands Textile and Garment Industries 137 Methods used in Data Gathering 138 Report on the Information Collected 139 Research Findings 143 Garment Industry Supply Chains and Women Workers in the Guangdong Province China Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee The Research Problem 146 Garment Industry in Guangdong Province and the Role of Hong Kong Manufacturers 146 Three types of garment production chains found in Guangdong province 148 Condition of garment workers and the labor market situation of China 153 Strategies of Hong Kong Garment Manufacturers in Face of MFA Phase-Out and Chinas Entering the WTO 155 Appendices 156 Understanding the International Garment Subcontracting Chain in the Philippenes Philippine Resource Centre Philippines Introduction 164 The Philippine Garment Subcontracting Chain Structure 168 Types of Manufacturing Firms Based on Equity Ownership, Market and Raw Material Flow 175 The Philippine Goverments Preparations for the 2005 End of the MFA 179 2 Subcontracting Chains in Garment Industry in Baguio City, Philippines Women Workers Project Philippines Introduction 183 Results 183 Industry Overview 185 Overview of the Research 185 The Subcontracting Chain 186 Case Studies 188 The Traditional Hand-Weaving Industry in Baguio City: Towards Extinction in a Globalize Economy (The Informal Sector) 189 Conclusions and Recommendations 191 EUROPEAN REPORTS The Rights of Workers in Garment Industry Subcontracting Chains in Bulgaria Bulgaria - European Partnership Association Background 193 Introduction 194 The Garment Industry at the Global and Regional Level 195 The Garment Industry at the National Level 199 Structure of the employment 201 Export - Import: Importance and Influence 201 Multilateral and Bilateral Agreements 206 Factory Level Research 210 Analysis of the Workforce and the Remuneration in the Enterprises 211 Working Conditions 212 Subcontracting 217 Types of Subcontracting Chains and Mapping 219 Relationships Among Workers in the Work Process 227 Conclusion 227 References 230 Implications of Garment Industry Subcontracting for UK workers Women Working Worldwide, UK Camille Warren 1. Introduction 231 2. Industry Overview 232 3. The Effect on Workers 234 4. Research Methodology 238 5. Supply Chain Overview 240 6. Working Conditions Across Subcontracting Chains 245 7. Other Supply Chain Issues 250 8. Conclusions 252 Appendix 254 3 Introduction: Why research international subcontracting chains? Angela Hale, Women Working Worldwide This document presents the outcome of research recommendation from the conference was to take carried out between March 2002 and March 2003 as every measure possible to reverse this process of part of a WWW project entitled The rights of workers informalisation, it was also realised that there was a in garment industry subcontracting chains: a need to understand more clearly what was driving this research, education and action project with workers process and what the implications are for organising organisations in Asia and Eastern Europe. The strategies. research was a collaborative exercise with organisations in Bangladesh, Bulgaria, India, More specifically this research has emerged from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Thailand and Hong previous work that WWW has carried out with partner Kong/China. The main aim was to enable each organisations in Asia. Between 1998 and 2001 an organisation to understand more fully how the education and consultation programme was garment industry operates in their locality and what conducted on company codes of conduct.2 At the time the implications are for workers. Taking local factories codes were becoming widely adopted by companies as the starting point they traced the chain both as a response to public exposure about poor labour downwards through levels of outworking and upwards standards in their supply chains, However no-one was to the retailing and brand based companies which are informing workers of this development. The driving the subcontracting process. They also organisations which participated in the WWW ascertained from worker how pay and conditions vary programme reported that at first workers found it very at different levels of the supply chain. The information difficult to understand where codes were coming is now being used in education and organising work in from, since they had no information about how their both Asia and Europe. workplace linked to a parent company. Some explanation of subcontracting was built into the The need to understand how international education programme, but the organisers realised subcontracting operates has emerged from the work that they themselves usually did not know what the of the participant organisations. All are supporting specific links were between local factories and workers in export industries such as garments. In retailers in North America and Europe. If codes were most cases these are primarily workers in factories, to become a useful tool for workers they needed to be often in Free Trade Zones where trade unionism is able to identify these links. banned. However all the organisations realise that more and more work in the garment industry is being The need for workers to understand the links between outsourced to small factories and workshops. This their workplaces and overseas retailers is matched by reflects a general and contradictory trend in the world the need for organisations in Europe and N America to economy. Whilst economists report greater global know more about the supply chains of retailers they integration, more and more workers, particularly are targeting in campaigns. Labour conditions in the women workers, find themselves increasingly garment industry are now the focus of a campaign dispersed and isolated from other workers in the that stretches across most European countries, same production chain. This is accompanied by a loss known as the Clean Clothes Campaign. One of the of employment status and associated lack of labour activities of this campaign is to support specific rights. In an international conference in 2000 disputes in workplaces in Asia and elsewhere. representatives from trade unions and women Because of the complexity of subcontracting it is often workers organisations all over Asia and Europe difficult to trace the links between workplace and reported a similar experience.1 Whilst the main retailer and to know where exactly the power lies in 5 the production chain. Similar problems confront on the global picture. In the second year of the organisations working with the Ethical Trading project it also includes working together on the Initiative, an organisation set up to work towards the development and piloting of educational materials on properly monitored implementation of company subcontracting chains with workers. codes.4 Companies which are members of this initiative often do not know themselves what happens Although the aim of this research has primarily been to the supply chain beyond a certain stage. to facilitate the local organising and education work of trade unions and labour organisations, taken together In recognition of the importance of understanding it provides a wealth of information for anyone the