For many Asian countries, engagement in the garment global supply chain is a “must” for economic development. As a child, I studied Hong Kong’s development from a fishing village to a financial centre. The city’s road to prosperity inevitably crossed paths with the garment industry. Many young women and men were once employed in the sector until labour costs became too high. Then manufacturers decided to move to southern China. Nowadays, more factories have moved to Bangladesh, Vietnam and Cambodia, where wages are even lower.
To minimize expenses on labour, the garment industry and other labour-intensive industries have a reputation of poor working conditions. I once remember reading an Oxfam publication, “Turning the Garment Industry Inside Out,” which investigates the industry’s impact on the global workforce. An anecdote was taken from the Oral History of Hong Kong Marginal Workers and depicted the harsh life of the family of Mei Chun and Ah Leung, both factory workers. At that time, I did not understand why they complained of having to find four part-time jobs and why they suffered from constant fatigue. But now, I have a better perspective.
During my second week in Cambodia, I accompanied some factory advisors to observe factory conditions. In this country, Better Factories Cambodia is a well-established ILO project. It originated from a trade deal between the U.S. and Cambodia, but now receives support from various aid agencies. The project’s staff members would pay unannounced visits to more than 200 export-oriented garment factories on half-year intervals. The evaluation report would serve as a guideline for factory improvement and international buyers can choose suitable partners from such reports.
An important aspect of the monitoring is to make sure that workers are paid fairly and regularly. Through interviews with the management and the workers, as well as reviews of relevant payroll documents, the inspectors will discuss whether the wage rates and contract types have been set according to legal standards.
Indeed, low-skilled garment workers earn very little for their hard and mundane work. In Cambodia, the basic wage of a regular worker (from 7am to 11am and 12pm to 4pm each day, 48 hours per week, 26 days per month) is a meagre $50 each month. This amount, for sure, is barely enough for survival in the city. Moreover, most garment factory workers are young women from the provinces. Remittances to their home villages will also take away a portion of their wages. In effect, one needs to work overtime to earn a living wage.
Consider a woman who would like to earn at least $100 each month. Her hourly wage is just $0.24. By law, she could earn 150% of her basic wage when working overtime between 4pm to 10pm. So she earns an additional $28.1 each month by working 3 overtime hours 6 days a week. Then, on Sundays, the law requires factories to pay their workers 200% of basic wage. So she earns $15.4 more for working 8 hours for 4 Sundays each month. Lastly, the employer must pay attendance bonus of $5 (minimum) and cost of living allowance of $6 (minimum) each month. In sum, this worker earns $104.5 for working from 11-hour days from Monday to Saturday and 8-hour days on Sundays. The salary of this sort of “formal employment” is much lower than that earned in the more demeaning and risky entertainment industry, where some report more than $250 just from tips and “other services.”
In addition to low pay, factory work can be hazardous to health. As I walked on the factory floor, I was immediately overwhelmed by heat and noise. In some factories, the poorly ventilated factory floor can be as hot as 35oC. The noise of hundreds of sewing machines can be deafening and the facility’s lighting might be insufficient. Workers often sit in the same spot and do the same action (e.g. sewing together a pocket for jeans) for many hours. To get bonuses for meeting production target, some workers even avoid taking bathroom breaks. In the end, the workers’ eyes, shoulders and backs become badly strained.
There are other potential occupational hazards in the garment industry as well. For instance, some workers are hired to iron shirts and jeans before shipment. The environment there is hot and there is a chance for skin burn. In a factory that does dyeing (or washing), workers might deal with corrosive or toxic chemicals. Incorrect usage, improper storage and other sorts of accident can cause much physical harm.
Unfortunately, for many factory workers, their education level is too low to find higher-paid jobs. Therefore, they are stuck with part-time jobs that are just equally as hazardous, such as scavenging or hostessing. Unless more vocational training is provided, they are unlikely to break out from poor working conditions.
For Cambodia, nonetheless, I feel a bit more hopeful. With Better Factories Cambodia, the factory management and international buyers have become more conscious of worker’s health and safety. Furthermore, as the Cambodian people’s general education levels increase (and education is a success story here), more young people will have more diverse job choices. With more experience and expertise, the garment factories may also move towards higher-valued goods. In the past, many countries moved toward prosperity from labour-intensive textile production to higher-skilled electronics manufacturing and further, to the development of commercial services. Hopefully, Cambodia will gradually move forward to that direction as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment