Group items tagged

Sample survey of 2000 garment workers conducted by Banglaore University. 72.8% are women; 63.4% are from lower castes; 76.4% continue to visit their villages; over half paid in cash. High rates of attrition and absenteeism; workers prone to wide range of health risks. Researchers conclude that urban migration is a survival strategy for these workers that doesn't enable them to acquire permanent assets or lift themselves out of poverty.

Saudi Arabia says it will stop issuing permits for Indonesian and Filipino workers, after Indonesia announced a moratorium on Indonesians working in Saudi Arabia. This followed the beheading of an Indonesian domestic worker in June 2011.

"Wage levels in China have increased continually over the last two decades as the economy has developed and the private sector has created new employment opportunities. However, disparities among geographic regions, industrial sectors and between top executives and ordinary workers have also increased significantly, widening the rich-poor gap. Moreover, wage increases for China's lowest paid workers have often been eroded by higher costs of living, and the issue of wage arrears remains a serious and unresolved problem throughout the country."

World Bank note (May 2012) on wage and poverty alleviation trends linked to the garment sector. "A radical shift in apparel production between countries over the last few years has had mixed results in wages and poverty reduction across the developing world. This is particularly true since the end of the Multi-Fibre Arrangement (MFA) and the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) in 2005, which abolished export and import quotas. While most people predicted that China would gain, because of low wages, and all others would lose, many other Asian apparel exporters in fact benefited, such as Bangladesh, India, Vietnam and Pakistan. And not just because of low wages -salaries tended to increase in most exporting countries-but because of domestic policies supporting the textile industry. On the other hand, countries like Honduras, Mexico, Morocco and Sri Lanka experienced falling apparel employment, something that would appear to be bad news as jobs for women and workers most likely to be closest to poverty, were lost. But Mexico's experience suggests that shifting out of apparel may not be necessarily negative news when the country is moving up the value chain into more advanced manufacturing. In fact, this would be a sign of economic development as long as the shift into higher-value goods and services is possible. What matters is for countries to have policies that focus on improving competitiveness in the long-run, but also workforce programs to help workers make the transition. Increasing apparel exports is a good thing for poverty reduction in developing countries but moving up the ladder is an inevitable step in the quest for prosperity. Let's allow the textile industry to keep moving across borders and to help countries lift themselves out of poverty."

Human Rights Watch report, Aug 2011. Workers in Western Cape province who help produce South Africa's renowned wines and fruit are denied adequate housing, proper safety equipment, and basic labor rights, HRW said in a report released today. The government of South Africa, along with the industries that employ these laborers, should take immediate steps to improve their working and housing conditions, HRW said. The 96-page report documents conditions that include on-site housing that is unfit for living, exposure to pesticides without proper safety equipment, lack of access to toilets or drinking water while working, and efforts to block workers from forming unions. While the Western Cape's fruit and wine industries contribute billions of rand to the country's economy, support tourism, and are enjoyed by consumers around the world, their farmworkers earn among the lowest wages in South Africa. The report also describes insecure tenure rights and threats of eviction for longtime residents on farms.

24 September 2012

"The World Development Report 2013: Jobs stresses the role of strong private sector led growth in creating jobs and outlines how jobs that do the most for development can spur a virtuous cycle. The report finds that poverty falls as people work their way out of hardship and as jobs empower women to invest more in their children. Efficiency increases as workers get better at what they do, as more productive jobs appear, and as less productive ones disappear. Societies flourish as jobs foster diversity and provide alternatives to conflict."

New efforts by HP to limit use of temporary student workers

"The verification of supermarket policies with the case study in Morocco shows that there is a clear disconnect between labour standards that supermarkets uphold and the harsh reality for green beans workers. It is recommended that supermarkets exercise proper due diligence by investigating and addressing workplace related problems in FFV supply chains independently and more rigorously. "

Despite growth estimates going down for China (now at 7.4% in Q3/2012), the labour market is still tight and wages are still rising. Growth figures below 8% were previously considered cause for concern, but this article suggests that demographic trends (i.e. impact of the one child policy) are lessening the pressure on the government for job creation. There simply are not as many workers joining the workforce.While the latest slowdown has led to some temporary job cuts, these have not been near the figures reached in 2008-9. All of these factors suggest that further large-scale stimulus measures in China are unlikely.

New WB report on promoting export growth in BGD.

Article from China Labour Bulletin. Looks at labour disputes and related worker-management dialogue in two factories: Citizen Watch factory in Shenzhen and a Tesco supplier in Jinhua. Aims to give an insight into how labour disputes are being resolved in China and how collective bargaining processes are beginning to develop.