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“The Low Price” of the textile discounter KiK – consequences for labour conditions in textile factories in Bangladesh: Difference between revisions
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“The Low Price” of the textile discounter KiK – consequences for labour conditions in textile factories in Bangladesh (view source)
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The auditor arrives at the factory unannounced and starts his audit by talking to the management and asking for some documents. Then he inspects the whole factory with regard of working conditions, safety aspects and health requirements. He also chooses workers for a later interview. This interview is carried out in absence of the authorities of the factory.<ref name="C" /> “This means that they can find out whether the maximum working hours are adhered to and whether their monthly wages, including overtime, are paid correctly.”<ref name="C" /> After this the auditor evaluates the factory and talks to the management about lacking standards and a suitable procedure to reach the conduct wished state. The audit report is send to the KiK home-office. After a while a re-audit takes place where all criticised points are under examination again. | The auditor arrives at the factory unannounced and starts his audit by talking to the management and asking for some documents. Then he inspects the whole factory with regard of working conditions, safety aspects and health requirements. He also chooses workers for a later interview. This interview is carried out in absence of the authorities of the factory.<ref name="C" /> “This means that they can find out whether the maximum working hours are adhered to and whether their monthly wages, including overtime, are paid correctly.”<ref name="C" /> After this the auditor evaluates the factory and talks to the management about lacking standards and a suitable procedure to reach the conduct wished state. The audit report is send to the KiK home-office. After a while a re-audit takes place where all criticised points are under examination again. | ||
This last paragraph describes the way an audit should be and if it functions this way, it is definitely a good instrument to control the code of conduct. The next chapter is based on a research study in 2008 conducted by the society of “Alternative Movement for resources and Freedom” (AMRF), a Bangladeshi NGO, by order of the “Clean Clothes Campaign”. This study was made to reveal the real working conditions in the factories of the suppliers of KiK and Lidl. A team of researchers interviewed 136 workers in six factories. They answered questionnaires and 31 of them were asked in group discussions.<ref name="A" /> Chapter 4 will present the opposite perspective to the announcement of KiK. It shows how the rules and control-audits are tricked and under which conditions the mostly female workers suffer. | This last paragraph describes the way an audit should be and if it functions this way, it is definitely a good instrument to control the code of conduct. The next chapter is based on a research study in 2008 conducted by the society of “Alternative Movement for resources and Freedom” (AMRF), a Bangladeshi NGO, by order of the “Clean Clothes Campaign”. This study was made to reveal the real working conditions in the factories of the suppliers of KiK and Lidl. A team of researchers interviewed 136 workers in six factories. They answered questionnaires and 31 of them were asked in group discussions.<ref name="A" /> Chapter 4 will present the opposite perspective to the announcement of KiK. It shows how the rules and control-audits are tricked and under which conditions the mostly female workers suffer. | ||
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=== <u>4) Bangladeshi labour standards in supplier-factories of KiK</u><br> === | === <u>4) Bangladeshi labour standards in supplier-factories of KiK</u><br> === | ||
The research study in 2008 revealed that the labour standards at Bangladeshi factories of the suppliers of KiK were very bad. The workers aren’t allowed to build up or join a labour party. The sewers have to work regularly overtime, because they need to fulfil their daily goals. These goals are being set so high, that it is not possible to fulfil them in the regular working time. The working time is 9-14 hours a day, which makes 80-100 hours a week. To work overtime is not an option; everyone who says that he/she doesn’t want to do extra hours loses his/her work. They have to work 6 or 7 days a week. The majority of the workers are mostly young women who need their job to contribute to their family’s livelihood. They are really frightened of losing their job. They accept the bad working conditions because they can be replaced every day by a new woman who is keen on this job. In the crowded city the work in the garment factories is the best job a young woman can get. When she loses it she needs to return home to her poor village and suffer even more from hunger. The payment of the workers isn’t based on transparent criteria. The payment depends on subjective criteria like beauty, age or interaction with the headmen. The date of payment is unregularly, often too late (middle till end of following month) and doesn’t match with the working hours they actually performed. Overtime isn’t paid transparently, too. The workers don’t have a contract of labour and don’t get an overview on their working hours and the resulting payment. 85% women are working at the factories. Women are paid worse than men. This is justified by saying that women do the “lighter” work than men. Women who restart to work in the factory after their pregnancy lose their former payment status and must take a newcomer wage. The women are suffering from the discrimination caused by the headmen. Sometimes they are discriminated, shouted or even hit. In cases of illness workers lose their jobs. There is no real health care system available. Health, hygiene and safety requirements are really bad. Drinking water is only available in one out of six factories. A factory canteen or day-care facilities for children are only in use when the auditor comes for a visit. Most of the workers do not have even heard about a code of conduct. But they were forced to say that everything is right in the factory when an inspection occurred. They were threatened with losing their jobs if they would tell the truth.<ref name="A" /> | The research study in 2008 revealed that the labour standards at Bangladeshi factories of the suppliers of KiK were very bad. The workers aren’t allowed to build up or join a labour party. The sewers have to work regularly overtime, because they need to fulfil their daily goals. These goals are being set so high, that it is not possible to fulfil them in the regular working time. The working time is 9-14 hours a day, which makes 80-100 hours a week. To work overtime is not an option; everyone who says that he/she doesn’t want to do extra hours loses his/her work. They have to work 6 or 7 days a week. The majority of the workers are mostly young women who need their job to contribute to their family’s livelihood. They are really frightened of losing their job. They accept the bad working conditions because they can be replaced every day by a new woman who is keen on this job. In the crowded city the work in the garment factories is the best job a young woman can get. When she loses it she needs to return home to her poor village and suffer even more from hunger. The payment of the workers isn’t based on transparent criteria. The payment depends on subjective criteria like beauty, age or interaction with the headmen. The date of payment is unregularly, often too late (middle till end of following month) and doesn’t match with the working hours they actually performed. Overtime isn’t paid transparently, too. The workers don’t have a contract of labour and don’t get an overview on their working hours and the resulting payment. 85% women are working at the factories. Women are paid worse than men. This is justified by saying that women do the “lighter” work than men. Women who restart to work in the factory after their pregnancy lose their former payment status and must take a newcomer wage. The women are suffering from the discrimination caused by the headmen. Sometimes they are discriminated, shouted or even hit. In cases of illness workers lose their jobs. There is no real health care system available. Health, hygiene and safety requirements are really bad. Drinking water is only available in one out of six factories. A factory canteen or day-care facilities for children are only in use when the auditor comes for a visit. Most of the workers do not have even heard about a code of conduct. But they were forced to say that everything is right in the factory when an inspection occurred. They were threatened with losing their jobs if they would tell the truth.<ref name="A" /> | ||
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Khorshed Alam is a leader of the Bangladeshi NGO “Alternative Movement for resources and Freedom” (AMRF). He summarised the inspections in his report for the “Clean Cloth Campaign” that take place as: “During these visits, the factory owners put on a show. Toilets are cleaned. The workers are forced to declare that there is no child labour in their factory, that the working atmosphere is good and that their wages are paid on time. They should also say that they are entitled to take regular holidays, are not forced to work overtime and do not have to work at night. When questioned about their pay, they should say they earn more than they actually do. Workers who are very young or look too young are forced to stay away from work when buyers or auditors visit. In the case of unannounced visits, they are locked in the toilets. There are known cases of workers presenting the real situation to buyers and consequently being dismissed for doing so.”<ref name="A" /> | Khorshed Alam is a leader of the Bangladeshi NGO “Alternative Movement for resources and Freedom” (AMRF). He summarised the inspections in his report for the “Clean Cloth Campaign” that take place as: “During these visits, the factory owners put on a show. Toilets are cleaned. The workers are forced to declare that there is no child labour in their factory, that the working atmosphere is good and that their wages are paid on time. They should also say that they are entitled to take regular holidays, are not forced to work overtime and do not have to work at night. When questioned about their pay, they should say they earn more than they actually do. Workers who are very young or look too young are forced to stay away from work when buyers or auditors visit. In the case of unannounced visits, they are locked in the toilets. There are known cases of workers presenting the real situation to buyers and consequently being dismissed for doing so.”<ref name="A" /> | ||
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=== <u>5) Summary and outlook</u> === | |||
This case study focuses on the globalisation issue in a concrete case. Globalisation leads to the opportunity to buy labour where ever you like for the cheapest price. Big discounter like the German garment discounter KiK use the new opportunities and let their garment products produced in Bangladesh. The Bangladeshi economy benefits from this but also falls in dependence because about 76% of their export-volume today is based on their textile industry. After the phase-out of the “Agreement on Textiles and Clothing” of the World Trade Organisation price-reductions take place to keep the client orders. The workers stand on the lowermost hierarchy level. They have to suffer directly from low prices and very short-term delivery promises. | |||
The installation of code of conduct systems like the one of the KiK company is theoretically a very good idea. I think that these conducts would really help to improve working conditions in developing countries if they would be implemented in reality. The problem of the code of conduct is its voluntary form. The described schedule for an unannounced audit sounds good, but it can be and really is undermined. The research study in 2008 by Khorshed Alam shows that voluntary conducts aren’t useful. He was interviewed by the journalist Christoph Lütgert („Panorama -- die Reporter" of the TV-channel ARD<ref>ARD-exklusiv: Die KiK-Story: http://www.ardmediathek.de/ard/servlet/content/3517136?documentId=5063630 (View: 28.2.2011).</ref>) again in 2010 and he affirms his former statement that little has changed since the code of conduct has been proclaimed. Audits were made, but only at “good” factories or with well-prepared workers that were forced to say all is really nice in the factory. Sometimes auditors are even tricked. | |||
I do support the idea of installation code of conducts but in my opinion it isn’t enough to delegate such inspections once or twice a year to an audit-team that visits some factories. I think a huge company like KiK should have a special and direct interest in social responsibility. They can actively do something for the workers at their supplier factories if they do stress in their contracts that they are willing to pay a higher, “fair” price if the supplier is willing to pay more wage to his workers and strictly follow the rules of the code of conduct. The payment and working conditions need to be controlled permanently by a changing group of KiK management members who stays directly in the Bangladeshi factory. In such a control system it is in fact impossible to present a “show” for one day. The everyday control will lead to the rise of a new feeling of security around the workers. The problem of corruption is avoided by a steadily rotation of controllers. In addition the discounter should conclude a long-term contract with its supplier, so that the job safety can be guaranteed.<br> <br>It would be really good if such big discounters like KiK with their market power decide to follow my propositions but I indeed take a very gloomy view of that. The consequence out of that must be the installation of governmental rules for worldwide trade and production. The government or worldwide organisations like the WTO, the EU or the USA should agree on strict rules for labour conditions and invent an independent powerful audition system. If the biggest industrial nations agree upon these rules of labour conditions they can link their import on the adherence of these rules. In this case the developing countries and their clients would have a direct stimulus to achieve the required aims because otherwise they cannot export or import anything. | |||
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=== <u>References</u><br> === | === <u>6) References</u><br> === | ||
<references /><br> | <references /><br> | ||
<br> --[[User:Reibe|Reibe]] | <br>--[[User:Reibe|Reibe]] 16:33, 28 February 2011 (CET) | ||
= <u></u>Literature review<br> = | = <u></u>Literature review<br> = | ||