Please proofread my essay

*71*0 01p

00My name is Kristina and I would really appreciate some help to proofread my essay on workers' conditions in the garment industry in India. Any help would be very much appreciated! 02br
00Kristina 02br
00 What Civil SocietyDoes to Make the Garment IndustryFairer AMinor Field Study Conducted in about the Conditions in theGarment Industry and 02br
00 HowCivil Society Actors Work to Improve Them 02br
00 1 Introduction02p

01h2

001.1 International Trade02h2

01p

00Internationaltrade is growing and so is global inequality. The profit from internationaltrade tend to be divi ded in an unfair way, where countries and companiesin the North earn money because of the fact that producers in the South workunder poor conditions and with a salary that is not enough to support theworkers and their families. According to classical free trade theory each country should produce andexport products that they are relatively good at producing , so called comparativeadvantage . Theyshould then trade with other countries that are relatively good at producing otherproducts , a win-win situation. But inreality international trade is rather a win-lose situation where trade producespoverty for one part and wealth for one part, instead of wea lth for both parts. 02br
00[1] This way the growinginternational trade has produced greater inequality instead of equality. 02br
00Ankie Hoogvelt describ es how factories today can be built in almost any part of the world because of the low cost oftransporting products and information about them. This has led to thatcompanies place their industries where it is cost-competitive. In the post-Fordist society Hoogvelt describes it’s no longer the workersthat buy the products the factory theywork in produces.To pay the workers a decent wage is thus not necessary for their own market , as it’ s in the North . This might have a hugeimpact on the workers’ conditions in places that export. There is a risk that they are exploited just to givecompanies in the North world higher profit . 02br
00[2] 02br
00 is one of the countries inthe South that is exporting to the North’s markets. One major export item isgarments. The readymade garment sector is a sector in which is seen to have a high degree of comparative advantage. Here can compete with low wagesand cheap prices. But this is possible due to bad working conditions thatwouldn’t be accepted in factories in the North. 02br
00Today, product life cycle for garments has decreasedas consumers in the North buy clothes more often due to more cheap clothesavailable. This has lead to that modern garment brands have to be flexible.Therefore they tend to outsource garment manufacturing to independentfactories, rather than having their own factories. This has lead to a relationbetween the brands and factories that is characterized by: 02br
02br
00- “A fast time to market; 02br
02br
00- Few vertically-integratedrelationships (i.e. between brands and their suppliers’ suppliers); 02br
02br
00- Downward price pressure asbrands strive to meet the needs of discount retailers; and 02br
02br
00- Short-term relationships asbrands move sourcing around to find lower prices.” [3] 02br
00These factors have had a negative impact onworkers’ conditions, as improved conditions aren’t a priority. 02br
00[4] 02br
00 In the1990s the first “sweatshop” scandals where exposed by labour rights groups. “Sweatshops” is a term used for garmentfactories that violate human rights by low wages, long working hours and/orinhumane working conditions. The first accusations against global garment brands were met by denial s of responsibility by the globalbrands . They meant that they couldn’t be held responsible for the working conditions in factoriesthey didn’t own. But labour right groups continued their work and eventuallymanaged to get garment brands to include labour standards i nto their sourcing requirements . 02br
00[5] Consumershave also gained awareness about the conditions in the garment industry and havebegun to demand improvements by the global brands. 05002br
00Most large brands have nowintroduced “codes of conduct” to ensure that their suppliers follow certainlabour standards. 02br
00[7] The se codes are voluntarilyadopted and are used to show the consumers what the c ompany does to take social responsibility. S upporters see codes ofconduct as an alternative for civil society to protect workers’ rights. 05100 This should be done throughthe market power of informed consumers. A basic problem with codes of conductis that the workers are usually not being heard in the process. Also, it is difficult to control if the codes are followedby the producers. The codes are also often too vague to make a real difference. [9] 02br
00There are also laws in that regulate theconditions for garment workers. The laws prohibit too long working hours, childlabour, bounded labour etc. The problem is that it seems like they are notalways followed by the factories. 02br
00[10] 02br
00Trade unions and Non GovernmentalOrganizations (NGOs) in are also working to improve the conditions for workers in the garment industry. Trade unions can makeimprovements through strikes and collective bargaining. Unfortunately, thepossibilities for trade unions to influence are limited. Most workers are notmembers of any trade union. For the workers it can be a risk to join unions asthreats and harassments occur. Also, in many factories trade unions are notpermitted. Another aspect is that trade unions in are political and thusenforces their members to decide and show which political party they support.Corruption and too few employed is a reason that it’s difficult for the unionsto live up to their promises. That in turn makes worker trust less in that theunions can make a difference. NGOs can influence in different ways; throughinformation campaigns addressing consumers or politicians or through moredirect help to the workers like education and information about their rights.For local NGOs, a problem can be that they can’t address the overlayingstructures like international competition. 02br
00Fair t rade is an other initiative to reduce unfair trade relations. It’s built uponthe assumption that there are consumers who are willing to pay a higher priceif that gives the workers better conditions. The hope is that fair trade can be a way to avoid theproblems that NGOs and trade union face as well as the problems with codes ofconduct. 02br
00[11] 02br
00But there are still reports about bad conditions forthe workers in the garment industry in . Both excessive workinghours, child labour and bounded labour has been found in by Fair Wear Foundation. 02br
00[12] There is thus a need tounderstand what possibilities and problems different actors have to improve theconditions.02p

01h2

001.2 Aim and research questions02h2

01p

00Theaim of this essay is to understand the ways civil society work to improve theworkers’ conditions in the garment industry. This is done by find ing out what the workers’conditions in the garment industry are like and what is being done to improvethese conditions so that the trade will be fairer. The research questions are: 02br
02br
00- Are the conditions in the garment industry in Tirupurstatutory and fair? Are the workers satisfied with the current conditions? 02br
02br
00- What possibilities and problems are there for civil societyactors in Tirupur to improve the workers’ conditions? 02br
00Thesequestions are interesting in different ways. There is a lack of studiescomparing different ways of working to improve the workers’ conditions in thegarment industry. The answers can help us understand by whom workers’ conditionissues are addressed, what problems they have and how the problems can beovercome.02p

01h2

001.3 Delimitations02h2

01p

00Toanswer my questions I have conduct ed a field study in . is one of the biggestgarment exporters, and Tirupur is a main city for producing garments. M y essay will be delimited tothe situation in Tirupur. However, I hope to be able to draw some generalconclusions about the garment industry. 02br
00I will delimit my research topresent time, and to some extent the future. I will also delimit my studies tothe export industry, leaving out the factories producing for the local market.I also delimit my research to actors within civil society (even though I use abroad definition). I don’t discuss, for example, politicians’ possibilities toinfluence. I’ve also limited my research to the local civil society in Tirupur,excluding global and international civil society actors. 02br
00The essay focuses on what iscurrently being done to improve the workers’ conditions rather than what couldor should be done.02p

01h2

001.4 Aboutthe Garment Industry in and Tirupur02h2

01p

00A big share of the garments produced in is being made in the state of Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu is situated in the mostsouthern end of .The most important garment producing region in Tamil Nadu is district, in which we find Tirupur. More than 80% of the garments produced inTirupur are made for export. Numbers from the year 2000 te llsthat 28. 2% of the total Indian apparel export is made in Tirupur. 02br
00[13] 02br
00The garment industry is verymuch visible in Tirupur. There are approximately 4000 factories in Tirupur;many of them rather small. Hundreds of thousands of people are currentlyworking in the garment industry in Tirupur. All over the city textiles andgarments are transported between the different units in the process. Thegarments produced in Tirupur are mainly knitted garments. The first step in theprocess is to purchase yarn and then knit the yarn into cloth. This is done ina knitting unit. After that, the cloth will be transported to a dying unit (ifdying is needed) for dying. After that the cloth wil lgo through the compacting process where the cloth will bedried and straightened. The next step is the production unit where the cloth iscut, stitched, labelled, checked, ironed and packed. If needed, the garmentswill also be taken to printing units, embroidery units, washing units ,compacting units etc. Finally the garments are shipped to theirdestination. 02br
00[14]02p

01h2

001.5 Outline of the Thesis02h2

01p

00After this introduction about theproblem of this essay and the situation in and Tirupur I will answer my researchquestion one at the time. I’ll first present the methods I used to answer thequestion and then continue with the theoretical background and the results. 2 Are theConditions in the Garment Industry Statutory and Fair ?02p

01h2

002.1 How toAnswer the Question02h2

01h3

002.1.1Field Study02h3

01p

00I gathered myempirical material during an eight weeks long field study in Tirupur, one ofthe main cities for producing garments in India, situated in the state of TamilNadu in southern India. The field study was conducted in January to March 2008.02p

01h3

002.1.2Interviews02h3

01p

00Most of the empiricalmaterial about the current working conditions was gathered through interviews.One advantage by using interviews, rather than handing out question forms, isto have a possibility to get unexpected results. Interviews also give apossibility to follow-up questions. 02br
00[15] All interviews were semi-structured with some issues that Iwanted to discuss and some questions I wanted answered, but with room forfollow-up questions and for the interviewed to address issues they foundimportant. 02br
00M y study was not big enough to make a representative selectionfrom the population of workers that I was interested in. Because of that I alsoused material from local and international NGOs to find out what the workers’conditions where like. But I also conducted 29 interviews with workers and fourwith management representatives (usually the owner). The interviews was a way forme to not only find out what the conditions are for the workers but also whatboth the workers and the management feel needs to be changed and who theybelieve can make that change. These interviews are not claimed to bestatistically representative but rather a way of finding the views andattitudes among the workers and owners. 02br
00The interviews with theworkers are mainly of a respondent character but also contain some informantelements. I made the selection of workers so that I would interview workersboth inside and outside the factories, because interviewing workers only insidethe factories could give biased answers as the workers wouldn’t want to loosetheir jobs. On the other hand, if interviewing only workers outside thefactories it would leave out the workers that stay in the factories’accommodations. Still there is a need to be aware of that the workers might beafraid to say too bad things about the factory where they are working, in fearof loosing their jobs. Here, there is an advantage to not only get informationfrom workers but also NGOs and trade unions. Also I interviewed workers withdifferent job descriptions and skills and also in different kinds of units, toget as great variation in the answers as possible. 02br
00The management representativesalso came from different kinds of units, of different sizes. But also theowners might have reasons for twisting their answers. They may see me as a potential buyer and thus tell me what theythink I would like to hear as abuyer, even though I made clear that I was there as a student. The reason forinterviewing workers and owners of different kinds was to reach theoreticalsatiation. 02br
00I’vealso interviewed one trade union leader and one NGO representative about theworkers’ conditions, to get a broader view. 02br
00One m ethodological problem regarding interviews with especiallyworkers but also one of the owner is that I need ed to use an interpreter, as most workers in the garmentindustry are uneducated and don’t speak English. I tried to reduce these problems by using interpreters that speakgood English and were non-biased. 02br
01span00Also,unfortunately, I didn’t have the chance to interview workers in a fair tradecertified factory. This means that the fair trade standards I will use tocompare with the non-fair trade factories are not verified if they exist inreality or not. However, these standards can form 02span00 01span00say something about what fair standards could be,and thus it’s possible to examine if the conditions in the non-fair tradefactories are fair. 02span02p

01h3

002.1.3Working condition parameters02h3

01p

00To answer the firstquestion I first have to find out what the conditions in the garment industryare like. To decide what to measure when it comes to workers’ conditions I’veused requirements by fair trade organisations as well as Indian labour laws andILO (International Labour Organization)’s standards. The parameters I’vedecided to measure are: 02br
02br
00- Temporary or permanent job 02br
02br
00- Income 02br
02br
00- Working hours 02br
02br
00- Maternity leave and crèches 02br
02br
00- Safety and Sanitation 02br
02br
00- Child labour 02br
02br
00- Bounded labour 02br
02br
00- Discrimination 02br
02br
00- Freedom of association 02br
00Using theseparameters I have asked what the workers think about the conditions. I havealso studied what has been reported by NGOs and trade unions. To some extent Ialso used observation techniques. These observations were rather informal,rather than following a predefined template. Throughliterature studies I have then examined what the Indian law says as well asfair trade standards. The fair trade standards are used to examine if theconditions are fair. I have then compared the laws and standards with thecurrent conditions. I also asked the workers if they were satisfied with theseconditions.02p

01h2

002.2 IndianLaw and Fair Trade Standards02h2

01p

00The Indian law haveregulations for workers’ conditions. There are also differentcertifications that tell what is needed for the conditions to be fair for theworkers in the garment industry. 02br
00Differentfair trade organization has their own standards for what is required of thefactories for them to be certified as fair trade producers. Fairtrade Labelling Organisations (FLO) isan umbrella organization for 23 member organizations. FLO develops and reviewsfair trade standards and also supports fair trade certified producers. 02br
00[16] FLO has developed Generic Fairtrade Standards for HiredLabour, which will be referred to as FLOs standards. 02br
00Anothercertification is called Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP).WRAP is a non-profit organization that certificate and control factoriesaccording to their standards. WRAP is an initiative by competitive companiesthat have come together and standardized their codes and factory inspections sothat not so many different inspections by all the buyers, different NGOs etcshould be needed. One problem though is that some companies still don’t want toabandon their own company codes because of fear that the common standardsshould be “watered down”. 02br
00[17] 02br
00Thefair trade company I visited in Tirupur is certified by both FLO and WRAP. Othercompanies are not obliged to follow these standards but it can offer a possiblemeasurement of how fair the non-fair trade certified factories are. 02br
00However,of course all factories should follow Indian law. In reality, though, there isevidence that the laws are not always followed.02p

01h2

002.3 WhatAre the Laws and Fair Trade Standards and Are They Followed? Are the WorkersSatisfied?02h2

01h3

002.3.1Temporary or Permanent Jobs02h3

01p

00One of the mostimportant issues for workers in Tirupur is that they almost never get permanentemployment. According to Indian law workers should be registered according toworkers permanency act, if they’ve worked more than 240 days in the samecompany. Workers also cannot officially be laid off because of lack of work if thefactory doesn’t have permission of the government. If a worker has been workingin the same place for more than one year, he or she has the right to be noticedone month in advance. 02br
00[18] WRAPdoesn’t require permanent hiring of the workforce. T he FLO standards , though, require that all work that is regular should bedone by permanently hired workers. Contracts that are not permanent orsub-contracting are only allowed in peak periods, under special circumstances. [19] 02br
00InTirupur, though, long term contracts are rare. This isconfirmed by workers, owners, trade union and NGO. The trade unionrepresentative I talked to feels that one of the biggest problem for theworkers is that the work is temporary, because this means that the workersdon’t get regularly payment throughout the year, or sometimes even the month. 02br
00[20] Some workers believe thisvolatility is a good thing because they feel free to switch jobs whenever theywill get better paid at another factory. This goes especially for tailors andother skilled workers. But some workers feel that it is uncertain because theydon’t know if they will find another job, so they’d prefer to have permanentjobs. This goes for example for packing workers, as they usually have to waitfor jobs, as they are working in the last step of the production units. One packing worker I talked to said: “I don’t earn enoughmoney to support my family because of the constant lack of regular work”. [21] 02br
00The standards set up by FLOcertainly are not followed in Tirupur, neither are the laws. There are bothworkers that are satisfied to not have a permanent job, and those who are not.02p

01h3

002.3.2 Income02h3

01p

00When it comes to incomes,the wages don’t seem to be low in relation to existing minimum agreements. The Tamil Nadu Government publishes minimumwages for the garment industry. The numbers for Tirupur varied between Rs 1500 and1819.80/- in the year 2003, depending on how skilled the workers are. 02br
00[22] The average monthly incomesamong the workers (including overtime) I’ve interviewed vary from 2000-9000 /- rupees, but are normallybetween 2 01del004000 /02del00 rupees. The higher salaries are for those who are in chargeof a department. The salaries are thus often higher than the minimum wages. Areason for this is that the minimum wages are calculated on 48 hours a week,but many workers work more hours. According to SAVE (Social Awareness and Voluntary Education) the normal income for workers in thegarment industry is between 40-150 rupees per eight hours , depending on experience. The unskilledworkers (i.e. helpers) will get between 40-80 rupees per eight hours; the semiskilled (i.e. checking ladies) will get 80-120 and the skilled (i.e. tailors)will get around 150. [23] This corresponds to whatworkers have told me. Calculated on a monthly wage (26 days, 8 hours a day) itmeans Rs 1040-3900/-. This is more or less in line with the minimum wages. Thereare also wages agreed by Tirupur Export Association (TEA), but they don’t seemto be higher than the legal minimum wages. [24] The FLO standards say that the wages has to behigher than the national laws and agreements on minimum wages or the regionalaverage. Payment should be made regularly. [25] The salaries shall also gradually beincreased to reach a ”living wage” level that is above the regional average andlegally minimum. [26] There isalso a premium paid to all fair trade factories that the workers democraticallyshould decide what to do with. [27] For theWRAP certificate at least the minimum compensation required by law has to bepaid. That includes wages, allowances and benefits. [28] 02br
00Here, it seems like the conditions required bylaws and fair trade standards are quite well obeyed, even if it can bediscussed if the wages are a “living wage”. Most workers say they think their salary is acceptable butthey would prefer to earn more in order to be able to support their family.Some workers wanted to become contractors in order to earn more money. 02br
00 There are two different types of payment used:shift rate and piece rate. The piece rate system is liked by some workers as itgives them the possibility to work more and then get a higher salary. Theproblem, though, is that not all workers are able to earn enough to make theirliving. Piece rates also increasesthe uncertainty for the workers as it makes it more difficult to know how muchthe salary will be.02p

01h3

002.3.3Working Hours02h3

01p

00Most workers work between8-12 hours a day, but overtime is usual, especially in peak period, when theymight work up to 24 hours a day. They work six days a week, Sundays are free. 02br
00Longworking hours is for the workers often not seen as something bad. One workersaid: “I want to work on both Sundays and other holidays, as well as overtime,in order to earn more money”. Even if an extra overtime rate normallyisn’t paid, except for a refreshment allowance of Rs 20/- that sometimes isgiven, overtime gives the workers a chance to raise their salaries. Also, workers are willing to worklong hours because they don’t know for how long they will have a job. Even withlong hours and low wages many workers are happy to have a job at all. Though,overtime is not always voluntary. Some workers told that theypreferred to go to their native on Sundays and festival days. But s ometimes workers are forced to work overtime if there is a lot of work that needs to be done. Also, these long working days and weeks are not compatiblewith Indian law. Workersare not allowed to work more than 48 hours a week, nor more than twelve hours a day for men and ninefor women. Women also should not be allowed to work after or before because they need time for domestic duties.However, the government can give a special permission allowing a woman to workuntil and after Workersshall be given one day off every week. 02br
00[29] It is also stated in the law that a specialovertime rate should be paid. InTamil Nadu the overtime ratefor s cheduled employment isdouble the ordinary rate. [30] Noneof this is followed in the factories I visited in Tirupur. This is recognizedalso by the owners. 02br
00 According to WRAPsprinciples working hours must follow local law. One day a week should be off ifwork is not required because of urgent business needs. 02br
00[31] This is more or less followed in Tirupur,as work on Sundays is usually voluntary and only forced when needed because oforders that need to be finished urgently. FLO standards, though, are stricter.Except for demanding 48 hours working weeks and one day off it also demandsthat overtime should be voluntary and mustn’t exceed 12 hours a week. Also,overtime shouldn’t be regular and has to be compensated at a premium rate. [32] Especially the demands of a premium rateand voluntary overtime are rarely followed in Tirupur. 02br
00 Here, a conflict betweenthe laws and fair trade regulations that requires limited working hours on theon hand, and the workers that wants to work long hours in order to earn moremoney on the other hand. However, it’s not the long working hours the workersreally want but this is their way to increase their salaries.02p

01h3

002.3.4 MaternityLeave and Crèches02h3

01p

00The workers normally don’tget paid for maternity leave and there are no crèches available at thefactories. The fact that crèches are notavailable is usually not a big problem for the workers. Even though there arewomen that would like to use a crèche if it was available, many prefer to solvebabysitting in other ways. Many children don’t even live in Tirupur, but invillages far away. Also there is a tradition that the children is taken care ofby the family, i.e. the grandmother . As the workers usually arehired temporary it’s also no problem to get time off for taking care ofinfants, but they will not be given any money . 02br
00[33] 02br
00TheIndian law requires that factories with more than 30 women employed have a crèche for children below the age of 6years. The crèche should be in a sanitary condition, supervised by a woman whois trained to take care of children. 02br
00[34] Maternity benefit payments should be paid at the rate of theaverage daily wage. [35] TheWRAP principles don’t mention maternity leave or crèches but the FLO standards allow no lessthan eight weeks of fully paid maternity leave. Also, if the company gives ashorter time of maternity leave than 12 weeks, the time of leave must beincreased every year by one week until the 12 weeks is reached. [36] . This requirement is far from fulfilled inthe factories in Tirupur. Maternity payment benefits would be a help for manywomen in Tirupur but crèches are usually not asked for.02p

01h3

002.3.5Safety and Sanitation02h3

01p

00According to Indianlaw t hereshould be first aid kits, clean and hygienic toilets and drinking wateravailable in the factories . There should be sufficient light, freshair and dust removal. If the factory has more than 150 workers there should bea rest room and if there are more than 250 workers there should be a canteen inthe factory. 02br
00[37] 02br
00TheFLO standards requires a workplace that is as safe as possible with warningsigns showing risk areas, safety instructions, safety devices for all hazardousmachinery, safety equipment and safe storage for chemical spraying. Thereshould be first aid facilities, equipment and training. Also potable water andclean sanitary facilities must be available for the workers. There should beappropriate lightning, heating and ventilation. 02br
00[38] 02br
00Some factories in Tirupurhave first aid kits, but it’s notably that a knitting unit with potentiallydangerous machines didn’t have a first aid kit. This was excused by the ownerby the fact that there was a nearby hospital. 02br
00[39] Toilets are available but it seems like light and dustremoving isn’t always sufficient. The workers didn’t express concerned aboutsafety and sanitation issues.02p

01h3

002.3.6Child Labour02h3

01p

00The number of childrenworking in the garment industry in Tirupur is decreasing, especially in theexport industry. I didn’t meet any child labourers or workers that knew ofchildren working in the same factory as them. But it’s estimated that there arestill 10000 children working in the garment industry in Tirupur. 02br
00[40] 02br
00 Child labour is rare in the registered exportunits in Tirupur. But according to the Factory Officials it’s prevalent inunregistered garment units. The children working are usually between 12 and 14years old. It can be difficult to tell the age of the children as birthregisters do not exist. In major companies child workers are rarely hiredexcept in peak seasons but some smaller companies hire them more regularly. Thebiggest share of child labour is found in subcontracting shops or in homework situations. 02br
00[41] 02br
00Indianlaw bans the employment of children below the age of 14 years in specifiedoccupations and processes, including cloth printing, dyeing and weaving. In other occupations child labour ispermitted, but the working hours are limited. Child workers are not allowed to work more than three hours aday and not between and 02br
00[42] TheFLO doesn’t allow children under the age of 15 years. [43] WRAP doesn’t allow workers under the age of14 or under the age that interrupt compulsory schooling, or under the legalminimum age, whichever is greater. [44] 02br
00Itseems like the law and fair trade standards are not followed on this issue. AsI didn’t get the possibility to speak to any child labourer I wasn’t able toget their views.02p

01h3

002.3.7Bounded Labour02h3

01p

00While internationalgarment buyers nowadays usually don’t want child labourers in thefactories producing their garments, the producers have found a new vulnerablegroup to exploit. Young women, usually between 14-18 years old, living in theSouthern part of is picked by the garment factories for athree year contract. After 3 years the girls will be given between Rs30000-40000/01del00, money they need to pay wedding dowries. Wedding dowries areformally forbidden in but is still common. The girls will getfree accommodation and food and Rs 75/02del00 a day. They will normally not beallowed to leave the accommodation. This restricted mobility itself can be seenas a form of bounded labour. The girls will work long hours and will not begiven any compensation for overtime. They are also not able to leave thefactories as they will then loose the bonus paid at the end of the three years.Another scheme gives the girl a small sum every month and the parents are givena bigger sum every year. For both schemes one problem is that the girls oftenare fired just before the bigger sum is about to be paid and will thus not begiven the money. 02br
00[45] 02br
00 The young women haveusually not worked in factories before and don’t know about their rights. Becauseof that they are likely to be exploited. 02br
00[46] 02br
00Indianlaw , however, prohibits all forms of bounded labour. Alsoforced overtime is seen as a form of bounded labour. To take advantage ofsomeone’s social and economic circumstances is also seen as bounded labour,when it gives the person no other choice. 02br
00[47] TheFLO and WRAP doesn’t allow forced or bounded labour intheir factories. [48] Here, there is still a distance between thelaw and reality. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get in touch with any of the womenwith these kinds of contracts to get their view.02p

01h3

002.3.8 Discrimination02h3

01p

00The law says thatthe same wage should be paid for the same job for both men and women. 02br
00[49] TheFLO standards tells that no discrimination based on race, colour, sex,religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin is allowed ina fair trade factory. [50] According to WRAP principles workers shouldnot be employed, paid, promoted and terminated on basis of personalcharacteristics but on their work abilities. [51] 02br
00To some extentthese laws and standards are followed in Tirupur. The salaries in Tirupur arenot based on sex, caste, origin or any other significant differences, but onskills. However, some jobs are almost exclusively for men or for women. Womenare unusual as knitting machine operators. But almost only women are doing thechecking of the clothes. Some workers also told methat only men worked as supervisors and managers in their factories. But inother factories both men and women were supervisors. There seem to be a pattern, though, thatwomen often have the positions with lower salaries.02p

01h3

002.3.9Freedom of Association02h3

01p

00In more than 70% of thegarment factories in Tirupur there are no trade unions or employee’sassociation. Together the trade unions claim to have 30% of the workers asmembers. Th at number is by other researchersfound to be too high . Workers are often notallowed to form unions inside the factories. Some workers fear to be seen as aunion member as it might make them less popular among employers. 02br
00[52] 02br
00Many workers I talked to arenot members of any trade union. Some say they are happy with their work, ifthey would have any problem they might join. Some simply said that they are notinterested in joining a union. One worker said that it’sbetter to talk directly to the owner than going through a trade union. 02br
00[53] Others believe the trade unions are too political. Also oneowner believed that the trade unions are too political. He claim ed that the trade unions arecreating problems, instead of solving them, in order to win political points. [54] Some workers also told me that trade unions were not allowedin the factory they worked in. One worker that was a memberof a trade union said his reason for being a member was that they told thatthey could increase the salaries. [55] Accordingto Indian law, any worker above 15 years can become a trade union member. [56] Accordingto the FLO standards, both workers and employers should be free to join anyorganization they choose. Workers should not be discriminated for joiningunions. Workers should also be trained about their legal rights and duties. [57] WRAPrequires that workers have freedom of association and collective bargaining. [58] 02br
00 Here, the reason for notjoining trade unions is not only that the workers fear reprisals, in many casesthe workers don’t want to join the unions.02p

01h2

002.4Concluding Remarks02h2

01p

00It’s been shown inthis chapter that there are a number of labour laws that are not followed bythe garment industry in Tirupur. The fair trade standards are usually stricterand are thus followed to an even less extent. One of the major issues for manyworkers is that they don’t have permanent employments and that it’s difficultto get a salary high enough to support their families. I will now proceed tosee what different civil society actors are doing in order to improve theseconditions. 3 What Possibilitiesand Problems Are There For Civil Society Actors to Improve Workers’ Conditions ?02p

01h2

003.1 How toAnswer the Question02h2

01p

00To answer thesecond question I need to define what civil society is. I will use a broaddefinition to include all possible actors, as explained in the next section. Ialso give a theoretical and empirical background to the possibilities andproblems for the civil society actors to influence. Based on the findings inthe previous chapter about workers’ condition not being statutory and fair I’llpresent how civil society actors work to improve the conditions, and how theyovercome the problems. For this I will use the interviews with civil societyactors that were conducted during my field study in Tirupur.02p

01h3

003.1.1Interviews02h3

01p

00I interviewed onetrade union leader, one NGO representative and one fair trade factory chiefmanager. I made my selection so that I interviewed the only or the mostimportant organisation/union/company. There is only one NGO currently active inTirupur so I couldn’t conduct more interviews with NGOs. Unfortunately I didn’thave the possibility to meet more than one trade union representative, but as Imet a representative from the biggest trade union I still believe it’s possibleto draw conclusions about the problems and possibilities for trade unions.Also, I couldn’t find more than one fair trade certified company in Tirupur. I wanted to interviewworkers in the fair trade factory I visited but I was not able to get the permissionon time. The fact that permission was needed might on the other hand saysomething itself, about the openness of the factory. Also, it wasn’t possibleto find the workers from the fair trade factory outside the factory as theywere provided free accommodation by the company. 02br
00Theinterviews I conducted were informant interviews. I found some of theinformants by using so called snowball selection, where the informants got mein touch with other informants. The informants have to be criticised accordingto time, dependence, authenticity and tendency. 02br
00[59] Time shouldn’t be a big problem as I’masking about what they are doing right now rather than in the past. Alsoauthenticity isn’t a big issue to discuss as there is nothing to indicate thatthe persons I interviewed not are the ones they told me. When it comes todependency I have tried to overcome the potential problem by asking allinformants about each other so that I get not only their own story but alsoothers’ views. When it comes to tendency there might be problems with allinformants as they all have their own agendas that might affect their answers. The trade unions have a political agenda that might make themwant the problems to seem bigger than they are, and so might NGOs. The fair trade factory representative has reasons to make hisfactory appear better than it is. With this in mind , and by putting the answersfrom the different actors together , it still can be possible to draw conclusions.02p

01h2

003.2 CivilSociety Definition02h2

01p

00I need to define what civilsociety means in this essay because the term is a vague concept as there is no consensus over what itreally means. I will use a broad definition to include many parts of society,and then evaluate what good they can do toimprove the workers’ conditions . I will argue for aninclusion of NGOs and trade unions in the concept and also discuss how fairtrade firms could be included in the concept.02p

01h3

003.2.1 AnInclusive Definition02h3

01p

00Gordon White p resents a definition that he says is widelyused, defining civil society as “an intermediate associational realm betweenthe state and family populated by organizations which are separate from thestate, enjoy autonomy in relation to the state and are formed voluntarily bymembers of society to protect or extend their interests or values ”. Gordon White also points out that a wider definition ofcivil society is more useful in developing societies as it better capture thediverse associational life and gives a more complete picture. Then one can distinguish betweendifferent organizations within civilsociety. 02br
01sup^{00[60] 02sup}02br
00 I will include as many actors as possible intomy research and then evaluate their ways to change the workers’ conditions inTirupur . I will thusmake a broader definition than the one cited above, so as not to risk thatimportant actors will be excluded. This means that I will study organizationswhether they are “formed voluntarily by members of society ” or rather forced from the outside.02p

01h3

003.2.2 TradeUnions02h3

01p

00There may be a problem toinclude trade unions in Tirupur in civil society as they are closely linked topolitical parties and thus could be seen as actors outside civil society andinstead parts of the state sphere. For example, for Philippe Schmitter, aspresented by Whitehead, independency from public authorities is essential. 02br
01sup^{00[61] 02sup}00 But as Neer a Chandhoke puts it, it’s impossible for civil society to beautonomous from the state because the state both enables civil society to existand supports it at the same time , as the state can limit what civil society is allowed to do. 01sup^{00[62] 02sup}00 When you look at it that way , there is no such thing as total autonomy from thestate. I will thus use an integrative concept where civil society is a part ofthe political system and there can be no clear division between civil society andthe stat e. There is also a tendency that trade unions with loyalties todifferent parties reproduce the tension and competition existing between thepolitical parties they are connected to. Even if there are co-operation andcommon agendas at times the different trade unions tend to compete with eachother even though they share the same interests. 01sup^{00[63] 02sup}00 This might be a problem in Tirupur with trade unions linked to differentpolitical parties.02p

01h3

003.2.3 PrivateBusinesses and Non-profit Organizations02h3

01p

00When it comes to thediscussion if fair trade firms themselves should be counted as a part of civilsociety , Annette Jünemann points out that private business should beincluded in civil society only if they have political and social goals beyondtheir economic interests. There might be a problem to include such actorsbecause they might be united with the state as they depend on stable politicalstructures. 02br
01sup^{00[64] 02sup}00 Because fair trade initiatives have social and evenpolitical goals they could, following the logic of Jünemann, be included incivil society. I will therefore include fair trade initiatives in the civilsociety concept.02p

01h3

003.2.4 MyDefinition of Civil Society02h3

01p

00To be able to evaluate theproblems and possibilities for making the garment industry fairer, in thisessay civil society is 01i00non-profitactors that work to change the society but are not entirely a part of the stateor family sphere 02i00 . This will include NGOs,trade unions and firms that work for political and social change. In this essay I will studyonly a part of civil society, namely the part that is working in Tirupur toimprove workers conditions.02p

01h2

003.3 Possibilities and Problems for these Actors02h2

01p

00There are three main ways of protecting workers’ right s : through government regulations, trade union organizing andcollective bargaining and codes of conduct and other fair trade initiatives. In addition, s everal reports has shownthat to improve workers’ conditions it’s essential that the workers themselvesare aware of there rights. Information campaigns among workers are thus auseful instrument. 02br
01sup^{00[65] 02sup}00 Civil society can, directly or indirectly, use all four waysto improve the workers’ conditions. However, there are also a number ofproblems that makes it more difficult for civil society actors to influence onthe conditions.02p

01h3

003.3.1 NGOs02h3

01p

00NGOs can influencepolitical decision-making in indirect ways, through information campaigns. Onething that reduces the possibilities to improve the workers’ conditions is thatthe legal rules that do exist are not obeyed, as seen in chapter two. There aretwo authorities that are responsible for checking labour standards in thefactories to see that the legislation is followed. But these authorities areoften under staffed and corrupted, and are thus not able to make sure that thelaw is obeyed. 02br
00[66] It means that better laws doesn’t meanbetter conditions, which gives less possibilities for NGOs to influence, asinfluencing politicians doesn’t give the wanted result. To solve this, NGOscould control and report when legal rules are not followed in factories. 02br
00Thereare a number of problems for NGOs to influence workers’ conditions that areaffiliated to Post-Fordism. Post-Fordism, as discussed in by Ankie Hoogvelt,with a more flexible production structure 02br
00[67] , has lead to greater international competitionand that is found to be one reason for the poor working conditions in thegarment industry in Tirupur. This post-Fordism makes it more difficult for NGOsto act, as the actors that need to be influenced, usually the buyers, arebeyond their reach. 02br
00Oneproblem derived from post-Fordism is i nternationalcompetition from especially , which is about to become the mostimportant exporter in this sector. Also, almost all development countries needto develop and increase their exports in the garment sector in order todevelop, according to mainstream development strategies. Therefore, competition is likelyto increase. 02br
00[68] 02br
00The producers also have aproblem that they don’t get regularly orders. The reason for this is thatTirupur has specialized in garments for the spring and summer seasons. Theslack periods between seasons gives a low productivity and low utilizationlevels of machinery. 02br
00[69] The irregular orders alsomakes it difficult to hire permanent workers, and also to make biggerinvestments, i.e. build accommodation for the workers. 02br
00Also,b ecause of the requirementsfrom the importers there is often a high pressure to finish the orders quickly.This leads to long working hours and extensive use of subcontracting,especially in peak periods. 02br
00[70] 02br
00 The seasonal demand together with tightdeadlines and international competition causes a production structure that isdependent on sub-contracting and flexible contracts. This makes work uncertainfor the workers. They will often use young women and migrants as the workforce,as these groups have less bargaining power. 02br
00[71] 02br
00Also,i n the garment industry inTirupur there is a strict hierarchy of jobs. Machinists, tailors, cutters,ironmasters and packers are regarded as skilled workers. The skilled workersare assisted by unskilled helpers. There are also semi-skilled workers;checkers, trimmers, hand folders and label putters. Every worker is specializedin his/her own work. Because of this strict hierarchy it’s impossible forworkers to take over each others jobs and thus deepens the dependency forfactory owners to be able to hire and fire workers on a daily basis, instead ofgiving the workers permanent jobs. 02br
00[72] 02br
00TheCITU trade union general secretary points out that the buyers are not likely towant a real change for the workers in the factories. Because of capitalism theowners’ goal is to earn more and they ignore the social aspects. They will onlydo something for the workers if it benefits them, i.e. if it’s asked for by theconsumers. Also, the payment for theclothes is usually made in US dollar. This causes an uncertainty of how muchthe producer eventually will get in rupees. 02br
00[73] O wners I talked to say that they would like to improve theconditions for the workers, but they need more support from the buyers. At themoment the rates paid by the buyers are too low to make improvements. [74] 02br
00However, there are somethings that NGOs can do to solve these problems related to Post-Fordism. Tosolve the problems concerning the relation between producers and global garmentbrands is mainly information campaigns. If these information campaigns targetconsumers it can lead to that the consumers demand the garment brands torequire better conditions for the workers producing the garments. When it comes to the problem with stricthierarchy of jobs NGOs can give education and training to workers, so that theycan develop and learn new skills and then more easily is able to switch jobtypes.02p

01h3

003.3.2Trade Unions02h3

01p

00Trade unions inTirupur have the possibility to influence political decision-making in a directway, as they are connected to political parties. As for NGOs, though, poorimplementation of laws makes the possibility to influence through legislationsmaller. Trade unions, however, can help workers that have been treated againstthe law. 02br
00To organize the workers andmake strikes and collective bargaining possible is the main aim for tradeunions. However, there are several problems for trade union organizing inTirupur. According to ITUC (International Trade Union Confederation) there are several violations of workers’ rights to freedom of association in India. Even though the law prohibits discriminationagainst trade union members this widely exists. Either they simply act againstthe law and fire unions members, knowing that the legal process for workers toget their job back is long and costly. Employers also use threats and beatingsor false criminal charges to get rid of unwanted trade union members. The tradeunions strongest tool is strikes, but in holding legal strikes can be so difficult that they arerarely completely fulfilled. 02br
00[75] Also, f or the workers it might be a risk to push to hard for theirrights, as they risk to not getting a job during non-peak periods. [76] This makes it difficult for trade unions to improve workers’conditions. 02br
00A nother problem for the TradeUnions is that they are not trusted by many workers and especially not by the company owners. This makes theirpossibilities to make a difference smaller , asthe number of members isn’t high and the owners don’t want to cooperate . 02br
00Also there are so many tradeunions active in Tirupur that they instead of fighting “the real enemy”, theowners, risk to fight against each other.02p

01h3

003.3.3 TheRelation between NGOs and Trade Unions02h3

01p

00One thing that might affectthe possibilities for NGOs as well as trade unions is their possibilities tocooperate with each other. The relation between NGOs and trade unions can becharacterized by both alliance and tension. They share the same interest asthey both want to improve the conditions for the workers. On the other hand,some trade unionists believe that only the unions can represent the workers. One major difference between trade unions and NGOs is thatwhile trade union leaders are elected by the members and therefore quiteclearly can tell who they represent; it is more difficult for NGOs. NGOs don’talways have members, and if so is the case they are not necessarily those theyclaim to represent but rather donors. 02br
01sup^{00[77] 02sup}00 Also, some trade unionistsbelieve that coalitions with NGOs could cause that labour issues diminishes infavour of other issues. The NGOs defend their presence with that they can reachalso non-trade union members, who might be in great need of support. Womenworkers and informal sector workers are categories that are less likely to jointrade unions but likely to need improved working conditions. Basically, thelegitimacy of NGOs rest on that their work is of good quality. [78]02p

01h3

003.3.4 Codesof Conduct02h3

01p

00When companies in the North voluntarily set social standards requiredfrom their suppliers in the South , the standards are calledcodes of conduct . The codes can be used by informed consumers to force globalgarment brands to improve the conditions for the workers, by buying only fromcompanies with acceptable codes of conduct. 02br
00[79] 02br
00Onemajor problem with codes of conduct is that they are usually made without inputfrom the workers. It is difficult to claim that the codes will lead to socialdevelopment when the workers, that are supposed to benefit from the codes, notare involved in the process of developing the codes. This also means that therestill are the companies that dictates there own practices. Another problem withthe codes is that the audits of factory compliance with codes often are tooquick and the factory management knows in advance when they will take place.There are consultants and courses to make it easier for factories to passsocial compliance audits. It has been found that the factory management teachesthe workers to give certain answers during interviews. The management has alsobeen found to keep double records of working hours and wages. Also, t he garment brands often don’t manage to sell in the codes to thefactories properly. That results in that the factories sometimes focus onmaking it look like the codes are followed, rather than make efforts to improvethe situation for the workers. In addition , the codes usuallydon’t direct the structural issues that reinforce poor working conditions.These issues are for example low prices paid by the garment brands and theshort lead times given. It might be difficult for the companies to understandthe conflicting messages giv en by the brands. On the one hand they areasked to pay higher wages and invest in worker amenities and on the other handthey are asked to lower their prices. 02br
00[80]02p

01h3

003.3.5 FairTrade02h3

01p

00A way to involveboth workers and labour rights organizations in the process of making andcontrolling of the codes is the so called “multi-stakeholders initiatives”(MSIs). MSIs usually focus on labour rights and environmental issues in theproduction units. The MSIs have representation from unions, brands and NGOs ontheir boards of directors. They also involve local unions and NGOs in theirwork to improve the workers’ conditions, inspect the factories and teach theworkers about their rights. Some examples of MSIs are: the Fair Wear Foundation(FWF), the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), the Fair Labour Association (FLA)and the Workers Rights’ Consortium (WRC). Each MSI has defined their own codesof conduct that the member companies have to adopt. They then help its membersto improve on following the codes. The MSIs wants to create a long-term changefor the garment factory workers through companies, unions, NGOs and factorymanagers working together to improve the workers’ conditions. 02br
00[81] 02br
00There have been a lot ofdifferent definitions of fair trade, but to make it easie r to understand the concept, four big fair trade organizations, known as FINE 02br
00[82] , made a definition of fairtrade as follows: 02br
00“ Fair Trade is a 01b00tradingpartnership 02b00 ,based on dialogue, transparency and respect, which seeks greater equity ininternational trade. It contributes to 01b00sustainable 02b00 01b00development 02b00 by offering 01b00bettertrading conditions to 02b00 ,and 01b00securing the rights 02b00 of, marginalized producers and workers – especially in the South. 02br
01b00Fairtrade organizations 02b00 (backed by consumers) are engaged actively in supporting producers, awarenessraising and in campaigning for changes in the rules and practice ofconventional international trade. ” 02br
00[83] 02br
02br
00The goals of fair trade are thus to: 02br
02br
00- “ Toimprove the livelihoods and well-being of producers by improving market access,strengthening producer organizations, paying a better price and providingcontinuity in the trading relationship. 02br
02br
00- To promotedevelopment opportunities for disadvantaged producers, especially women andindigenous people, and to protect children from exploitation in the productionprocess. 02br
02br
00- To raiseawareness among consumers of the negative effects on producers of internationaltrade so that they exercise their purchasing power positively. 02br
02br
00- To set anexample of partnership in trade through dialogue, transparency and respect. 02br
02br
00- To campaignfor changes in the rules and practice of conventional international trade. 02br
02br
00- To protecthuman rights by promoting social justice, sound environmental p racticesand economic security . ” [84] 02br
00From this, two major visionswith fair trade can be sorted out . The first one is toimprove the standard of living for producers in the South and the second is totransform the world economy from free to fair trade. Fair trade can thus beseen as either a part of free trade that can make free trade work like it issupposed to, or a critique and alternative way to free trade. As seen in the twodifferent visions discussed above, the possible impacts of fair trade are tobenefit the producers and to influence free trade. The second possible impactis the most controversial and I will leave it behind as it does not affect myessay. When it comes to benefits for the producers it is important to measureif there is a real impact on the workers , because if there isn’t, money spent on fair trade might bebetter spent on other kinds of development project. 02br
01sup^{00[85] 02sup}02br
00 There are many reports both from researchgroups and NGOs that show positive impact on producers. One importantlimitation though is that the fair trade producers are rarely compared tonon-fair trade producers which make a comparison impossible. Also, fair tradein itiatives are oftensupported b y development agencies,which makes it difficult to assess if the improvements comes because of fairtrade or other development projects. It also seems like in many reports onlypositive impacts are discussed and negative are left out. 02br
01sup^{00[86] 02sup}02br
00 Another problem is that the higher price for fair trade products are divided amongdifferent actors in the production chain, producers only get a small part ofit, which makes it more efficient to give the money directly to the producers. 02br
01sup^{00[87] 02sup}00 But as the benefits from fair trade are not just monetaryit’s not that easy to dismiss the benefits from fair trade.02p

01h2

003.4 CivilSociety’s Work to Improve Workers’ Conditions and Overcome the Problems02h2

01p

00In this section Iwill present what civil society in Tirupur does to improve the conditions andto overcome the problems discussed in the last section.02p

01h3

003.4.1 NGOs02h3

01p

00SAVE (SocialAwareness and Voluntary Education) is the only NGO currently active in Tirupur.Since 1993 they have worked to improve the workers’ conditions in the garmentindustry. When the organization started the main mission was to abolish childlabour. Now they are working in the following thrust areas: 02br
02br
00- Education Programs for child labourers andchildren 02br
02br
00- Organizing, developing and strengthening ofcommunity based organizations. 02br
02br
00- Support services like health care for childrenand their families, transit home of children, vocational training for childlabourers 02br
02br
00- Income generation activities like coir making,mat weaving and garment production. 02br
02br
00- Campaign and advocacy with authorities, seminarsand workshops on joyful learning. 02br
02br
00- Monitoring and documentation of rightsviolations, data bank on social issues and using law and legal resources. 02br
02br
00- Dialogue with trade unionists, writers, artists,teachers. [88] 02br
00SAVEhas two major concerns, child labour and bounded labour. SAVE mainly uses twoof the four ways that civil society can influence on workers’ conditions; toinfluence government regulations and giving information to the workers abouttheir rights. 02br
00Italked to A. Aloysious, the founder of SAVE, and he estimated that s ince SAVE started their work the number ofchild labourers have decreased from 25000 to 10000. SAVE have contributed tothis by catching child labourers in the factories as well as when arriving tothe train station in Tirupur. They have then tried to contact their parents andif they don’t succeed they bring them to the day centres and schools that SAVErun. They also work to raise awareness of child labour. SAVEalso campaign to raise awareness about among politicians and garment buyers about poorworking conditions. When it comes to Sumangalian Schemes they don’t only try toinfluence on politicians and buyers but also give information to the people inthe villages about how the Schemes are working, to avoid girls to join. There is also a corporation between otherNGOs working in the area around Tirupur. Cooperation with trade unions is feltto be more difficult, as trade unions are both politically connected and notwell trusted by neither workers nor owners. Still, they share the sameinterests, and some cooperation has been possible. 02br
00[89] 02br
00SAVEalso work to improve other conditions that workers are concerned about. Throughinformation to the workers as well as politicians they try to improve all theother conditions that are not fair according to the findings in chapter two.Through development projects that are not linked to factory workers only, SAVE alsosupport many people that work in the informal garment sector. Throughdocumentation of rights violation SAVE try to make sure that laws and codes ofconducts are followed by the companies. 02br
00[90]02p

01h3

003.4.2 TradeUnions02h3

01p

00The main tradeunion in the garment sector is CITU (Central Indian Trade Union). It’saffiliated to the CPI (M). The say they have about 10.000 members in thegarment industry in Tirupur. Other unions represented in the garment industry inTirupur are: All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) affiliated to the CPI (7000members), Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) affiliated to thenational Congress Party (6000 members), The Labour Progressive Front (LPF)affiliated to the DMK regional party (4500 members), Marumarchi LabourProgressive Front affiliated to the (M) DMK regional party (3100 members), AnnaLabour Federation (ATP) affiliated to the AIADMK regional party (2000 members),National Labour Organization, Hind Mazdoor Sabha and some small trade unions. 02br
00[91] 02br
00 Two ways for trade unions to influenceworkers’ conditions is by strikes and collective bargaining. I talked to K. Themagavel, general secretaryat CITU. He told me that trade unions from different political partiessometimes cooperate to fight for common demands. They have for exampleorganized strikes together that did make some change. Every three years thereis a meeting between labour organizations and owners, to make an agreement onraises of wages. He believes that the employers’ organizations often manage tobe more well-organized and united than the trade unions. Also, almost allowners are members of an employers’ organization while only one third of theworkers’ are members of anytrade union. 02br
00[92] (Other believes that there is as little as5% that are members of a tradeunion . [93] ) However, the trade unions work also forthe non-members. [94] 02br
00 As laws are not followed,trade unions help workers that are not treated according to the laws. They alsowork through the political party they are affiliated with to improvelegislation. When it comes to the possibility to work together with NGOs,Themagavel believe that trade unions are the only organizations that work inthe true interests of the workers and thus are the only ones who really can betrusted to support the workers. He claims that NGOs has a different agenda, notonly including workers’ rights and that it’s therefore is complicated tocooperate, even though it sometimes has been done. 02br
00[95] However, tension seems to be larger thanalliance between trade unions and NGOs in Tirupur. 02br
00 Th e problem to not be trustedby workers and owners is acknowledged by the TradeUnion. The trade unions try tosolve this by giving information about their work. The trade unions also see a problem in that they areassociated to a party, because it might make the owners more negative tocooperation. This might lead to that problems between workers and owners takeslonger time to solve. 02br
00[96]02p

01h3

003.4.3 Fair Trade02h3

01p

00Premdurai ExportsLtd (Prem) is a company in Tirupur with severalcertifications for their work to improve the conditions for the workers. It was certified by FLO in 2004-2005 andthus follows the standards set by the organization. They also have a WRAPcertification. 02br
00[97] 02br
00PremGroup of companies started its work in 1984, originally supplying the garmentsto a local brand. In 1987 it started to cooperate with a European brand calledSwitcher and Prem has now become their only major supplier. 02br
00[98] Premfollows Switcher’s codes of conduct which includes: 02br
02br
00- Employment isfreely chosen 02br
02br
00- There is nodiscrimination in employment. This means that everyone shall get equaltreatment and opportunity regardless of race, sex, colour, religion, politicalviews, nationality, social origin etc. 02br
02br
00- No childrenbelow the age of 15 are allowed. Children between 15 and 18 years old shallonly perform work that is no likely to harm their health, safety or morals. 02br
02br
00- Freedom ofassociation and the right to collective bargaining 02br
02br
00- Payment of aliving wage. The wages shall at least meat legal or industry minimum standards.The wages should always be high enough to meet the basic needs of the workersand their family. 02br
02br
00- No excessiveworking hours. Working hours shall be in line with national laws and industrystandards. Working hours should never be more than 48 hours per week. One day aweek should be off. Overtime shall always be voluntary and not more than 12hours a week. Overtime shall be compensated at a premium rate. 02br
02br
00- Health andsafety working conditions. Health and safety risk shall be minimized. 02br
02br
00- Legally-bindingemployment relationship [99] 02br
00 Premalso run some human development programs. Youngster Education Support 05200 isa program for workers between 16-25 years old. It is run with support from aSwiss NGO called Swiss Contact. All classes are voluntary for the young adults.The goals of the program are to improve the youngsters’ living conditions bygiving them a sense of self-confidence and an interest in promoting theirskills and knowledge. There is also a trust called Durai Charitable Trust thatPrem and Switcher share responsibility for. The trust provides free health,safety and education services to workers and the surrounding public. 02br
00[100] 02br
00 Allworkers at Prem are hired permanently. The reason that they, in contrary tomost factories in Tirupur, can do that is that they have a buyer that givesthem regularly orders. They also have units for most of the steps in theprocess, like spinning, knitting, dyeing and garment manufacturing. The wagesare between Rs 3250/- and Rs 4800/-, depending on talent. All workers are alsoprovided free accommodation. Newcomers to the industry may get one month oftraining and will during that time be paid Rs 3000/- plus free accommodationand subsidised food. The workers have an eight hour shift. Overtime can be at maximumtwo hours a day and they will get double payment. Also, Prem are not onlyproviding drinking water, free dispensaries and education programs to theworkers but also their families and the nearby public. Prem provides a crèchefor the workers. But their experience is that most parents prefer to have theirchildren taken care of by grandparents. A chief manager at Prem believes thatthe biggest difference between Prem and other companies in Tirupur is that theworking conditions are better. They give the workers stability by hiring thempermanently. When it comes to the possibilities to influence other companies toimprove the workers’ conditions, the manager at Prem believes that othercompanies might see them as a model and a way to develop. 02br
00[101] 02br
00 Theworkers’ conditions in the Prem factory, according to the manager and theirfair trade standards, are better than in other factories in Tirupur. Temporaryemployment, a reasonable salary, shorter working hours, right to maternityleave, availability of crèches, good safety, no child labourers, no boundedlabour, no discrimination and freedom of association is told to be thesituation. The problem is that it’s been difficult to verify these conditionsas I didn’t have a possibility to talk to the workers. And even if I would havegot permission in time to visit the factory, the fact that permission is neededmeans that it’s impossible to make a visit that is not announced in advance. Premuses unbiased controllers, but as it in Tirupur is impossible to enter the citywithout the companies knowing that you are there, it’s difficult to know ifeven these controls are to be trusted. 02br
00Also, as Switcher and NGOs also supports developmentprojects, some of the achievements may not be because of fair trade but ratherthrough aid, i.e. education programs and health services. Another problem formeasuring the benefits of fair trade is that some of the achievements seem tohave been made possible by regular orders, rather than higher payment becauseof the fair trade certificate. Regularly orders is also something that non-fairtrade certified factories said would give them possibility to improve theworkers’ conditions. This makes a comparison between fair trade certified andnon-fair trade certified factories difficult as it also compares companies withregularly orders and not. The regularly orders then could be, at least one of,the explaining factors to why workers’ conditions are better in a fair tradefactory. However, it can’t be excluded that the regularly orders in fact are aconsequence of Prem being fair trade certified. 02br
00 One problem with fairtrade, though, is that a factory that at the moment isn’t fair trade certifiedbut would like to be, needs some investments to start with to make theimprovements for getting a certificate. This might make it difficult for afactory that is interested in improving the workers’ conditions to do so bygetting a fair trade certificate. However, if this support is given by thebuyer it will give the producer and a buyer a link that can create acooperation that the producer can benefit from by getting regularly orders. Andthe regularly order may give the factories an opportunity to improve theconditions for the workers even more. 02br
00 4 Conclusions As seen in the empirical evidence, a lot of workers are notsatisfied with their current working conditions. Also, most feel that there islittle they can do about it. There are a lot of legal rules in about how the workers’ conditions should be. However, these rules are notalways followed by the industry. The standards set by fair trade organizationsare followed are followed to an even lesser extent. This has made civil societyactors like NGOs and trade unions fight to improve the workers’ conditions andthe workers’ knowledge of their rights, and it has also lead to fair tradeinitiatives. 02br
00 However,it’s been found that there are a number of problems for civil society actorsthat make it more difficult for them to influence the conditions. Overlayingstructures like international competition and demand for quick delivery by thebuyers are difficult to address for civil society actors. NGOs have found waysto overcome these problems by using information campaigns about the currentsituation to influence consumers that in turn can influence the buyers. 02br
00 Tradeunions are facing a major problem in that they are distrusted by both ownersand workers. This decreases their credibility and possibilities to influencethrough strikes and collective bargaining. Also, it makes it more difficult forthem to claim that they are the best representative for the workers. Tradeunions try to overcome the problem by informing workers about what they do, tobe able to recruit more members. 02br
00 Fairtrade initiatives are very interesting as a solution to many of the problemsthat NGOs and trade unions face, at least on the paper. The problem is thatit’s been impossible to conclude if the reality lives up to what the fair tradestandards are. It’s not difficult to understand why the possibility to controlthe standards is one of the greatest critics against fair trade. The conclusionis that to find out whether fair trade lives up to its standards, more researchis needed. It would be particularly interesting to compare fair tradeinitiatives with non-fair trade factories as well as “ordinary” developmentprojects. 02p

02hr

---

01p

02br
02br
00[1] Schmelzer (2006:11ff) 02br
00[2] Hoogvelt (2001:135) 02br
00[3] Quigley & Opal (2006:14) 02br
00[4] Quigley & Opal (2006:14) 02br
00[5] Quigley& Opal (2006:18) 02br
05300 Hiscox & Smyth (2006:passim) 02br
00[7] Quigley & Opal (2006:18) 02br
05400 Compa (N/A) 02br
00[9] Quigley& Opal (2006:20f) 02br
00[10] Fair Wear Foundation (2004:24ff) 02br
0011] Quigley& Opal (2006:21f) 02br
00[12] Fair Wear Foundation (2004:24ff) 02br
00[13] Fair Wear Foundation (2004:4f) 02br
00[14] Fair Wear Foundation (2004:8) 02br
00[15] Esaiasson et al (2003:279) 02br
00[16] FairtradeLabelling Organizations International Homepage 02br
00[17] Quigley & Opal (2006:19) 02br
00[18] Fair Wear Foundation (2004:42f) 02br
00[19] Fairtrade Labelling OrganizationsInternational (2007:18) 02br
00[20] K. Themgavel, CITU 02br
00[21] T. Chinnasvany, Eswars Garment 02br
00[22] Fair Wear Foundation (2004:33f) 02br
00[23] A. Alouysious, SAVE 02br
00[24] Fair Wear Foundation (2004:34f) 02br
00[25] Fairtrade Labelling OrganizationsInternational (2007:16) 02br
00[26] Fairtrade Labelling OrganizationsInternational (2007:20) 02br
00[27] Fairtrade Labelling OrganizationsInternational (2007:26f) 02br
00[28] Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production: ApparelCertification Program Principles Homepage 02br
00[29] Fair Wear Foundation (2004:36) 02br
00[30] Fair Wear Foundation (2004:31) 02br
00[31] Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production: ApparelCertification Program Principles Homepage 02br
00[32] Fairtrade Labelling OrganizationsInternational (2007:17) 02br
00[33] Fair Wear Foundation (2004:41) 02br
00[34] Fair Wear Foundation (2004:40) 02br
00[35] Fair Wear Foundation (2004:27) 02br
00[36] Fairtrade Labelling OrganizationsInternational (2007:18) 02br
00[37] Fair Wear Foundation (2004:38ff) 02br
00[38] Fairtrade Labelling OrganizationsInternational (2007:21ff) 02br
00[39] P. Sankar, Srihari 02br
00[40] A. Alousious, SAVE 02br
00[41] Fair Wear Foundation (2004:29) 02br
00[42] Fair Wear Foundation (2004:28) 02br
00[43] Fairtrade Labelling OrganizationsInternational (2007:12) 02br
00[44] orldwide Responsible Accredited Production: ApparelCertification Program Principles Homepage 02br
00[45] A. Aloysious, SAVE & Fair Wear Foundation(2004:46) 02br
00[46] Quigley & Opal (2006:16) 02br
00[47] Fair Wear Foundation (2004:25) 02br
00[48] Fairtrade Labelling OrganizationsInternational (2007:11) 02br
00[49] FairWear Foundation (2004:26) 02br
00[50] Fairtrade Labelling OrganizationsInternational (2007:10) 02br
00[51] Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production: ApparelCertification Program Principles Homepage 02br
00[52] Fair Wear Foundation (2004:30) 02br
00[53] G.P. Ravi, Eswars Garment 02br
00[54] Mr. Subramani, Eswars Garment 02br
00[55] V. Anumugang, Eswars Garment 02br
00[56] Fair Wear Foundation (2004:29) 02br
00[57] Fairtrade Labelling OrganizationsInternational (2007:13) 02br
00[58] Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production: ApparelCertification Program Principles Homepage 02br
00[59] Esaiasson et al (2003:304) 02br
00[60] White (2004:10) 02br
00[61] Whitehead (2004:28) 02br
00[62] Chandhoke (2004:150) 02br
00[63] Raina (2004:320ff) 02br
00[64] Jünemann (2004:210) 02br
00[65] See for example Labour Behind the Label (2006) and Clean ClothesCampaign (2005) 02br
00[66] Fair Wear Foundation (2004:20f) 02br
00[67] Hoogvelt(2001:135) 02br
00[68] Ghosh (2005) 02br
00[69] Fair Wear Foundation (2004:11) 02br
00[70] Quigley & Opal (2006:16) 02br
00[71] Ghosh (2005) 02br
00[72] Fair Wear Foundation (2004:17) 02br
00[73] . Themgavel, CITU 02br
00[74] Mr. Subramani, EswarsGarment & Mr. Ramesh, Sri Vinayagar Rotary Printers 02br
00[75] ITUC (2007)Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights 02br
00[76] Fair Wear Foundation (2004:21) 02br
00[77] Compa (N/A) 02br
00[78] Compa (N/A) 02br
00[79] Compa (N/A) 02br
00[80] Quigley & Opal (2006:20f) 02br
00[81] Quigley & Opal (2006:21f) 02br
00[82] IFAT (International Fair TradeAssociation), FLO (Fair Trade Labeling Organizations International), NEWS!(Network of European Worldshops) and EFTA (European Fair Trade Association) 02br
00[83] Fair Trade Advocacy Office (2001:1) 02br
00[84] Redfern & Snedker, (2002:11) 02br
00[85] Schelzer (2006:13f) 02br
00[86] Schelzer (2006:15) 02br
00[87] Schelzer (2006:24) 02br
00[88] Fair Wear Foundation (2006:9) 02br
00[89] A. Aloysious, SAVE 02br
00[90] A. Aloysious, SAVE 02br
00[91] Fair Wear Foundation (2004:19) 02br
00[92] K. Themgavel, CITU 02br
00[93] Fair Wear Foundation (2004:18) 02br
00[94] K. Themgavel, CITU 02br
00[95] K. Themgavel, CITU 02br
00[96] K. Themgavel 02br
00[97] PremGroup Company Homepage 02br
00[98] M.Suresh Jerry, Premdurai Exports Ltd 02br
00[99] Switcher Code of Conduct Homepage 02br
00[100] M. Suresh Jerry, Premdurai Exports Ltd 02br
00[101] M. Suresh Jerry,Premdurai Exports Ltd02p

00 0-