Precarious Work in the GAP Global Value Chain

7/25/2019 Precarious Work in the GAP Global Value Chain

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1Precarious Work in the

Gap Global Value Chain


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Asa Floor Wage Allance (AFWA) was oi

formed in 2006 and includes up to 71

organzaons, whch constute a networ

17 countres across Asa, Europe and Nor

Amerca to represent garment ndustry tr

unons, NGOs, consumer groups and rese

nstutes.

The Center for Allance of Labor & Huma

Rghts (CENTRAL) s a local Cambodan NG

The organzaon empowers Cambodan w

people to demand transparent and accou

governance for labor and human rghts t

legal ad and other approprate means.

Sedane Labour Resource Centre/Lembag

Informas Perburuhan Sedane (LIPS) s a ngovernmental organzaon n l abor stud

works to strengthen the labor movement

documenng knowledge through parcp

research and developng methods of pop

educaon n labor groups and unons.

SLD s a Delh-based labour rghts organs

that beleves n equtable development t

socal and economc well-beng of labour

mgrants, and women workers; and throu

cultural renewal among dsenfranchsed

SLD s a naonal organsaon that orgna

wth a focus on the Naonal Captal Reg

works wth partners n Uar Pradesh, Bh

Jharkhand, and Kerala.

The Naonal Centre for Development

Cooperaon, or CNCD-11.11.11, ncludes

nearly 80 development NGOs, trade uno

assocaons engaged n connung educa

for nternaonal soldarty n the French

Communty and Communty of Belgum.

The Unted Workers Congress (UWC) s a

strategc allance of workers that are eth

by law or by pracce excluded from the r

to organze n the Unted States. Ths na

network represents a base of workers, a

regonal networks and ndvdual organz

in industries where here s no naona

nework.

2 3


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4 5EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In March 2014, U.S. Presden Barack Obama

made headnes by ceremonousy shoppng

a a Gap sore on Eas 42nd and Thrd Avenue.

Obamas decson o vs he sore foowed an

announcemen by Gap ha hey woud rase

mnmum wages for U.S. workers o USD 10 per

hour by 2015. Gaps decson o rase mnmum

houry wages broke wh U.S. reaers andbusness groups ha urged awmakers o manan

he federa mnmum wage a USD 7.25 an hour

(Banjo 2014).

Gaphe paren company of Gap, Banana

Repubc and Od Navyhas commed o rasng

wages for U.S. workers bu hs commmen

does no exend o esabshng vng wages for

garmen workers n overseas producon hubs.

Ahough Gap has aso pubcy announced a

commmen o se humane workng condons,

jus monhs before Gap announced an ncrease

n wages for U.S. workers, he Insue for Goba

Labour and Human Rghs exposed sweashop

condons n Gap supper facory run by he

Ha-Meem Group n Bangadeshwhere ogeherGap and Od Navy accoun for 70% of producon

(Boyer 2014). The 3,750-worker Nex Coecons

facory n Ashua, Bangadesh, on he ouskrs

of Dhaka, rouney forced workers no 14-17

hour shts, seven days a week amounng o

workweeks of over 100 hours. Workers were pad

povery eve wages: jus USD .20 - .24 per hour.

Workers n he Nex Coecons facory repored

ha physca punshmen and ega ermnaon

especay of pregnan women who were aso

dened maerny beneiswere norma

occurrences (IGLHR 2013).

Workng condons ke hose repored n Nex

Coecons are far from soaed ncdens. Gap

ags far behnd oher brands n her commmens

o decen work and safe workpaces. For nsance,

more han 200 brands sgned he egay bndng

Accord on Fre and Budng Safey foowng he

coapse of he Rana Paza Budng n Bangadesh,

kng 1,127 workers. Insead of sgnng he

Accord, Gap ogeher wh Wamar, founded heAance for Bangadesh Worker Safey. Unke

he egay bndng Accord on Fre and Budng

Safey, he Aance for Bangadesh Worker Safey

s a vounary measure raher han a conracua

commmen. To dae, Gap has refused o ma

a conracua commmen o work wh he

suppers and oca and nernaona rade un

o ensure ha repars are made and workers

he rgh o refuse dangerous work.

Due n no sma par o hs egregous refusa

jon he Accord, n 2014 Gap earned he Pub

Eye Jury Award from he Berne Decaraon a

Greenpeace Swzerandan award ha am

o shne a gh on he curren and mos sero

cases of human rghs voaons and dsregar

envronmena proecon and susanaby (

2014a).

Gap curreny operaes 3,300 sores and emp

more han 150,000 empoyees across her

goba producon nework. (ILO 2014; Dona

Gap 5th Avenue, New York

by Ingruno censed under CC3.0

Campagners on Oxford Sree, London ca on Gap o ensure beer safey n her Bangadesh facor

To dae, Gap has refused o make a conracua commmen o work wh her suppers o ensure h

repars are made.

by Trade Unon Congress censed under CC 2.0. jpg


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6 7

2016a). Brands ke Gap wed he poena o

ransform workng condons hrough her

suppy chans. Gap has no, however, commed

o ensurng a vng wage for workers beyond U.S.

empoyees and fas o dscose her suppers

creang sgnican barrers o aowng abour

rghs groups, he governmen and oher pares

o monor abour rghs n her drec supper

and subconracor facores. Raher han

uphodng rghs and work for garmen workers

overseas, Gap manans hgh pressure sourcng

modes whn he garmen goba producon

nework ha creae overwhemng ncenves for

facores o reduce coss and speed producon bygnorng abour sandards.

In recen years, he saus of Gap commmens

o human rghs a work has been he subjec

of numerous sudes by abour unons, human

rghs organzaons and her aesrangng

from Human Rghs Wach o he Insue for

Goba Labour and Human Rghs. In he ead up

o he 105h Sesson of he Inernaona Labour

Conference, focused for he irs me on decen

work n goba suppy chans, hs repor revss

he saus of Gaps commmens o decen work

hrough he ens of rghs a work as hey are

proeced under Inernaona Labour Organzaon

(ILO) convenons and oher nsrumens.

Sheddng gh on he gaps n mpemenaon of

Gap commmens, voaons of nernaona

abour sandards and chaenges Gap may face

n uphodng commmens o decen work,hs repor conrbues new research coeced

hrough nervews wh 150 workers n Inda

and Indonesa engaged n Gap suppy chans.

These recen indngs, coeced beween Augus

and Ocober 2015, are suaed n conex of

boh prevous sudes on Gap suppy chans n

Camboda, Inda and Indonesa and he broader

conex of he goba producon nework.

Secon one provdes a bref overvew of goba

producon neworks n genera and he garmen

goba producon nework n parcuar. I

ounes key shts n empoymen reaonshps

as producon processes evove o ncude severa

companes across mupe counres. Ths secon

aso races he concenraon and dsrbuon of

conro over producon processes across varous

acors n he garmen goba producon nework.

Secon wo revews Gap pubc commmens o

promong decen work n her suppy chans,

ncudng hrough he Gap Code of Conduc and

parnershp programs. Where possbe, ncudesdscussons and research on he ecacy of hese

naves o dae.

Secon hree provdes a bref overvew of he

marke share of Asan garmen vaue chans and

more focused counry proies on he Cambodan,

Indan and Indonesan garmen ndusres. These

secons am o conexuaze emprca indngs on

workng condons presened n he ina secon

of he repor.

Secon four dscusses, n dea, he nensve

abour expoaon and abuse faced by workers

n Gap suppy chans n Camboda, Inda and

Indonesa. Recen emprca indngs are

suppemened wh evdence of rghs voaons

drawn from exsng sudes. In hs secon he

human rghs voaons and consequences of

precarous work n he Gap suppy chan are

arcuaed hemacay n order o surface hepaern of rghs voaons across Camboda, Inda

and Indonesa.

Recommendaons

for the ILO at the

Internaonal Labour

Conference, 2016

The ILOthe only globaltripartite institutionhas aunique role to play in setting

standards for all of the actorsthat impact fundamentalprinciples and rights at work.

As deaed n hs repor on he garmen goba

producon nework (GPN), due o he scae

of goba rade accouned for by Goba Vaue

Chans (GVCs) here s an urgen need for goba

mechansms o monor and reguae GVCs

and GPNs. The ILOhe ony goba rpare

nsuonhas a unque roe o pay n seng

sandards for a of he acors ha mpac

fundamena prncpes and rghs a work.

Transnaona Corporaons (TNCs) and her

suppers have a duy o obey naona aws and

respec nernaona sandardsespecay hose

peranng o reazaon of he fundamena

prncpes and rghs a work. A number of

ILO core abor sandards, such as he ForcedLabour Convenon, 1930 (No. 29), Prooco

o he Forced Labour Convenon, 2014 and

accompanyng Recommendaon, aready proec

workers n vaue chans. However, as hs repor

deas, changes n he modern workpace and

gobazaon of vaue chans has opened up new

gaps n he proecon of fundamena prncpes

and rghs a work. In addon o carfyng he

appcaon of exsng sandards n goba vaue

chans, he ILO shoud se new sandards and

enforcemen mechansms and encourage na

governmens o do he same.

The ILO Trpare decaraon of prncpes

concernng munaona enerprses and soc

pocy (MNE Decaraon), 2006 provdes a

good sarng pon. However, whn he MN

Decaraon, MNE refers ony o subsdares

franchses. Accordngy, GVCs and GPNs n h

curren form are no covered by hs Decara

The need of he hour s for he ILO o carfy

updae s sandards and mechansms o pro

workers empoyed by ransnaona corpora(TNCs) across vas GPNs.

The foowng recommendaons emerge from

our experence promong rghs a work n g

vaue chans.

1. Gven he we-documened and rampan

expoaon of workers and resources by MN

operang hrough GVCs, and nong he m

reguaon under naona ega regmes, he

shoud move owards a bndng ega conven

reguang GVCs.

1.1. Sandards under hs convenon mu

be a eas as eecve and comprehensve

as he UN Gudng Prncpe on Busness an

Human Rghs and exsng OECD mechan

ncudng he 2011 OECD Gudenes for

Munaona Enerprses.

1.2. The Convenon shoud ncude he

foowng componens, among ohers:

1.2.1. Imposon of aby and susa

conracng, capazaon and/or ohe

requremens on ead irms o ensure

accounaby hroughou he GVC.

1.2.2. Esabshmen of a Goba Labou

Inspecorae wh monorng and

enforcemen powers.

1.2.3. Pubcy accessbe ransparency


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8 9

raceaby provsons.

1.2.4. Specic provsons ha address he

speca vuneraby of mgran workers n

GVCs.

1.2.5. Specic provsons ha address he

speca vuneraby of women workers n

GVCs.

1.2.6. Lms on he use of emporary,

ousourced, sef-empoyed, or oher forms

of conrac abor ha m empoyer

aby for worker proecons.

2. Pursue a Recommendaon on human rghsdue dgence ha akes no accoun and buds

upon exsng due dgence provsons ha are

evovng under he Uned Naons Gudng

Prncpes on Busness and Human Rghs and

he 2011 OECD Gudenes for Munaona

Enerprses.

3. Take he foowng compemenary measures

o proec workers empoyed n goba vaue

chans:

3.1. Recognze he rgh o vng wage as a

human rgh and esabsh vng wage crera

and mechansms.

3.2. Promoe secor-based and ransnaona

coecve barganng and urge counres o

remove naona ega barrers o hese forms of

coecve acon.

3.3. Expand work owards he emnaon

of forced abour, ncudng promong

raicaon and mpemenaon of he ForcedLabour Convenon, 1930 (No. 29), Prooco

o he Forced Labour Convenon 1930 and

accompanyng Recommendaon, 2014.

3.4. Connue programs o ensure soca

proecon, far wages and heah and safey a

every eve of GVCs.

4. Convene research o nform ILO goba suppy

chan programmng, ncudng:

4.1. Research on adverse mpacs of TNC

purchasng pracces upon

4.1.1. Core abour sandards for a

caegores of workers across vaue chans.

4.1.2. Wages and beneis for a caegores

of vaue chan workers. Ths research shoud

am o sasfy basc needs of workers and

her fames.

4.1.3. Access o fundamena rghs o food,

housng, and educaon for a caegores of

vaue chan workers and her fames.

4.2. Research no he range of goba acorsha may have everage over GVCs ncudng

nvesors, hedge funds, penson funds and GVC

neworks ha deine ndusry sandards such as

Free on Board (FOB) prces.

4.3. Research no he ypes of echnca

advce needed by OECD governmen

parcpans akng a mu-sakehoder

approach o address rsks of adverse mpacs

assocaed wh producs.

4.4. Research no mechansms depoyed

by auhorave acors whn GVCs ha

conrbue o voaons of fundamena

prncpes and rghs a work, ncudng bu no

med o aacks on freedom of assocaon,

coecve barganng, forced overme, wage

het and forced ab our.

4.5. Snce women represen he greaes

majory of garmen workers, he suaon

of women shoud be urgeny ncuded n

monorng programmes o assess he specrumof her cnca, soca and persona rsks.

4.6. Requre an urgen, epdemoogca sudy

no deahs and dsabes resung from

condons of work and fe of garmen workers.

Ths nformaon shoud be made avaabe

pubcy and o nernaona agences.

5. Organze a Trpare Conference on he

adverse mpac of conracng and purchasng

pracces upon mgran workers rghs. Ths

conference shoud focus on:

5.1. Proecon of mgran rghs as conferred

under he UN Inernaona Convenon on he

Proecon of he Rghs of a Mgran Workers

and Members of her Fames.

5.2. The nersecon of mgran rghs and ILO

naves o promoe Decen Work n Goba

Suppy Chans.


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10 11 ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

AFWA

AFWA-C

AFWA-I

CCAWDU

CCC

CENTRAL

GMAC

HRW

ILC

ILO

ILRF

MLVT

NCEUS

NCR

SLD

TATA

TCLF

USAS

WRC

Asia Floor Wage Alliance

Asa Foor Wage Camboda

Asia Floor Wage Indonesia

Coaon of Cambodan Appare Workers

Democrac Unon

Cean Cohes Campagn

Cener for Aance of Labor and Human Rghs

Garmen Manufacurers Assocaon n Camboda

Human Rghs Wach

Inernaona Labour Conference

Inernaona Labour Organzaon

Inernaona Labour Rghs Forum

Mnsry of Labour and Vocaona Tranng

Naona Commsson on Enerprses n he

Unorganzed Secor

Naona Capa Regon

Socey for Labour and Deveopmen

Texes and Appare Trade Agreemen

Texe, Cohng, Leaher and Foowear

Uned Sudens Agans Sweashops

Worker Rghs Consorum

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

FIGURES

Figure 1: Basc needs ncuded n Asa Foor Wage cacuaons

Figure 2: Asa Foor Wage cacuaons consder inanca dependens and correspondng

responsby of workers

Figure 3: Progressve ncrease n Cambodan mnmum wages, 2012-2016

TABLES

Table 1: Overvew of sudy respondens n Deh-NCR, IndaTable 2: Overvew of sudy respondens n Indonesa

Table 3: 2015 Asa Foor Wage Fgure n oca currences

Table 4: Asan counres share of goba appare expors, 2000-2013

Table 5: Average mnmum wage ncrease across secors for seeced provnces n Camboda,

2010-2013

Ths repor s one n of a seres of repors,

ened Workers Voces from he Goba Suppy

Chan: A Repor o he ILO 2016. Invesgaon of

producon condons n Gap facores n Inda

and Indonesa was coordnaed by he Socey for

Labour and Deveopmen (SLD).

Desk research and wrng was compeed by

Ananya Basu and Shkha Sman Bhaacharjee,

JD. Daa anayss was conduced by Ananya Basu

and Vsmay Basu. Prmary daa coecon was

underaken by Syarf Arin, Lembaga Informas

Perburuhan Sedane (LIPS), n Bogor Indonesa;

Vsmay Basu, Deh-NCR based Socey for Labour

and Deveopmen (SLD) n Inda; and Joe Preson,

Cener for Aance of Labor & Human Rghs

(CENTRAL) n Camboda.

Ths repor was eded by Anannya Bhaacharjee.

Recommendaons for he ILO a he Inernaona

Labour Conference, 2016 were formuaed by a

group of organzaons, ncudng he nernaona

Asa Foor Wage Aance, Jobs wh Jusce (USA),

Naona Guesworkers Aance (USA), and Socey

for Labour and Deveopmen (Inda).

We exend graude o he workers who shared

her me, experence and maeras for he

purpose of hs sudy.


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Inervews wh workers were conduced a worker housng coones such as hs one n Gurgaon, Inda.


12 13

Anayss of srucured nervews amed o denfy

voaons of rghs a work proeced under

Inernaona Labour Organzaon sandards,

naona aws and he Gap Code of Vendor

Conduc.

These indngs have been suaed n conex

of he goba garmen producon neworks

and prevous research on Gap suppy chans.

Secondary sources ncuded repors on producon

condons n he garmen ndusry, academc

arces and newspaper repors.

India

In Inda, research ncuded nvesgaon

of workng condons n four Gap supper

companes (Tabe 2). In order o proec he

deny of workers nervewed for hs sudy, n

some cases he names of parcuar producon

uns have been whhed. In oa, we nervewed

50 workers engaged n producng Gap garmens

whn he Deh, Naona Capa Regon (NCR).

Table 1: Overvew of sudy respondens n Deh-

NCR, Inda

Supplier No. of respondents

Oren Crat 20

Pear Goba 12

Pyognam 8

Tes N Ra 10

Toa: 50

Indonesa

In Indonesa, research ncuded nvesgaon of

workng condons n 4 Gap supper companes

(Tabe 2). In order o proec he deny of

workers nervewed for hs sudy, n some cases,

names of parcuar producon uns have be

whhed.

In oa, we nervewed 100 workers engage

producng Gap garmens whn Indonesa an

surroundng areas.

Table 2: Overvew of sudy respondens n

Indonesia

Supplier No. of responde

Panca Prima 30

Pura Par Seja 30Sandraine 20

Tanan Enerprses

Indonesia

20

Toa: 100

METHODOLOGY

Ths repor s based upon 150 srucured

nervews conduced beween Augus and

Ocober 2015 wh garmen workers n Phnom

Penh, Camboda; Bogor, Indonesa; and he Deh,

Naona Capa Regon (NCR), Inda. Srucured

nervews were conduced by Sedane Labour

Resource Cenre/Lembaga Informas Perburuhan

Sedane (LIPS) n Indonesa and he Deh-based

Socey for Labour and Deveopmen (SLD) nInda. Invesgave iedwork was conduced

n Camboda by Cener for Aance of Labor &

Human Rghs (CENTRAL). Ths nformaon was

conexuazed hrough furher nervews wh

workers and rade unon acvss.

New emprca indngs on workng condons

n Gap facores are based upon daa coecon

and anayss of workng condons n 8 Gap

supper facores, ncudng 4 supper facores

n Indonesa and 4 supper facores n he Deh-

NCR, Inda.

Inervews ased beween 30 and 65 mnues. A

worker nervews were conduced n person wh

fu consen from workers. Inervews ook pace n

workers resdences, ater workng hours or durng

me o. In order o proec he deny of workerswho parcpaed n hs sudy, a ndvdua names

have been changed. To ensure ha workers

canno be denied based upon denfyng case

nformaon, facores are referenced by company

name bu n some cases ocaons of parcuar

producon uns have been removed. In Inda,

nervews were conduced n Hnd. In Indonesa,

nervews were conduced n Bahasa.

Documenng rghs voaons n Gap facores s parcuary chaengng because Gap refuses o dscose

basc nformaon abou s suppers.

Asa Foor Wage Aance


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14 15

Part 1Global garment producon

Ths secon ams o suae new emprca indngs

on workng condons n Gap facores n Inda,

Indonesa and Camboda whn he broader

conex of goba producon neworks n genera

and he garmen goba producon nework

n parcuar. Ths basc overvew ounes key

shts n empoymen reaonshps as producon

processes evolve to include several companies

across mupe counres. I aso denies rends

n concenraon and dsrbuon of conro over

producon processes across varous acors n he

garmen goba producon nework.

Global producon

networks

The Goba Producon Nework (GPN) s a

erm ha descrbes conemporary producon

sysems, characerzed by producon processes

ha nvove severa companes across mupe

counres. Companes nked hrough GPNs

are reaed hrough varous ega forms, wh

exchanges beween irms srucured so ha

ransnaona corporaons (TNCs) do no egay

own overseas subsdares or franchsees bu

ony ousource producon o hem. The UNCTAD

Word Invesmen Repor 2013 noes he srucure

and prevaence of hs mode of producon:

Todays goba economy s characerzed

by goba vaue chans (GVCs), n whchintermediate goods and services are traded

n fragmened and nernaonay dspersed

producon processes. GVCs are ypcay

coordnaed by TNCs, wh cross-border rade

of npus and oupus akng pace whn her

neworks of aaes, conracua parners and

arms-engh suppers. TNC-coordnaed GVCs

accoun for some 80 per cen of goba rade.

(UNCTAD 2013)

TNC-coordinated GVCsaccount for some 80 percenof global trade.

As descrbed by UNCTAD, GPNs sht marke

reaonshps beween irms from rade

reaonshps o quas-producon reaonsh

whou he rsks of ownershp. Whn hs m

TNCs drve coordnaed producon of goods

dsbursng rsk assocaed wh marke lucu

across goba vaue chans.

Garment global

producon networks

As descrbed by he Inernaona Labour

Organzaon (ILO), he Texe, Cohng,

Leaher and Foowear (TCLF) s characerzed

by geographcay dspersed producon and

rapd marke-drven changes (ILO 2016). Bran

engage n hgh vaue marke research, desgn

saes, markeng and inanca servces. They

ypcay ousource garmen producon o T

1 companes. Ter 1 companes may, n urn,

subconrac some or a of he garmen produ

process o manufacurng companes known

suppers. Ths producon srucure aows b

and reaers o drve coordnaed producon

of goods by capazng upon new echnoogy

reaxed reguaory frameworks and a suppy

ow wage abour n deveopng counres (Gh

2015). Whe brands and reaers do no car

producon, hey drve sourcng and produc

paerns overseas. Ths producon mode ha

been characerzed as a buyer-drven vaue c

(Barra 2014).


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Indonesan workers ray for decen work

by AFWA

16 17

through the use of exible jcontracts, unemployment dto uctuations in productioand downward pressure onwages.

Due o he srucure of garmen vaue chans

workers bear he brun of goba uncerane

whn he ndusry. Indusra uncerany ca

by buyer purchasng pracces s dspaced up

workers hrough he use of lexbe job conr

unempoymen due o lucuaons n produc

and downward pressure on wages. Obsaces

freedom of assocaon and coecve bargan

furher undermne workers negoaon pow

Accordng o hs mode, he srucure of garmen

vaue chans can be dvded no ive man

segmens:

Segmen 1: raw maera suppy, ncudng

naura and synhec ibers;

Segmen 2: componen suppy, ncudng yarn

and fabrcs;

Segmen 3: producon neworks, ncudng

domesc and overseas subconracors;

Segmen 4: expor channes esabshed by

rade nermedares;

Segmen 5: markeng neworks a he rea

eve. (Ghosh 2015)

Frms ha conro desgn, brandng and markeng

(segmen 5) aso conro sourcng decsons.

Producon coss are one sgnican facor n

deermnng sourcng preferences. Decsons

regardng how vaue addon acves and prois

are dsrbued aong he vaue chan, n urn, have

a sgnican mpac upon empoyers, workers and

markes n producng counres. Proi generaon

by capazng upon prce derenas beween

markes has been referred o as goba abour

arbrage(Roach 2004).

Assemby (segmen 3) s ypcay separaed

organzaonay and geographcay from oher

vaue generang aspecs of he vaue chan.

Produc suppers and her workers (segmen 3)

depend upon orders from markeng neworks,

irms and brands (segmen 5). Ter 1 companes

hodng prmary conracs wh brands otensubconrac producon o smaer suppers. A

hs eve of he vaue chan, Ter 1 companes

compee for conracs wh buyers. In a parae

process, subconracors compee for conracs

wh Ter 1 companes (Ghosh 2015).

Brands ypcay draw a dsncon beween

her aby for auhorzed and unauhorzed

subconracs. Unauhorzed subconracors

may aso be unregsered and herefore

ousde he purvew of governmen reguaon.

Due o dmnshed governmen and brand

accounabyespecay among unregsered

suppers, workng condons among garmen

subconracors have been found o deerorae

(Kashyap 2015). Whn hs srucure, empoyers

and workers engaged n assemby operaons,

ncudng prmary schng and embeshmen,

have comparavey e negoang power

(Ghosh 2015).

Rise in employment ofcontract workers hasbeen attributed to buyerpurchasing practices:downward pressure onthe prices paid to supplierscombined with increasinglyunpredictable and extremeseasonal variation inproduction, together, requiregarment suppliers to reduceproduction costs.

Snce 2010, garmen brand and rea members

of he UK Ehca Tradng Inave (ETI) have

repored an ncreasng reance on conrac abourwhn garmen vaue chans, marked by a growh

n he proporon of he workforce ha consss

of conrac workers. Conrac work s parcuary

wdespread n Bangadesh, Inda, Paksan and

Turkey. These rends have been assocaed wh

he onse of he goba inanca crss n 2007-

2008. Rse n empoymen of conrac workers has

been arbued o buyer purchasng pracces:

downward pressure on he prces pad o suppers

combned wh ncreasngy unpredcabe

and exreme seasona varaon n producon,

ogeher, requre garmen suppers o reduce

producon coss. Conrac workers cos ess o

empoy per un because hey oten receve ower

wages and rarey receve non-wage beneis,

ncudng pad eave and soca secury beneis.

These erms of empoymen eave conrac

workers parcuary vunerabe o expoaon,

wh poorer workng condons and a hgher

rsk of serous abuse when compared o drecy

empoyed workers (Chan 2013).

Industrial uncertainty causedby buyer purchasing practicesis displaced upon workers


10/36

18 19

Part 2Overvew of Gap naves to promote

decent work

Brand and rea codes of conduc esabshng

soca and envronmena prncpes have

deveoped n response o an-sweashop and

consumer-drven accounaby movemens n

Europe and he Uned Saes. In some cases,

hese codes of conduc have been deveoped

hrough mu-sakehoder naves, ncudng

corporae, non-governmena organzaon, rade

unon, sae and academc represenaves (Barra

2014).

Gap has commed o severa naves for

mprovng he ves of empoyees wordwde. Ther

pubc commmen o promong decen workhas been announced n he Gap Code of Conduc,

Gap Human Rghs Pocy, Aance for Bangadesh

Worker Safey and parnershps wh he ILO

and oher ndusry sakehoders. Whe codes of

conduc and oher measures descrbed n hs

repor consue decaraons of nen hey do

no generae bndng ega obgaons.

Ths secon revews Gaps pubc commmens

o promong decen work n her suppy chans.

Where possbe, ncudes dscussons and

research on he ecacy of hese naves o

dae.

GAP Prncples and

Standards of Work

Our eam aks exensvey wh workers a

facores where our cohes are made, and we

foow up on he ssues we ind. We focus much

of our me on compex ssues such as ackng

he use of unauhorzed subconracng, ire

and safey ssues nsde facores, freedom of

assocaon and excessve overme.Gap 2016

Gap ounes s prncpes and sandards of w

n wo documens, he Gap Human Rghs Po

broad framework conanng prncpes gove

Gap work spaces and empoymen reaonsh

and he Code of Vendor Conduc, ha esab

sandards ha supper facores need o me

n order o work wh Gap. Accordng o he

Human Rghs Pocy, hese prncpes are bn

for a drec empoyees and goba suppers.

The Gap Code of Vendor Conduc deas mod

gudene for busness wh suppers across

connens. As a rue, Gap cams o engage

n busness wh ony suppers ha are ncompance wh a gudenes ouned n he

documen. Suppers are aso expcy requr

o nves n budng monorng sysems ha

facae assessmen of sourcng facores. Th

documen aso spes ou requremens for d

workng condons ha mus be foowed by

suppers and apped o a workers, ncudn

hose hred on conracs. Furher anayss of

Code of Conduc and enforcemen of he sam

nforms he secon on rghs voaon.

Gap support for

Calforna Transparen

n Supply Chans Act

In January 2012, Gap suppored he CafornTransparency n Suppy Chans Ac. The Ac se

o abosh chd, bonded abour and human

rackng n goba suppy chans. I requres

companes o pubcy dscose he seps hey

akng o denfy and eradcae forced abou

her suppy chans.

To uphod he causes n he Ac, Gap has pub

decared srngen monorng mechansms,


11/36

20 21

including periodic social audits and review

processes for each of her sourcng facores

amed a ensurng he absence of rackng and

bonded abour.

Gap has ouned severa seps desgned o

proec conrac workers. These ncude ocay-

hred Soca Responsby Specass asked

wh monorng Gap commmens o decen

work for conrac workers. Accordng o Gap

repors accessed n 2016, n 2012, he eam

monored more han 923 acve, fu-year

facores, aegedy hrough announced and

unannounced auds96.4 percen of he acve,fu-year garmen facores produce Gap Inc.

branded appare. Gap aso cams o requre

ha vendors cerfy ha maeras ncorporaed

no he produc compy wh aws regardng

savery and human rackng n he counry of

busness. Fnay, Gap cams o provde ranng o

empoyees and managemen wh responsby

for suppy chan managemen (Gap 2016a).

Ths approach has sgnican shorcomngs:

Monorng year-round facores neher

accouns for workng condons for conrac

workers n facores ha do no produce year

round nor for producon uns ha receve

subconracs from Gap fu me facores.

Gven he srucure of he garmen gobavaue chan, hese ypes of producon

processes are boh hghy sgnican and aso

he se of he mos sgnican rghs abuses.

Based upon a 2016 search, no monorng

repors have been reeased for 2013, 2014 or

2015.

Monorng s conduced by an nerna se of

Soca Responsby Specass hred by Gap.

Ths monorng srucure does no produce

exerna evauaons.

Monorng repors are mpossbe o verfy

snce Gap does no dscose facory ocaons

or parcuar voaons dsaggregaed by

facory.

Wage standards

In a survey conduced by he Cean Cohes

Campagn, Gap decared ha her concepon of

a vng wage vares from he sandard deinon

used gobay.

We reman commed o he prncpe ha

wages for a sandard workng week shoud

mee he basc needs of facory workers an

provde hem wh dscreonary ncome. O

approach o wages s agned wh nerna

ega sandards se by he ILO and n accord

wh he ETIs Base Code, as we as wh SA

prncpes (CCC 2014).

Gap has no, however, reeased a formua or

mehodoogy for deermnng vng wage ra

Fng hs concepua Gap, he Asa Foor Wa

Aance (AFWA), a goba coaon of rade uworkers rghs and human rghs organzao

provdes a deaed formua for cacuang v

wages across naona conexs. The AFWA

deinon of a vng wage species ha vng

wage cacuaons mus ncude suppor for a

famy members, basc nurona needs of a

worker and oher basc needs, ncudng hou

Figure 1: Basc needs ncuded n Asa Foor Wage cacuaons

Figure 2:Asa Foor Wage cacuaons consder inanca dependens and correspondng responsb

workers


12/36

22 23

heahcare, educaon and some basc savngs.

The Asa Foor Wage Aance bases her

cacuaons on he foowng consderaons:

A worker needs o suppor hemseves

and wo oher consumpon uns. [One

consumpon un suppors eher one adu or

wo chdren.] (Fgure 2)

An adu requres 3000 caores a day n order

o carry ou physcay demandng work n

good heah.

Whn Asa, food coss amoun for haf of a

workers monhy expendure.

Based upon hese assumpons, he Asa FoorWage s cacuaed n Purchasng Power Pary $

(PPP$). Ths icous Word Bank currency s bu

upon consumpon of goods and servces, aowng

sandard of vng beween counres o be

compared regardess of he naona currency. In

order o cacuae annua Asa Foor Wage igures,

he AFWA carres ou reguar and ongong food

baske research (AFWA 2016a).

Accounng for hgh nlaon, Asa Foor Wage

igures are cacuaed annuay. As expaned by

AFWA Coordnaor, Anannya Bhaacharjee:

The gap beween he mnmum wage and he

cos of vng has wdened n recen years. Hgh

nlaon has sen he cos of vng soarng n

many Asan counres, bu sarng saares

reman unchangedoten for severa years.

(Pasareo 2013)

AFW annua PPP$ wage igures are herefore

cacuaed annuay based upon up o dae

naona food baske research. For nsance,

he 2015 Asa Foor Wage igure s PPP$ 1021.

These wage igures are hen convered no oca

currency (Tabe 3)(AFWA 2016b).

Table 3: 2015 Asa Foor Wage Fgure n oca

currencies

Country Asia Floor Wage in

local currency

Camboda 1,630,045 Re

India 18,727 Rupees (INR)

Indonesia 4,684,570 Rupah

Sr Lanka 48,608 Rupees (SLR)

The AFW wage cacuaon mehod provdes annsrucve mode for Gap and oher brands n

seng vng wages ha correspond o workers

needs and consder rsng coss of vng.

Inaves on workng

condons

Gap has parnered wh Vere, a U.S. based non-

governmena organzaon wh he arcuaed

objecve of mprovng workng condons. Ths

nave cams o measure and mprove how

much workers fee vaued and engaged a work.

The coaboraon aegedy ams o focus on

workers and her voces n order o mprove her

experence of work.

Wh smar cams o aendng o workers

needs, n 2011, Gap Inc. creaed a Brand

Inegraon and Vendor Performance projec eam.

Gap decared ha he eors woud be dreced

owards gaherng daa on vendors for eecng

change a he eve of managemen n he supper

facores. Saed naves ncude:

meeng wh eaders n he Gap Inc. Sourcng

Deparmen o examne any ssues reaed o

workng condons ha may have semmed

from decsons a headquarers;

meeng reguary wh sraegc and

ow-performng vendors o assess her

performance agans Gaps Code of Vendor

Conduc and dscuss how he mng and

pannng of Gaps orders are aecng her

workers; ranng a new hres n nvenory

managemen, merchandsng, producon, and

sourcng on he mporance of responsbe

purchasng pracces; and

hghghng case sudes and oos o ensure

ha facory orders are made wh a fu

undersandng of her poena mpac on

workers.

The espoused ams of hese naves, howeve

are n sark conras o Gap responses o wor

ed naves o engage he brand n mprov

workng condons. For nsance, Gap was n

o engage wh workers a he Peopes Trbu

Lvng Wage as a fundmana rgh of Sr Lan

garmen workers, hed from March 17-28, 20

Coombo; Cambodan garmen workers, hedFebruary 5-8, 2012 n Phnom Penh, Cambod

Indan garmen workers, hed from Novembe

22-25, 2012 n Bangaore; and Indonesan ga

workers, hed from June 21-24, 2014 n Jakar

Gap dened nvaons o engage wh worke

a each of hese rbunas, despe beng no

of perssen rghs voaons n her suppe

facores (Buer 2012; Barra 2014).

Garmen workers n Inda proes agans Gap for unfar abour pracces.



13/36

24 25

Beer Work

Programme

Gap irs engaged wh he ILO n 2001 a he sar

of he Beer Facores Camboda programme.

Ths nave ed o he creaon of he ILO Beer

Work Programme n 2007, whch Gap joned as

a parner. Ths parnershp beween he ILO and

he Inernaona Fnance Corporaon (IFC) seeks

o hep governmens, workers and companes

acheve compance wh he ILOs core abor

sandards as we as naona abor aws.

In counres where Beer Work programs are

esabshed, Gap subscrbes o Beer Work

assessmen repors and has sopped her own

monorng. In 2011-12 Gap Inc. cams o have

coaboraed wh Beer Work n Camboda,

Ha, Indonesa, Jordan, Lesoho, Ncaragua, and

Venam o monor more han 90 facores.

The exen o whch Gap engages wh he Beer

Work assessmen modue vares accordng o

counres. For nsance a regsered branded

appare suppers n Camboda, Ha, Jordan and

Lesoho are egay requred o parcpae n he

Beer Work program. However, n Venam, Beer

Work monored approxmaey 30 percen of

he facores sourced from over ha me perod

(2016b).

Beer Work Programmes pay an mporan roe n

monorng workng condons n expor-orened

facores, ncudng by producng facory repors,

provdng echnca gudance and supporng

remedaon of abour rghs voaons when

facores engage her servces.

However, workers and abour rghs acvss

have voced concerns abou facory monorng

mehods, coverage and ransparency. For

nsance, Human Rghs Wach reveaed ha n

Camboda, workers repored beng coached by

facory managemen and beng unabe o engage

wh brand represenaves, exerna monors,

governmen ocas or Beer Facory Camboda

(BFC) monors. As one worker repored o Human

Rghs Wach:

Before ILO comes o check, he facory arranges

everyhng. They reduce he quoa for us so

here are fewer peces on our desks. ILO came

n he aternoon and we a found ou n he

mornng hey were comng. They od us o

ake a he maeras and hde n he sock

room. We are od no o e hem he facorymakes us do overme work for so ong. They

aso e us ha s [we] say anyhng we w ose

busness.

Workers n Camboda caed for mechansms o

repor voaons of rghs a work o BFC monors

o se whou fear of surveance or reaaon

by managemen. Conirmng hs narrave, BFC

expers repored o Human Rghs Wach ha

her monors were aware of facores coachng

workers and ha hey aemped o mgae he

mpac of coachng as much as possbe. Labour

rghs acvss repored ha he ecacy of BFC s

furher undermned because facory nspecon

repors are made avaabe o managers and

brands bu no o workers or unons whou pror

facory auhorzaon (Kashyap 2015).

Fnay, snce Beer Work Programmes are med

o monorng and advsory servces and ackenforcemen auhory, abour rghs acvss

have crque he programme on he grounds ha

ack of ransparency and faure o reease brand

names reduces brand accounaby for rghs

voaons n her suppy chans (Kashyap 2015).

Personal Advancement

& Career Enhancement

(P.A.C.E)

In 2014, Gap Inc. became he irs Forune 500

Company o announce ha pays femae and

mae empoyees equay for equa work around

he word. Curreny women make up more han

70% of Gap Inc.s wordwde empoyee base,

ncudng n sourcng facores. Addonay,

women curreny ead four ou of ive Gap Inc.brands.

In order o mee arcuaed commmens o

gender equay, Gap naed he Persona

Advancemen and Career Enhancemen

programme. The P.A.C.E programme ams o

secure sk enhancemen for women empoyees.

Accordng o Gap, hs programme s curreny

acve n 7 counres and more han 25,000

women have parcpaed n he program snce

s ncepon n 2007. Gap Inc. has made a

commmen o scae and expand he program o

reach one mon women by he end of 2020 (Gap

2016c).

Accordng o a repor by he Inernaona Cener

for Research on Women (ICRW), conduced

by ICRW from 2009 - 2013 a sx facory ses

where P.A.C.E. s mpemened - wo n Inda and

one each n Camboda, Venam, Bangadesh

and Chna, P.A.C.E. s an eecve, susanabe

and scaabe mode ha yeds hgh reurns for

women, her fames and he busnesses where

hey work (ICRW 2013).

I s sgnican o noe, however, ha he number

of women reached by hs programme represens

a ny fracon of he number of women suppy

chan workers empoyed by Gap wordwde.

For conex, whn he Gurgaon-Kapashera

producon area of Indas Deh-Naona Cap

Regon (NCR) jus one garmen facory may

empoy up o 7,000 workers. Pu anoher wa

programme n aggregae reaches approxma

he number of workers n four Gap supper

facores.

Allance for Banglade

Worker Safety

On Apr 24, 2013, he Rana Paza, an egh-s

commerca budng, coapsed n Savar sub-

dsrc n he Greaer Area of Dhaka, Banga

The Rana Paza ndusra facory ire ha

ked 1,139 workers and njured 2,500 more

consdered he mos serous faa accden o

occurred n a exe facory n modern hsor

Thousands of garmen workers and her uno

ray on he one-year annversary of he Rana

Paza coapse ha ked more han 1,100

garmen workers.

censed by he Sodary Cener under CC 2.0


14/36

26 27

Following the devastatingcollapse of Rana Plaza,200 brands signed the 2013Accord on Fire and BuildingSafety in BangladeshGapdid not.

Foowng he devasang coapse of Rana

Paza, 200 brands sgned he 2013 Accord on

Fre and Budng Safey n BangadeshGap dd

no. The Accord s a egay-bndng agreemenha comms sgnaory brands and reaers

o requre her facores o undergo essena

safey renovaon, provde inanca asssance

o facores o conduc renovaons as needed

and sop dong busness wh facores ha fa

o underake renovaons accordng o deadnes

esabshed by he Accords ndependen

nspecorae. Accord nspecons are underaken

by quaied safey engneers wh n-deph

experse n ire, budng and eecrca safey.

Jus monhs ater Rana Paza, egh workers

were ked durng a ire a he Aswad facory n

Bangadesh, a known Gap supper. Gap dened

havng a reaonshp wh he company despe

documens ceary showng her nvovemen

(CCC 2014a).

Insead of sgnng he Accord, Gap ogeher wh

Wamar, founded he Aance for Bangadesh

Worker Safey. Unke he egay bndng 2013

Accord on Fre and Budng Safey, he Aance

for Bangadesh Worker Safey s a vounary

measure raher han a conracua commmen.

To dae, Gap has refused o make a conracua

commmen o work wh her suppers and

oca and nernaona rade unons o ensure ha

repars are made and workers have he rgh o

refuse dangerous work.

To date, Gap has refusedto make a contractualcommitment to work withtheir suppliers and local andinternational trade unions toensure that repairs are madeand workers have the right torefuse dangerous work.

Due n no sma par o hs egregous refusa ojon he Accord, n 2014 Gap earned he Pubc

Eye Jury Award from he Berne Decaraon and

Greenpeace Swzerandan award ha ams

o shne a gh on he curren and mos serous

cases of human rghs voaons and dsregard fro

envronmena proecon and susanaby (CCC

2014a).

An mage of he Rana Paza budng ater he

coapse.

Rjans CC 2.0


15/36

2000 2003 2008 2013

TOTAL (in billion

US$)

197.64 233.23 363.87 460.27

Chna 18.25 22.32 33.09 38.55

Bangadesh 2.56 2.42 3.21 5.11

Hong Kong, Chna 12.25 9.93 7.67 4.77

Ve Nam 0.92 1.49 2.40 3.74

India 3.02 2.71 3.01 3.66

Indonesia 2.40 1.74 1.73 1.67

Camboda 0.49 0.69 0.83 1.11

Malasia 1.14 0.88 1.00 1.00

Paksan 1.08 1.16 1.07 0.99

Sranka 1.42 1.08 0.94 0.98

Export Share of top10 Asians

43.54 44.41 54.95 61.57

Export Value of top10 Asians

86.06 103.59 199.94 283.38

Table 4: Asan counres share of goba appare expors, 2000-2013

28 29

Part 3Asan garment value chans Gobay, Asa ops appare expors wordwde. In2013, more han 60% of he 460.27 bon doars

n goba appare expors orgnaed from 10 Asan

counres, ncudngn order of marke share:

Chna, Bangadesh, Hong Kong, Ve Nam, Inda,

Indonesa, Camboda, Maaysa, Paksan and Sr

Lanka (Tabe 3).

Concenraon of garmen producon n Asa can

be arbued o a range of facors. Low wages,

governmen poces, rade pracces, ransacon

me, currency apprecaon and nfrasrucureavaaby a nluence he ocaon of goba

producon nework acves. For nsance, Chna

has sysemacay everaged economes of scae

hrough major nvesmen n he nfrasrucure

of suppy-chan ces. These goba suppy chan

hubs ower ransporaon coss and ncrease he

rae a whch goods ener he marke. Accordngy,

ahough abour coss are much ower n Inda

han n Chna, Chnese irms rean a compe

advanage n he non-abour componens of

coss (Ghosh 2015).

Due o a range of facorsncudng poor

capacy, med resources, nfrasrucura ne

and, n some cases, adverse dsposon owa

proecve abour sandardsnaona abou

sandards n producng counres reman wea

Procvy oward drvng down abour sanda

furhermore, s oten nked o domnan

goba pocy frameworks ha prescrbe abodereguaon as a prerequse o aracng

nvesmen capa (Ghosh 2015).

The foowng secons provde an overvew o

garmen vaue chans n Camboda, Inda and

Indonesa. These counry-eve overvews pro

basc nformaon on marke srucure and

workforce demographcs.


16/36

Camboda

Camboda enered he expor-orened goba

garmen and exe ndusry n he 1990s wh he

passage of he 1993 Consuon of he Kngdom

of Camboda whch esabshed a free marke n

Camboda (CCC 2016a; CCHR 2014). Beween

1995 and 2006, baera rade agreemens wh

he Uned Saes, he European Unon and

Canada spurred growh n he garmen ndusry.

Wh he excepon of a downurn n 2008 durng

he goba economc crss, he ndusry has show

conssen growh (Kashyap 2015). Beween 1995and 2014, he secor grew 200-fod (ILO 2015).

At the time of writing,top brands sourcing fromCambodia include H&M, GAP,Levi Strauss & Co., Adidasand Target (CCC 2016a).

Today, garmen and exe expors are crca

o he Cambodan economy. In 2013, garmens

accouned for 13% of he Cambodan GDP (CCC

2016a). Cambodan goba expors amouned o

roughy USD 6.48 bon, of whch garmen and

exe expors accouned for USD 4.96 bon. By

2014, garmen expors oaed USD 5.7 bon.

The US, EU, Canada and Japan are he arges

mporers of Cambodan garmens, exes and

shoes (Kashyap 2015). A he me of wrng, op

brands sourcng from Camboda ncuded H&M,

GAP, Lev Srauss & Co., Addas and Targe (CCC

2016a).

The Cambodan garmen ndusry s argey

foregn-owned, wh Cambodans ownng

ess han 10% of facores (Kashyap 2015). An

esmaed 85% of garmen facores ocaed n

Camboda are foregn conroed, predomnany

by nvesors from Chna, Hong Kong, Maaysa,

Sngapore, Souh Korea and Tawan (Kashyap2015; CCC 2016). Foregn owned companes have

kep he producon processes whn Camboda

med. The majory o f facores underake cu-

make-rm producon funconsmanufacurng

cohes from mpored exes based upon desgns

provded by nernaona buyers. Ths excusve

focus on producng garmens crcumscrbes he

range of empoymen avaabe o irms and

workers n Camboda (Ghosh 2015).

Phnom Penh s a hub for garmen facores.

However, garmen producon has expanded

o oher areas, ncudng he adjonng Kanda

provnce. In hese areas, facores vary n sze and

operaons, rangng from expor censed fac

wh up o 8,000 workers o sma, unmarked

facores empoyng fewer han 100 workers

These smaer facores argey i subconrac

for arger suppers. Ousourcng of produco

o smaer facores may be eher auhorzed

unauhorzed by appare brands (Kashyap 20

Women between the agesof 18 and 35 dominatethe Cambodian garment

production sector, comprisan estimated 90-95% of theindustrys estimated 700,00workers

Women beween he ages of 18 and 35 dom

he Cambodan garmen producon secor,

comprsng an esmaed 90-95% of he ndus

esmaed 700,000 workers (Barra 2014; Kas

2015). These numbers do no, however, ncu

women engaged n seasona, home-based

garmen work (Fnser 2015; Kashyap 2015).

Cambodian garment workewere found to intake anaverage of 1598 caloriesper day, around half the

recommended amount fora woman working in anindustrial context

The garmen ndusry has been a major sour

of empoymen for young women from rura

areas who mgrae for empoymen o garme

producon hubs (McMuen 2013). In a Febr

30 31

Women domnae he Cambodan garmen producon secor, comprsng an esmaed 90-92% of he

ndusrys 700,000 workers.

Cambodan garmen workers, exac ocaon undscosed, by Asa Foor Wage Aance.


17/36

2012 hearng before he Permanen Peopes

Trbuna hed n Phnom Penh Camboda, Asa

Foor Wage Aance-Camboda (AFWA-C) repored

ha hese nerna mgrans work far from her

fames and communes and are hereby cu o

from radona suppor neworks. Despe her

numerca majory whn he garmen secor,

hey reman whn ow sk eve empoymen and

rarey reach eadershp posons n her unons

(Barra 2014).

Manuron s aso prevaen among Cambodan

garmen workers. Daa gahered by rackng

monhy food purchases by 95 workers empoyedn a range of garmen facores n Camboda,

compared wh recommended amouns and

workers Body Mass Index (BMI), reveaed ha

workers were found o nake a n average of 1598

caores per day, around haf he recommended

amoun for a woman workng n an ndusra

conex (McMuen 2013).

Sexua harassmen s a sgnican concern

for women workers bu due o ack of ega

awareness, women rarey f ever seek access o

jusce n cases of abuse (Barra 2014).

Labour protecons

Arce 36 of he 1993 Consuon of Camboda

provdes for basc abour rghs, ncudng he rgh

o freey chose empoymen, equa pay for equa

work, recognon of househod work, he rgh

o oban soca secury and oher soca beneisand he rgh o form and o be members of rade

unons.

The Cambodan Labour Mnsry s responsbe

for esabshng pocy sandards and engagng n

monorng and compance. The 1997 Cambodan

Labour Law governs a garmen facores.

Irrespecve of her sze. Provsons of he 1997aw reguae workng condons n facores,

ncudng proecon agans dscrmnaon,

wages, overme work, mnmum age, pregnancy

enemens, eave and occupaona heah and

safey sandards. The Labour Mnsry has aso

ssued mode nerna facory reguaons. Despe

hese proecve measures, enforcemen of hese

sandards s weak. Ths s due n par o necen

abour nspecons, corrupon and rapd

expanson of he number of facores n Camboda

(Kashyap 2015).

A 2011 governmen reguaon ounes a se of

permsson and noicaons for suppers engaged

n subconracng. The governmen aso se up an

ner-mnsera commsson comprsng members

drawn from Labour, Commerce and Ineror

Mnseres o race unregsered subconracor

facores and ensure abour compance. Under

hese gudenes, facores wh expor censessubconracng o unregsered facores can face

emporary suspenson of her expor censes and

repea oenders may have her censes evoked

(Kashyap 2015).

In Ocober 2015, he Cambodan governmen

announced a revsed mnmum wage of USD

140 per monh. Ths marked ncrease from he

mnmum wage of USD 66 n November 2011 s

he resu of sgnican wage proess n recen

years ha succeeded n ganng progressve

mnmum wage ncreases beween 2011 and

2015 (Fgure 3). Wages are aso ncreased hrough

he addon of bonuses, ncudng ranspor,

aendance, heah and senory bonuses

(McMuen 2016). Curren mnmum wages,

however, s fa shor of he USD 177 per monh

caed for by garmen workers and unons.

Beer Factores Camboda

In 1999, Camboda sgned he Texes andAppare Trade Agreemen (TATA) wh he Uned

Saes, under whch he Uned Saes mposed

quoas o mpors from Camboda. Under TATA,

Cambodas mpor quoes were o be ncreased

annuay n exchange for a gradua mprovemen

n workng condons n he facores, n

compance wh domesc and nernaona

abour aws and sandards. In 2001, n order o

monor compance wh TATA, he Inernaona

Labour Organzaon (ILO) creaed Beer Facores

Camboda (BFC). BFC, a hrd-pary monor, s

asked wh monorng facores wh an expor

cense. Ahough TATA expred n 2004, he BFC

connues o monor compance wh abour

aws and sandards whn he garmen ndusry.

Parcpaon n he BFC monorng programme

s requred n order o hod a governmen expor

cense (CCHR 2014). Accordng o January 2015

daa, BFC monors 536 garmen and 12 foowear

facores (Kashyap 2015).

BFC pubshes an overvew of workng condons

whn facores hrough synhess repors.

Facory-eve monorng repors are made

avaabe o facores free of cos and nernaona

brands for a cos. Thrd pares, ncudng abour

unons and NGOs are unabe o access monorng

repors uness he facory auhorzes access.

Labour rghs groups have caed for greaer

Figure 3:Progressve ncrease n Cambodan

mnmum wages, 2012-2016

ransparency n BFC monorng and reporn

In March 2014, BFC aunched a Transparency

Daabase ha pubcy names 10 ow compa

facores every hree monhs.

Brands can parcpae n BFC by endorsng B

purchasng monorng repors, empoyng BF

ranng and advsory servces and jonng he

buyers foruma paorm ha brngs ogeh

buyers, governmen auhores, facores an

unons o dscuss key concerns and possbe w

forward.

BFC has been uphed as a mode for he IFC-IBeer Work Programme ha operaes n oh

garmen producng counres, ncudng Ven

Indonesa, Bangadesha and Ha. Ahough B

monors some subconracors ha suppy o

expor censed facores, mandaory mono

s med o expor-orened facores (Kashy

2015).

Garment ManufacturersAssocaon n Camboda

In 1999, he Garmen Manufacurers Assoca

n Camboda (GMAC) was esabshed wh h

expressed purpose of ncreasng coaborao

beween a sakehoders, ncudng he

Cambodan governmen, o creae a beer

busness envronmen. GMAC was ocay

regsered wh he Mnsry of Soca Aars,

Labour, Veeran and Youh Aars as an emp

organzaon. In 2014, GMAC members ncud593 deren garmen and foowear facores

operang across Camboda. In pracce,

GMAC acs as a powerfu obby for garmen

manufacurers o nluence he Cambodan

governmen o mpemen busness frendy

poces and egsaon (CCHR 2015).

32 33


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34 35

India

In 2014, the Indian textile andgarment industry employed45 million workers.

Snce he adopon of berazed economc poces

durng he economc reforms of 1991, he Indan

expor garmen ndusry has emerged as one

of he eadng ndusra segmens n he Indan

economy. Expor earnngs of he appare ndusry

aone were vaued a USD 15.7 bon n 2014 andcombned exe and appare expor earnngs

were vaued a USD 40 bon. In 2013, exes

and cohng conrbued 4% o he gross domesc

produc. In 2014, he Indan exe and garmen

ndusry empoyed 45 mon workers. Despe he

sgnican segmen of Indan workers empoyed

n he garmen ndusry, naona eve daa

on economc and soca proie of he garmen

workforce reman aarmngy hn (Kane 2015).

Today, the major hubs ofgarment manufacturingare located in the industrialclusters of the Delhi-NationalCapital Region (NCR),Bangalore in Karnataka,

Ludhiana in Punjab, Mumbaiin Maharashtra, Jaipur inRajasthan, Kolkata in WestBengal and Tirupur in TamilNadu (Roy 2015).

A majory of workers are mgrans who mgrae

o he ndusra cusers from Andhra Pradesh,

Bhar, Jharkhand, Karnaaka, Madhya Pradesh,

Maharashra, Tam Nadu, Uar Pradesh and

Wes Benga (ICN 2016). For nsance, up o 80%

of garmen workers n Bangaore are beeved

o be mgran workers (Ban 2016). Despe he

saggerng presence of ow wage mgran workers

n he unorganzed secor and her sgnican

economc conrbuons, here are arge gaps n

governmen and cv socey servces o proec

her rghs. For nsance, Indas Iner-Sae

Mgran Workmen Ac, 1979, ams o reguae

workng condons bu s nadequae and

unmpemened, wh no gender perspecve (Roy

2015).

Modernzaon of he Indan exe ndusry has

been pursued vgorousy snce he md-1980s wh

he emnaon of he censng regme, quoas,

and quanave resrcons n an aemp o

arac sae-of-he-ar machnery and echnoogy,

know-how and sk ses from abroad. The massve

drve owards modernzng he exe ndusry

has gone hand-n-hand wh irms resorng o

wdespread nformazaon of he workforce.

Whn he exe ndusry, hs rend has been

mos apparen n he ready-made garmen

ndusry, whch has become a eadng ousourcng

desnaon for TNCs over he pas wo decades

(Srdhar 2014).

Approxmaey 60% of garmen workers n Inda

are women, ahough workpace demographcs

sht dependng upon he regon (Kane 2015). Long

workng hours, hazardous workng condons,

ack of basc servces such as irs ad, drnkng

waer and sanaon aec women workers more

severey han men (Chen 2007). Women workersare aso parcuary vunerabe o ewd commens,

sexs auns and oher forms of harassmen

from supervsors and mae empoyees. Exended

hours n he nforma garmen secor aso

paces women workers n exremey unsafe and

precarous scenaros. They mus rave a ngh

hrough poory areas where hey face growng

ncdences of rape, sexua assau and physca

voence. Women workers are aso rarey gven

sck eave and dened pay durng maerny eave

n voaon of he Maerny Benei Ac, 1961.

The vuneraby of unorganzed secor women

garmen workers s heghened snce mos are

from socay weaker or margnazed secons of

he socey. Ther aby o bargan coecvey

s furher undermned by hgh eves of abour

moby whn he garmen secor.

Labour law changes

Proferaon of unorganzed work whn Indas

garmen secor has ed o a sharp ncrease n

he number of precarous workers engaged

n work ha was once proeced. Common

empoymen pracces o ransform proeced

work no precarous work ncude use of shor-

erm conracs, casuazaon, use of abour suppy

agences and empoymen of foregn and domesc

mgran workers. These empoymen sraeg

are aso used o resrc coecve barganng

and reduce he barganng power of unons. A

a resu, jobs ha were once assocaed wh

reguaed wages and abour sandards gover

pad eave, maerny ben eis, workpace saf

reremen and oher non-wage beneis are

unceran, unpredcabe and rsky for worke

In 2015, he Indan governmen proposed a

seres of abour aws changes ha woud fur

weaken proecon for workers n he garmen

ndusry. The proposed 2015 Drat Code on W

dues proecve sandards, ncudng mnmwage sandards, prohbons on gender-base

dscrmnaon n remuneraon and proece

bonuses; opens he door o rghs abuses,

ncudng arbrary and ega wage deduco

and forced abour; and undermnes accouna

by dsmanng abour aw nspecon and

accounaby mechansms, resrcng he

funconng of workers organzaons and rad

unons and sysemacay undermnng acces

jusce (Bhaacharjee 2016).

The proposed 2015 Drat Code on Indusra

Reaons undermnes he rghs of rade uno

by creang barrers o regsraon, mposng

resrcons on unon governance srucures,

reducng obsaces o canceng unon regsr

and prohbng srkes and ockous. Workers

aso ncreasngy vunerabe o rerenchmen

changes n servce whou pror noce. The

Drat Code on Indusra Reaons smuaneoweakens accounaby for uphodng abour

sandards by dung governmen nspecon

auhory, removng exsng arbraon forum

and appeas mechansms and owerng ncen

o speedy resove ndusra dspues. Fnay

sandng ordersesabshng condons and

reguaonsno onger appy o esabshme

wh ess han 100 workers. Sandng orders,


19/36

36 37

moreover, can now be esabshed whou

workers npu as prevousy requred under he

prncpe ac (Bhaacharjee 2016).

Indonesa

Encompassng producon of fabrc, appare and

eaher goods, he Indonesan exe and cohng

ndusry accouned for amos 2% of naona

GDP and more han 7% of he oa expors n

2013 (GBG 2016). More han 170 foregn brands

and companes are acve n Indonesas garmen

ndusry. In 2014, Indonesa accouned for 2.9%of he word marke for garmen expor, pacng

Indonesa among he op en garmen supper

companes gobay (CCC 2015a). Whe he

ndusry s projeced o reman sow hrough 2016,

forecass predc ha by 2030, exes w emerge

as Indonesas arges expor secor (GBG 2016).

Indonesas garmen ndusry exempies regona

negraon. Indonesa sources coon, expors

yarn, mpors fabrcs and expors garmens.

Indonesa s ranked 9h for goba coon

consumpon bu produces ess han 2% of he

domesc coon demand. Ths deic s ied

hrough raw coon mpors from Braz, he US

and Ausraa ha s hen spun n Indonesa and

eher expored as yarn or furher processed no

coh and garmens (GBG 2016). The prncpe

buyers of yarn from Indonesa are Chna and

Japan. Indonesa sources he majory of fabrc

used n garmen producon from Chna and

Souh Korea (CCC 2015a). Ths negraed exe

manufacurng base s a draw for brands and

nvesors (GBG 2016).

In 2014, he Indonesan garmen, foowear

and exe producons ndusres empoyed an

esmaed 2 mon workers (AFWI-2015). Due

o an economc sowdown n Indonesa n 2015,many smaer garmen producers cosed down

or ired consderabe porons of workers. In

Sepember 2015, he jobs of around 36,000 exe

and garmen empoyees were under hrea from

weak saesaddng o he 45,000 workers who

had aready been e go from facores.

90% of garmen producon s concenraed

on Java Isand, wh 55% n he wesern end of

Java Isand. Cenra and easern Java, however,

are ncreasngy sgnican producon hubs.

The Mnsry of Indusry pans greaer onshore

warehousng of coon and s promong he

Cenra Java provnce as a new exe hub, wh

a dedicated industrial estate planned on its

norhern coas. In order o promoe he ndusry,

he Economc Mnsry s overseeng pocy

changes o promoe speca economc zones, new

ax hodays, ower nghme eecrcy coss, and

ncenves o buy new machnery (GBG 2016).

Accordng o he Beer Work Indonesa Repor,

2013, garmen, exe and foowear ndusres

have very ow eves of compance wh ILO

core convenons and naona aws. Beer work

Indonesa aso repors an ndusry-wde ow eve

of compance wh aws governng overme pay,

provson of soca secury beneis and shor-erm conracua empoymen reaonshps.

Labour law changes

On Ocober 23, 2015, he Indonesan Governmen

ssued Governmen Reguaon No. 78 of 2015

(herenater PP78). PP78 s appcabe for a eas

40 mon forma workers. I reguaed a range of

wages, ncudng mnmum wage, overme wage,

axes and wage ines. Whe some arces codfy

exsng wage reguaonsncudng overme,

pece rae and casua worker remuneraon; ohers

nroduce a new wage sysemncudng a new

mnmum wage formuaon and a new mandaory

wage scae srucure.

A he same me, he Indonesan Governmen

ssued a range of servces and amenes for

nvesors and busnesses. These ncude a Speca

Desk for Texe and Foowear Invesmensand Economc Pocy Package Voume 6. Ths

economc package encourages he operaon of

Speca Economc Zones (SEZs) hrough ncome

ax reducons for 15-25 years, ax aowances for

6 years and compensaon for osses for 5 o 10

years, freedom from payng mpor and expor

axes and auhory o ssue and use perms

and budng rghs. Whn SEZs, abour unons

are resrced and ony abour unon forums

aowed.

Labour unons n Indonesa have rejeced PP7

he grounds ha facaes lexbe empoy

nsues a mnmum wage formua ha eras

workers needs and emnaes he opporun

o negoae before he Mnmum Wage Cou

In proes, abour unons hed demonsraon

and srkes n fron of admnsrave ceners

ndusra esaes. They mobzed nernaon

suppor, ncudng hrough a peon sgned

by one mon peope rejecng PP78. They

aso submed a ca for judca revew o heConsuona Cour of he Repubc of Indon

On Ocober 30, 2015, demonsraons agans

PP78 were voeny repressed by secury for

Labour unon ocas were beaen, kcked an

dragged. 23 abour unon ocas and 2 pub

aorneys were deaned for ressng he sa

(AFWA-I 2015).


20/36

Part 4Precarous work n Gap garment supply chans

Campagners on Oxford Sree,

London ca on Gap o ensure beer

safey n her Bangadesh facores

by Trade Unon Congress CC 2.0

38 39

On Thursday, December 10, 2015, 6000 garmen

workers n Phnom Penh, Kampong Speu and

Kampong Som organzed o proes empoymen

pracces n goba vaue chans headed by Gap

and oher key nernaona reaers. Suppored

by he Coaon of Cambodan Appare Workers

Democrac Unon (CCAWDU), Cambodan workers

sough far wages and workng condons. In

Inda, garmen workers from sx facores ha

produce for brands ncudng Gap raed n

sodary. From dverse ses across he garmen

goba producon nework (GPN), workers and

her aes caed upon brands, ncudng Gap, o

ensure her rghs o earn a vng wage, unonzewhou dsmssa and ress abour aw changes

ha undermne freedom of assocaon, manan

povery eve mnmum wages and facae

lexbe empoymen reaons (Fnser 2015).

The growth of globalproduction networks (GPNs)within the garment industryis an important sourceof employment in manycountries. Jobs for workersat the base of the garmentglobal value chain, however,typically entail precariousemployment relationships,low wages, excessive workinghours and poor workingconditions (Ghosh 2015).

The erm precarous work refers o empoymen

ha s unceran, unpredcabe and rsky from

he perspecve of he worker (Kaeberg 2009).

As empoyers whn he Gap suppy chan seek

o easy adjus her workforce n response

suppy and demand condons, hey genera

more non-sandard work. Suppers, n urn,

o ncreased rsk hrough precarous empoy

reaonshps characerzed by ow wages and

emporary work.

Proferaon of precarous work has a far-rea

mpac upon he naure of work and workpa

and he gender-based dsrbuon of work.

Consequences of precarous work ncude gr

economc nequay, nsecury and nsab

among workers. These forces have severe m

on workers ves and her roes whn herfames and communes (Kaeberg 2009).

Ths sudy denies perssen voaons of r

a work whn Gap vaue chans n Camboda

Inda and Indonesa. I draws upon evdence

rghs voaons coeced hrough 150 sruc

nervews conduced beween Augus and

Ocober 2015 wh garmen workers n he Ja

area of Indonesa and he Gurgaon, Naona

Capa Regon (NCR). Informaon from hese

nervews s suppemened by evdence of r

voaons documened n recen sudes and

repors. Documenaon of rghs voaons

Gap sourcng facores n Camboda s compr

prmary of case sudes and secondary rese

ncudng news meda arces and recen hum

rghs repors.

Whn hs secon, human rghs voaons

and voaons of rghs a work are arcuaehemacay n order o surface he paern o

rghs voaons across Camboda, Inda and

Indonesa. As he ex specas or specazed

n hs area, hs sudy uses ILO abour sanda

proecng workers as a prmary benchmark

denfy rghs voaons. The eraon of he

rghs voaons across Camboda, Indonesa

and Inda suggess he srucura naure of h


21/36

40 41

abuses, reproduced across conexs and negray

nked o he srucure of he garmen GVC.

Documenng rghs voaons n Gap facores

s parcuary chaengng because Gap refuses

o dscose basc nformaon abou s suppers.

In a conex where rampan rghs abuse are

srucuray embedded whn suppy chans, he

mporance of fu pubc dscosure canno be

underesmaed. In response o an

Ocober 2014 nqury by Human Rghs Wach,

Gap ced commerca neress and feasby as

grounds for refusng o dscose suppers:

We curreny do no dscose our supper ss.

There are commerca reasonswe fee ha we

have nvesed a o n our suppy chansome

are our sraegc parners and we don know

he mpcaon of dscosng. And we are s

undersandng he supper sde of hshow

can we manage and updae he s? How can

we manan an accurae and curren s? Im

no sayng we w never dscose bu we don

dscose now (Kashyap 2015).

Gaps concern wh feasby s far from

compeng snce numerous brands do dscose

suppers. H&M, for nsance, sared pubcy

dscosng of suppers n 2013 and updaes

supper ss annuay. In 2014, H&M expanded

her supper ss o ncude facores ha are

approved o perform subconraced or desgnaed

ousourced work (Donadson 2015). Lss of

suppers and desgnaed subconracors areavaabe on he H&M webse.

Accordng o an Apr 2014 eer from H&M o

Human Rghs Wach, whn Camboda, H&M has

even dsrbued a ransaed copy of s suppers

s o oca unons and abour rghs groups o

encourage whsebowng n cases of abusve

abour pracces (Kashyap 2015). Pubc dscosure

of suppers provdes a sep oward accounaby

by aowng abour rghs groups, he governmen

and oher pares o monor abour rghs n

her drec supper and subconracor facores.

Gaps reucance o facae monorng furher

undermnes accounaby for he rghs voaons

deaed n hs secon.

Temporary and contract

workers

The ILO Termnaon of Empoymen Convenon,

1982 (No. 158) and Termnaon of Empoymen

Recommendaon, 1982 (No. 166) govern he use

of shor-erm conracs. These nsrumens ca

upon saes o ensure ha conracs for specic

perods are no used o dmnsh proecon

agans unfar ermnaon. Insead, ixed erm

conracs shoud be med o condons where

he naure of work, crcumsances or neress

of he worker requre hem. In nsances where

shor-erm conracs are renewed one or more

mes, or when hey are no requred, saes are

nsruced o consder ixed erm conracs as

conracs of ndeermnae duraon (R166, Ar. 3).

In order o curb arbrary dsmssas, saes are

requred o mpemen safeguards ncudng

wren warnng foowed by a reasonabe

perod for mprovemen. Where an empoyer

needs o ermnae a worker due o economc,echnoogca, srucura or oher ke

consderaons, hese decsons shoud be made

accordng o pre-deined crera ha consder he

neress of he worker as we as he empoyer

(R166, Ars. 8, 23). Ahough neher Camboda,

Inda nor Indonesa has raied Convenon

No. 158, hs convenon and correspondng

recommendaon provde sgnican gudance

on emergng nernaona norms governng

ermnaon of empoymen.

Deparng from nernaona sandards, he

Gap Code of Vendor Conducconanng he

sandards for sourcng facores se by Gapdoes

no expcy address hrng non-permanen

workers. The documen does conan gudenes

for use of ixed duraon conracs for empoyng

foregn mgrans engaged n conrac abour n a

desnaon counry. Gap has no drec sandards

governng empoymen of conrac and casua

workers.

Temporary and conrac empoymen reaons

are common modes of maintaining a precarious

workforce across goba producon neworks.

Shor-erm conracs make easer o hre and

ire workers. Precarous empoymen reaonshps

wh workers engaged n abour nensve

processes have aowed empoyers whn he

garmen goba producon nework o ensure ha

abour coss are no expended durng cyces when

producon wanes.

Threats of non-renewalundermine workers abilityto demand safe workplaces,exercise their rights tofreedom of association and

refuse overtime work.Iega use of shor-erm conracs s common n

he garmen ndusres of a hree counres

ncudng n Gap suppy chans. Threas of non-

renewa undermne workers aby o demand

safe workpaces, exercse her rghs o freedom

of assocaon and refuse overme work. As

a resu, ega use of shor-erm conracs

undermnes ILO core abour sandards proeced

under he Decaraon on Fundamena Prnc

and Rghs a Work, ncudng he Freedom

of Assocaon and Proecon of he Rgh o

Organze Convenon, 1948 (No. 87) and Rgh

Organze and Coecve Barganng Coneno

1949 (No. 98).

Camboda

Under Cambodan abour aw, facory owner

eher engage workers on undeermned dur

conracs (UDCs) or on ixed duraon conrac

(FDCs) ha specfy a conrac end dae. Faco

managers can ssue FDCs and renew hem onor more mes for up o wo years. If an FDC

exended so ha he oa perod of he con

s more han wo years, hen he conrac w

auomacay urn no a UDC.

FDCs and UDCs confer workers wh dsnc

beneis upon ermnaon:

An FDC ermnaes on a specic end dae

earer wh he agreemen of boh pare

or n cases of serous msconduc or acs

god. If an empoyer premaurey ermna

an FDC for any oher reason, he empoy

ened o remuneraon equa o he wa

she woud have receved un he naura

of he conrac. If he perod of an FDC s

han sx monhs, empoyees are ened

noce pror o ermnaon.

UDCs can be ermnaed a w by he

empoyer or empoyee, bu are subjeced

o specic noce perods based upon heengh of me he empoyee worked. Dur

hese prescrbed noce perods, he wor

ened o wo days of eave per week, w

fu paymen, o search for new empoym

If a UDC s ermnaed whou noce or

whou compance whn specied no

perods, he empoyee s ened o rece

wages and beneis equa o hose hey w


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have receved durng he noce perod.

The UDC s dsnc from he FDC because

fundamenay safeguards empoyees agans

unempoymen by provdng suppored ranson

o aernae empoymen.

Accordng o Beer Facores Camboda (BFC),

however, facores perss n usng FDCs beyond

he wo-year duraon. BFC repored a drop n

facory compance wh he wo-year rue on FDCs

from 76% of facores surveyed n 2011 o 67% of

facores surveyed n 2013-2014. Snce 2011, BFC

has aso consseny found ha neary one hrdof a facores n each survey perod used FDCs o

avod payng maerny and senory beneis (BFC

2014). Empoyers aso use hreas of nonrenewa

of such agreemens o pressure workers no non-

vounary overme (CCHR 2014).

Cambodan workers have chaenged he abusve

use of FDCs n coecve dspues before he

Arbraon Counc. The Counc has consseny

rued ha accordng o arce 67 of he 1997

Labour Law, facores canno engage workers on

FDCs beyond wo years and ha f hey do, such

workers are ened o he same beneis and

proecons as workers on UDCs. The Garmen

Manufacurers Assocaon n Camboda (GMAC)

has conesed hs nerpreaon of he 1997

Labour Law.

In response o nqures from Human Rghs

Wach n 2014, Gap dd no provde any specicnformaon abou he use of FDCs n s supper

facores n Camboda; or how he brands 700

performance ndcaors negraed hese n facory

auds. However, Gap conirmed ha FDCs are

a common pracce n Camboda and reeraed

s commmen o he Arbraon Councs

rung mng use of shor-erm conracs. Ths

saemen from Gap refuses o ake responsby

for company purchasng pracces ha creae

a fere ground for he proferaon of FDCs.

Insead, Gap shts responsby o suppers

whou aendng o he needs of workers

engaged n producng Gap producs.

Workers unons, however, consseny ced

shor-erm duraon of conracs as a sgnican

workpace chaenge. Accordng o a case sudy

done by HRW n a sma subconracor facory

n Camboda ha produces garmens for Gap,

frequen rghs voaons were assocaed wh

shor-duraon conracs ncudng absence of

beneis receved by o ng-erm workers. Workersrepored workng for more han wo years

bu aways on shor-erm conracs ha were

repeaedy renewed. The managemen woud

ssue new deny cards wh a new sar dae

for each erm. Workers from hs facory aso

repored a hosy of he managemen owards

unon acves (Kashyap 2015).

India

Accordng o Indas Naona Commsson on

Enerprses n he Unorganzed Secor (NCEUS),

whn he garmen ndusry, hrng workers

on a reguar conrac s on decne whe shor-

term and irregular contracts are emerging as

he bass of mos new recrumen n he secor.

These empoymen rends have ed NCEUS

o characerze garmen workers as nforma

workers n he forma secor, appropraey

accounng for home-based work, day wage workand conracua abour. (Praap 2015; Srdhar

2014).

Use of conrac abour s mos pervasve n Deh-

NCR wh an esmaed 60-80% of he garmen

workforce empoyed as conrac workers. Casua

and conrac workers ack job secury, soca

Use of contract labour is mostpervasive in Delhi-NCR withan estimated 60-80% of thegarment workforce employedas contract workers.

secury beneis and freedom of assocaon. Ths

facaes he sdeseppng of sauory obgaons

by empoyers and creaes a consan sae of

nsecury for workers (Chan 2013).

Boh arge abour conracors and sma sub

conracors suppy workers o garmen facores

n Gurgaon. Casua and conrac workers, hred

wh ambguous erms of empoymen, mos oten

canno produce conrac documens. Absen cear

conracs, workers face sgnican chaenges

seekng reef n cases of abuse. I nervews wh

rade unon eadres n he garmen ndusry n

he NCR furher reveaed ha he pracce of

makng workers sgn on bank shees durng hrng

s common. These sgned shees are aer used

o esabsh ega condons ha jusfy ega

ermnaon.

A four facores producng for Gap ha were

nvesgaed for hs sudy empoyed a non-

sandard workforce, ncudng shor-erm conrac

workers, day wage workers and workers who

work on pece-rae. Condons of work vared for

he deren caegores of workers:

Conrac and casua workers repored workngonger hours and recevng fewer eaves when

compared o permanen workers;

Conrac and casua workers repored

recevng snge raher han doube overme

paymen;

Conrac and day wage workers repored ha

a deducon of he Provden Fund amoun

was aken from her wages whe pece-rae

workers dd no receve hs soca secur

benei.

In addon o derena reamen, conrac

workers aso repored oss of senory and

barrers o unonzaon as a common ssue d

renewa of conracs. For nsance, he Mane

un of Tes N Ra (Secor 4, Po 42) produces

ony for Gap. Wh a oa of 700 workers n 1

producon nes, amos a of hese workers

conraced from Baaj Enerprses, a conrac

operang from Gurgaon. Baaj ensures ha

worker s empoyed for a connuous perod

ive years o avod paymen of grauy. Inseconracs are ermnaed upon reachng four

and hen renewed, makng workers rejon w

new sar dae. Loss of senory mpacs wor

rgh o receve soca secury beneis.

Use of subconraced abour a Tes N Ra as

mpacs workers engagemen wh unons as

a paorm for negoaon by eavng workers

vunerabe o ermnaon for exercsng her

rgh o freedom of assocaon. Workers and

unon organzers repor ha Baaj and Tes N

use shor-erm conracs o undermne freed

of assocaon. By hrng workers on shor-er

conracs, Baaj and Tes N Ra can easy ire

workers n reaaon for engagng n unon

acves.

Indonesa

Under Indonesas Manpower Ac, 2003, nonpermanen work agreemens can ony be use

four ypes of work:

Work ha s o be performed and compe

a once or ha s emporary by naure;

Work n whch he esmaed me for

compeon s no onger han hree years

Work ha s dependen or seasona; or

Work ha s reaed o a new produc, ne


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44 45

acvy or an addona produc ha s s n

he expermena sage.

Under hs scheme, Indonesas garmen ndusry

has been cassied as an ndusry ha s seasona

and reaes o manufacurng new producs.

Accordngy, garmen enerprses are permed

o recru workers under non-permanen work

agreemens.

Ths na non-permanen work agreemen,

however, can be made for up o ony wo years

wh he possby of exenson of up o one year.

Foowng hs wndow ha can be a maxmum ofhree years, a worker mus be empoyed under a

permanen work conrac (BWI 2012).

Non-permanen work agreemens facae

ermnaon and changes n empoymen saus

based upon empoyer demand. For nsance,

n June 2014, Indonesan Workers formery

empoyed a PT Oympca Gap supper

esied o mass ayos and changes n her

saus from permanen o ixed erm workers a

he Hearng of he Indonesan Peopes Trbuna

on Lvng Wage and Decen Workng Condons

for Garmen Workers as a Fundamena rgh.

Herdansyah Laef, gave he foowng esmony

before he rbuna:

PT Oympc Garmen Inernaona produces

appare for women o suppy Gap, JC Penney,

J.Crew and dan B Three. Gap and JC Penney had

more orders han oher brands. . . Gap has beenproduced here from 1997 un oday.

I began workng here snce January 2001 as

an operaor n Accessores Warehouseas a

permanen worker.

Un 2013, he oa number of workers of PT

Oympc were more or ess 800 permanen

workers. In Apr 2013, PT Oympc ad o a s

workers. The company oered wo schemes of

compensaon. Frs, workers who woud accep

severance as much as haf of he amoun se

by he aw woud be re-empoyed as conrac

workers. Second, workers who woud ony accep

severance se by he aw woud no be re-

empoyed. . .

Ou of 800 workers, 700 acceped he irs scheme

of compensaon paymen. Subsequen o ha, he

ad o workers were re-empoyed and worked n

he same secon . . . Empoymen Agreemens for

Ceran Tme ony apped for hree monhs, fromMay Juy 2013. Snce May 2013, women conrac

workers were no aowed o ake mensruaon

eave and dd no receve heah beneis . . .

Workers who were consdered negbe and

unquaied such as od sck and hose who coud

no reach argeed producon were ermnaed.

They were consdered as havng zero years of

servce as hey had ony been workng for hree

monhs on he new conrac. (Laef 2014).

Termnaed workers sough reef by approachng

managemen, usng ega channes and seekng

governmen nervenon. Ahough Gap was

caed upon o aend he Indonesan Peopes

Trbuna on Lvng Wage and Decen Workng

Condons for Garmen Workers, from June 21-

24, 2014 n Jakara, Gap refused o aend he

hearng and engage workers on he ssue of unjus

ermnaon.

Wage related rghts

abuses

The ILO Proecon of Wages Convenon, 1949

(No. 95) ams o guaranee paymen of wages

n a fu and mey manner, wheher ixed by

muua agreemen, naona aw or reguaon; or

payabe under a wren or unwren empoymen

conrac. The Convenon appes o a persons

o whom wages are pad or payabe. Workers

have o be nformed of he condons of her

empoymen wh respec o wages and hecondons under whch her wages are subjec o

change.

The ILO Mnmum Wage Fxng Convenon,

1970 (No. 131) and Mnmum Wage Fxng

Recommendaon, 1970 (No. 135) ca for

a mnmum sum payabe o workers ha s

guaraneed by aw and ixed o cover he

mnmum needs of workers and her fames.

Under he Mnmum Wage Fxng Convenon,

1970 (No. 131) mnmum wages shoud be

esabshed for groups of wage earners n

consuaon wh empoyers and workers

organzaons and enforced by aw. Lack of

ncuson of wage sandards n ILO core abour

sandards consues a serous gap n proecons.

The Gap Code of Vendor Conduc, urges suppers

o provde wages and beneis ha mee he basc

needs of a worker and some oher dscreonary

ncome. The Code of Vendor Conduc requres

paymen of wages ha mee se ega mnmum

wages or he oca ndusry sandardswhchever

s greaer. Gap does no, however, subscrbe o

goba vng wage deinons and ms wage

requremens o mnmum wages. The Code

of Vendor Conduc aso fas o expan he

ambguous erm dscreonary ncome.

In response o a 2014 Human Rghs Wach

nqury on suppy chan managemen pracc

Gap assured Human Rghs Wach ha where

sourcng facores ermnae workers hey en

due processes and paymen of approprae w

or severance packages by he vendor.

Ths sudy found ha across Camboda, Inda

Indonesa, workers surveyed receved mnm

wages accordng o naona ega sandards.

Many dd no, however, receve reguar over

paymens conssen wh naona sandards

Accordngy, whe mnmum wages were me

o dena of ega overme raes, workers rourepored underpaymen of oa earned wag

Moreover, wages for workers producng Gap

garmens n hese producon hubs conssen

fe far shor of vng wages.

Camboda

The Cambodan Labour Law 1997 guaranees

mnmum wage ha w ensure workers a de

sandard of vng compabe wh human dg

(Arce 104) and equa pay for equa work (A

106).

A he me of wrng, Cambodan mnmum

wages were USD 140 per monhshor of h

USD 160-177 per monh demanded as a sa

mnmum by garmen workers and her uno

(AFW-Camboda 2015). Whe sauory mnm

wages n Camboda fe beow workers dema

workers dd earn concessons aowng hem ncrease her wages hrough addon of bon

(McMuen 2016).

Accordng o 2015 AFW annua PPP$ wage ig

cacuaed based upon up o dae naona fo

baske research, a vn

Precarious Work in the GAP Global Value Chain

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Transcript of Precarious Work in the GAP Global Value Chain