homeworking in global value chains: case study of … · homeworking in global value chains: case...
TRANSCRIPT
Homeworking in global value
chains: case study of leather
footwear
Lucy Brill, HWW trustee &
Research Associate, Manchester Business School
Defining homeworking
• Paid work, carried out at a place of the
workers’ choosing … in their own home or
a homebased workshop
• Spectrum of employment relations …
some ‘own account’, others dependent on
employer who specifies the work, provides
materials and often equipment, and sets
piece rates
‘Flexible’ working – but for
whom? • Majority (70- 90%) are women
• Seen as ‘flexible’ form of work, easier to
combine with domestic/caring
responsibilities
• Paid on a piece rate basis, per item
produced
• usually completely informal, and often
irregular, so very few can turn work down
when it is available
Mapping homeworking:
horizontally • Starts with snowball sampling, to find
homeworkers
• Peer researchers trained to carry out interviews,
using surveys and photos
• Bring homeworkers together, first stage in
organising
• Write up research and publish, to raise visibility
• Importance of confidentiality, to safeguard
homeworkers’ work
Mapping homeworking:
vertically • Informality means homeworkers are
vulnerable, risk losing their work
• Homeworkers often receive their work
through intermediaries, who take their cut
• Start collating information about employers
and subcontracting chains
• Collect evidence of links to retailers, who
often have the power to influence
subcontractors
Homeworking & Leather
Footwear
Usually involved in labour
intensive stitching work
Leather uppers – loafers, high
quality shoes
Not as mobile as sewing, need
supply of leather
Paid piece rate, for each shoe
sewn
Skilled work, producing high
quality product
Stitching shoes near Santiago, Chile
Tracing the chains
• Origins in north of England: homeworkers part of
shoe industry in Midlands
• Moved to southern Europe: 1990s EC project in
Spain, Portugal and Greece
• 2000s: HWW Mapping – Bulgaria, Chile, India,
China
• Since 2011: South India
• Need supply of leather – another driver to move
the work to countries with less regulation
What can be done?
Caution: risk of losing
work
Vulnerability and Poverty
means women
desperately need their
work
Length of Subcontracting
chain means it is easy to
relocate
Easy option for retailers
is to ban homeworking
Case Study – Pakistan 1990s
• Sewing footballs in Pakistan– campaign in
1990s against child labour.
• Homeworking banned, and work restricted
to stitching centres.
• Men worked in the stitching centres, so
women homeworkers lost their work.
• Or homeworking continued but more
underground.
Case study: Australian Fairwear
Campaign • 1994 TCFUA started contacting
homeworkers >> helpline in different
languages
• The Hidden Cost of Fashion published
• 1996 Fairwear campaign established
• Strategic targeting of companies & brands
• Regulatory code, with transparent piece
rates for different garments
Case study: Chilean seaweed
collectors • Women collect seaweed from estuary, and
dry it on the shore
• Sold through intermediaries, for export –
cosmetics and food manufacturers
• NGO supported women to set up a trade
union, and identify end user
• Negotiated direct and secured 3x increase
in wages
Homeworkers stitch the uppers of shoes for big brands, majority in UK and
other parts of Europe, also North America
Up to 20,000 women
homeworkers in one
town Ambur, centre
of footwear industry,
work most of the
year for many years
Despite this,
homeworking
remains invisible.
Working conditions:
Informal and
unrecognised
Paid by piece rate
Pay is low
No security of
employment
No health and safety
No social insurance
No workers’ benefits
Dependent on
intermediaries
In Ambur, most
children are going
to school, but help
in the evenings and
at weekends,
especially when
there is a rush job.
Responses
Collect information, to raise
visibility
Bring women together, in self
help and savings groups
Build links with trade unions,
where possible
Through TUs, access to the
welfare boards
Working towards a
Federation, to make a more
powerful presence