END THE DOUBLE STANDARD IN YOUR SUPPLY CHAIN

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Levi Strauss & Co. are doing more than most other brands to communicate publicly about their supply chain practices. They seem to have many robust systems in place for tracking, tracing, monitoring and improving labour and environmental practices across the supply chain.1

Port of Toamasina

Antanarivo province

MADAGASCAR

Port of Toamasina International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) was awarded the concession to operate the container terminal at the Port of Toamasina in May 2005. ICTSI operates 30 container terminals globally. Local ICTSI subsidiary MICTSL directly employs permanent and casual workers to work the Toamasina container terminal. They also employ workers through labour-hire firm Société de Manutention des Marchandises Conventionnelles (SMMC), a state-owned enterprise.

Levi Strauss & Co. has been a pioneer in social and environmental sustainability in the industry.2

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LEVI’S: END THE DOUBLE STANDARDS IN YOUR SUPPLY CHAIN Levi Strauss & Co. is synonymous with denim. In 1873 it patented the first pair of blue jeans in the world. It has since grown to become one of the largest apparel manufacturers in the world, with products sold in 110 countries around the world bringing in revenues of $4.5 billion annually.3

Levi’s are also industry leaders in developing policies to improve workers’ rights in global supply chains. In 1991, Levi’s became the first multinational apparel company to establish a workplace code of conduct for their manufacturing suppliers. In 2016, Baptist World

Aid’s 2016 Australian Fashion Report found that Levi’s’ supply chain code of conduct was best practice in the industry. It was this code of conduct that led to Levi’s being ranked first out of 40 multinational apparel companies in Fashion Revolution’s 2016 Transparency Index.

These policies have seen substantial improvements in working conditions for the garment workers who produce Levi’s jeans and other apparel. However, there is a hidden workforce who continue to labour in extremely dangerous and exploitative conditions to ensure that Levi’s jeans and other apparel reaches stores across globe: transport workers.

1. Fashion Revolution, 2016. Fashion Transparency Index, http://bit.ly/1XEBLUp.2. Project Just, 2016. http://bit.ly/2mU2pQZ.3. Forbes, 2016. America’s Largest Private Companies, http://bit.ly/2nydSRW4. ILO, 2016. Resolution concerning decent work in global supply chains, http://bit.ly/2cwtIuz.5. ILO, 2016. Report IV: Decent Work in Global Supply Chains, http://bit.ly/2nNV058.

Workers’ Rights in Global Supply ChainsIncreasingly the international community is coming to see supply chain workers as a critical part of a business’s workforce. In April 2016, an ILO report Decent Work in Global Supply Chains found that:

... failures at all levels within global supply chains have contributed to decent work deficits for working conditions such as in the areas of occupational safety and health, wages, working time, and which impact on the employment relationship and the protections it can offer. Such failures have also contributed to the undermining of labour rights, particularly freedom of association and collective bargaining.4

Following this, in May of 2016, a committee of the International Labour Organization recommended that provisions be adopted to improve labour rights for supply chain workers around the world. The report highlighted that important roles needed to be played by businesses, government and social partners.

According to the ILO, transport and logistics are the vital link in global supply chains.5 However, for too long, policies to improve working conditions within global supply chains have reinforced a double standard: striving to improve the working conditions of workers in supply factories, while ignoring transport workers, who have remained invisible and vulnerable to exploitation.

FACTORY PORT SHIP STORE

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One substantial example of the problems facing transport workers in supply chains can be found in Madagascar. Levi’s manufactures jeans and other apparel in 7 factories in Madagascar and exports its products through the Port of Toamasina (Tamatave). At the Port of Toamasina, dock workers work in unsafe and dangerous conditions, loading Levi’s clothing onto ships bound for the US, Europe and around the world. Dock workers at the Port of Toamasina often work without minimum safety equipment, and struggle to make ends meet on their wages. When they came together to fight for better working conditions – they were fired.

On the 3rd April 2017, SYGMMA, the ITF and the ITUC submitted a complaint to the International Labour Federation (ILO) regarding the case of 43 dock workers who were unfairly dismissed from the Port of Toamasina for union activity. These workers had joined SYGMMA in the hope of improving precarious and often unsafe working conditions at the port. In response, they faced intimidation and unfair dismissal from their employer.

As one of the major brands operating in Madagascar, Levi’s has a responsibility for the conditions under which their products are handled.

Madagascan Dock Workers: Bringing Levi’s Jeans to the World

All of our business partners are expected to meet the requirements stipulated in the Terms of Engagement.6

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6. Levi Strauss & Co., 2013. Sustainability Guidebook, http://bit.ly/1E4chUq, p. 4. 7. Levi Strauss & Co., 2013. Sustainability Guidebook, http://bit.ly/1E4chUq. The Sustainability Guidebook includes Levi Strauss & Co.’s Terms of Engagement (ToE), which set down requirements for their business partners. This includes every factory, subcontractor, licensee, agent or affiliate that manufactures or finishes their products.8. Levi Strauss & Co., 2013. Sustainability Guidebook, http://bit.ly/1E4chUq9. Levi Strauss & Co., 2013. Sustainability Guidebook, http://bit.ly/1E4chUq10. Levi Strauss & Co., 2013. Sustainability Guidebook, http://bit.ly/1E4chUq11. We use the lens of sustainability when making our choice of carriers, favoring those who have a proven track record in environmental sustainability—from ship hull or engine design to the use of responsible fuel and other operational efficiencies. Our core carriers are leading innovators in the industry. http://levistrauss.com/unzipped-blog/2014/06/how-our-clothing-gets-around-sustainably-qa-with-sanjay-mishra-sr-dir-of-global-supply-chain/

Dock workers, seafarers and transport workers are all parts of a global supply chain that links the production of Levi’s products to points of sale at retailers around the world.

The ITF is calling on Levi’s to continue to lead the industry, by extending their supply chain code of conduct to include this crucial but hidden workforce in their global supply chain.

The Levi’s Code of Conduct became the industry benchmark for supplier codes of conduct in 1991. Their 2013 Terms of Engagement included more comprehensive requirements for their business partners. These Terms of Engagement already

apply to “every factory, subcontractor, licensee, agent or affiliate that manufactures or finishes products for Levi Strauss and Co.” It is time that the workers who are responsible for ensuring that Levi’s jeans make it onto ships to be transported to stores around the globe are afforded the same protections as workers who manufacture or finish their products. Levi’s already considers transport when making decisions about how their goods travel from the factory to the store. They favour carriers who have a proven track record in environmental sustainability.11 Workers’ rights must also be included in this decision-making process.

Levi’s: It’s time to end the double standard.

LEGAL JUDGEMENTSFactories must observe and be in compliance with any legal judgments against them.7

TEMPORARY WORKTemporary workers must have the same wages, benefits and other conditions of employment as permanent employees after 9 months of employment, or earlier, as per law.8

FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATIONAny action that suppresses freedom of association is prohibited, and may be an act deemed illegal in some countries’ labour codes.9

SAFETYFactories must provide workers who do potentially hazardous work … with suitable personal protective equipment.10

DOCK WORKERS AT PORT OF TOAMASINA

LEVI’S SUPPLY CHAIN CODE OF CONDUCT

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“I joined the union because I worked for the company for 20 years without a contract. I worked for 20 years without a pay increase.”

Zafisaona

“Our society does not respect our rights. I joined SYGMMA to improve my working conditions and because I hadn’t received a wage increase since 1990.”

Tata Ramilison

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“I joined the union to fight for my rights, for everything that we deserve as dockers. I had never received a pay increase from the time I started working on the docks in 1995.”

Talata Gabriel

“I joined the union to protect my rights. Because I have the right to be free, to join the union and have the same conditions as the permanent workers. I have worked on the docks since 1990 with no wage increase.”

Tai Roger

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Temporary workers must have the same wages, benefits and other conditions of employment as permanent employees after 9 months of employment, or earlier, as per law.12

Levi’s specifies that temporary workers must have the same conditions as permanent employees after nine months of employment, or earlier if required under local labour law. There is significant use of casual work on the ICTSI container terminal - with some workers employed for up to 20 years on piece rates, without a contract. Casual workers are only paid when there are containers to load or unload, receiving only 2 cents for each container. Casual dock workers report that they are frequently rostered to work when there are no ships to unload. If the ship does not arrive before the next shift is rostered on to start, these dock workers will return home without pay.

Some casual workers report taking home no more than US$36.60 a month. You’d need two months’ pay to buy a pair of Levi’s 501s.

While they struggle to meet basic living costs on this salary, their ability to supplement their income is curtailed by the requirement that they wait at the docks until the ship arrives to be unloaded. Dockers report that it is not uncommon for them to stay at the terminal overnight, sleeping at the edges of the dock, waiting for the next ship to arrive.

Dock workers in Madagascar are struggling to survive. One married docker with two children states that his wage is only enough to cover food – his wife meets additional expenses such as rent and electricity. If his children are sick, he must borrow money so that they can see a doctor, and he cannot afford to send his children to school. In 2011, Levi’s announced that it would provide a day at school for a child in Madagascar for one pair of jeans bought in kidswear.13 While the children of workers in Levi’s Tanjombato factory would gain access to schooling - the children of dock workers at the Port of Toamasina are going without schooling as wage rates are too low to afford school fees, uniform and material expenses.

DOUBLE STANDARD #1: TEMPORARY WORK

12. Levi Strauss & Co., 2013. Sustainability Guidebook, http://bit.ly/1E4chUq13. Children’s Issue, 2011. Levi’s helps children in Madagascar, http://bit.ly/2oahxtA

A pair of LEVI’S 501s is equal to 2 month’s wages

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DOUBLE STANDARD #2: SAFETYFactories must provide workers who do potentially hazardous work … with suitable personal protective equipment.14

Dock work is dangerous work. “Despite new and sophisticated innovations, port work is still considered an occupation with very high accident rates.”15

Dock workers face hazards like crush injuries, death from heavy vehicles and containers, falls from heights, suspended loads, and exposure to hazardous chemicals. These hazards – routine at the Port of Toamasina - are some of the most serious safety hazards any worker can face, responsible for the deaths of thousands of dockworkers worldwide every year. It is the ITF’s view that conditions in the ICTSI terminal fall alarmingly short of global minimum standards, including the ILO Code of Practice Health and Safety in Ports, and the global benchmark BSI standard Occupational Health and Safety Management System OHSAS 18001:2007.

Factories must respect employee rights to freedom of association; they must not impose any punitive actions against workers in supporting union such as threatening, fining suspending or firing workers exercising those rights. Any action that suppresses freedom of association is prohibited, and may be an act deemed illegal in some countries’ labour codes.16

Levi’s prohibits any action that suppresses freedom of association in its factories. However, as the ILO complaint submitted by the ITF and SYGMMA makes clear, workers at the Port of Toamasina are denied the right to join their union and collectively organise for better wages and conditions.

In March 2012, SYGMMA appointed three delegates to represent workers employed by the SMMC at the Port of Toamasina. Two weeks later, SMMC management ordered the delegates’ representatives to sign a letter stating that they

DOUBLE STANDARD #3: FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION

Levi’s specifies minimum safety standards for the factories supplying its products. Dock workers at the Port of Toamasina - who are responsible for ensuring that Levi’s’ products make it to market - are working in conditions well below those required for Levi’s’ own standards for their suppliers. They routinely work at heights without fall protection or safety equipment. Casual workers on the ICTSI terminal report insufficient safety equipment, and boots that are in disrepair, with many purchasing their own boots to avoid injury.

would resign from the union and agree not to hold union meetings. They refused and were sacked. In July 2012, SYGMMA held a strike in support of the dismissed dock workers. Following the strike, 36 workers were dismissed. Three workers were also denied shifts for union activity in May 2012. In July 2013, the Arbitration Board of the Court of First Instance ruled that SMMC’s failure to recognise the union amounted to an unconstitutional act in contravention of the principles of freedom of association. This judgement was confirmed by the National Chamber of Enforcement Agents in July 2014. None of these 43 workers, who were dismissed for union activity, have been reinstated, and SYGMMA has not been recognised by SMMC. This contravenes workers’ rights to freedom of association as enshrined in the Madagascan Labour code (LOI N° 2003-044), and ILO Convention No. 87 and 98 (to which the Madagascan government is a signatory).

14. Levi Strauss & Co., 2013. Sustainability Guidebook, http://bit.ly/1E4chUq15. ILO, 2005. http://bit.ly/2kw2dX6 16. Levi Strauss & Co., 2013. Sustainability Guidebook, http://bit.ly/1E4chUq

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Dismissed workers missing meals and struggling to survive

The unfair dismissal of these workers has significantly impacted their families, particularly their wives who have had to intensify their own work to make up for their husbands’ lost income. The majority of women in Madagascar are employed in the informal economy – selling food at the markets, washing clothes and cleaning houses – and earn substantially below the legal minimum wage.

“I work every day. Every single day. Each night, when I sleep, I feel very tired. I ache all over my body … Some days, we don’t have anything to eat. No lunch, no dinner. We don’t have enough money, even though I wash clothes every day.”

The wife of one of the sacked dockers must wash clothes every day to support her family. Despite back-breaking labour that leaves her body aching every night, sometimes she and her husband do not have money to buy food, skipping meals or even going without for whole days. They will often resort to borrowing money from friends to buy food, and there is no way of paying this money back unless she works longer, more intensive days, washing additional clothes to meet the costs of their debt. Wherever possible her husband supplements her income, taking odd jobs as a gardener or helping her to wash clothes, but this work is not consistent, and they struggle to get by.

DOUBLE STANDARD #4: LEGAL JUDGEMENTSFactories must observe and be in compliance with any legal judgments against them.17

Levi’s specifies that all its factories must observe and be in compliance with any legal judgements against them. The failure of SMMC to reinstate the fired dock workers not only contravenes

ILO conventions 87 and 98, it also represents a failure of the company to comply with a legal judgement against it. Multiple efforts by the labour inspectorate to enforce this judgement have failed, as have attempts by the union to resolve the matter directly with the Government of Madagascar.

17. Levi Strauss & Co., 2013. Sustainability Guidebook, http://bit.ly/1E4chUq

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Sygmma and the ITF are calling on Levi’s to:

Call on the Government of Madagascar to enforce their own labour laws and reinstate the 43 dock workers, and allow the union to organise at the port.

Levi’s has a policy to advocate with governments to improve working conditions and strengthen labour laws.18 SYGMMA and the ITF are calling on Levi’s to act in accordance with their own policy and contact the Government of Madagascar.

Include port and other transport workers in their supply chain codes of conduct.

Levi’s already considers transport when making decisions about how their goods travel from the factory to the store. Workers’ rights should also be included in this decision-making process.

18. “….monitoring our suppliers is only one part of improving working conditions. [...] We also work with governments to strengthen labor laws and their enforcement.” http://levistrauss.com/sustainability/production/

LEVI’S: IT’S TIME TO END THE DOUBLE STANDARD.

SYGMMA and the ITFSyndicat Général Maritime de Madagascar (SYGMMA) is the union representing seafarers, dock workers and fishers in Madagascar. SYGMMA is an affiliate of the International Transport Workers’ Federation. The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) is a global union federation of approximately 700 transport workers’ trade unions, representing more than 4.5 million transport workers from 150 countries. The ITF is allied with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). Any independent trade union with members in the transport industry is eligible for membership of the organization. The ITF represents the interests of transport workers’ unions in bodies such as the International Labour Organization (ILO), the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The organization also informs and advises unions about developments in the transport industry in other countries or regions of the world, and organises international solidarity actions when member unions in one country are in conflict with employers or government.

www.justicefordockworkers.org/levis

For additional information contact:International Transport Workers’ FederationSydney Campaigns OfficeLevel 2, 365 Sussex StreetSydney NSW 2000sydneyoffice@itf.org.uk