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‘Good work fairbindet!’ Tunisian activists at the Speakers Tour 2019 on workwear and fair procurement
In Tunisia, these activists are fighting for decent work. As part of the Fair Weeks, Amani Allagui from FTDES (Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights) and Houda El Fadhel, a former textile worker, reported on her work in the factories and with the women in the Tunisian textile industry in Germany. Her appeal was addressed to European companies and local procurers: Pay more attention to human rights when shopping!
Lecture in Veitsbronn, a small but very exemplary municipality in the district of Fürth, Bavaria. © Hundreds of InsFrom 12 to 19 September 2019, FEMNET again organized a nationwide lecture tour, this time on the topic of workwear. Under the motto ‘Good work fairbindet’, the Tunisian experts conveyed their experiences and demands in an expressive and retroactive way. At the end of the lectures, the focus was always on opportunities and opportunities to improve working conditions in the occupational clothing industry and to strengthen the role of fair procurement in Germany.
During the tour, more than 250 people were reached at stations in Bruchsal, Karlsruhe, Veitsbronn (Fürth district), Mannheim, Bonn and Cologne.
Review of previous Speakers Tours
The speakers
Amani Allagui. © Hundreds ofAMANI ALLAGUI, has been working as a project coordinator at the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights since 2012 (FTDES). Her work focuses on defending the economic and social rights of women workers in the textile sector. The issue is very close to her heart, as she personally knows many women whose rights are violated at work in the textile sector. Amani Allagui supports the textile workers to organize themselves and leads many protest and support campaigns to raise awareness of the violation of their rights.
Houda El Fadhel. © Hundreds of InsHOUDA EL FADHEL, She is now the owner of her own upholstery and often shares her personal story with others to draw attention to human rights violations in the textile sector. At the age of 16, she began working as a seamstress in a clothing factory. In 2013, the factory was suddenly closed without prior notice - it was denied a severance payment. She also experienced various violations of her rights in subsequent employments at a factory specialising in swimwear and in the area of furniture upholstery.
Occupational health and safety vs.
Workwear is an integral part of our working life: Fire brigade uniforms, warning jackets, safety shoes – all these garments protect the workers here in Germany in their daily, sometimes risky work. All these garments must fulfil high safety and protective functions and are produced according to standardized quality standards. But what about the working conditions of the people who make these clothes? It is produced, for example, in Tunisia, where it is mainly women who have toil in sewing under catastrophic conditions.
FTDES, workers bring their own pillows to make it at least halfway comfortable for hours at their workplace.© FEMNETDue to the lack of transparency in the industry, deep insights into factories are rarely possible. Therefore, it was a unique opportunity in direct contact through the testimonials of the two speakers and the results of our Study trip to learn more about parts of the grievances in the production of workwear in Tunisia. Despite some differences in structures and production conditions, it became particularly clear that - with regard to the classic ‘fashionable’ clothing industry - very similar labour rights violations also occur in the occupational clothing industry. In Tunisia, this includes a high number of fixed-term contracts and illegal extensions of fixed-term employment; no support from workers' representatives; Wages are not enough to live on (national minimum wage approx. 131 €/month, as of 2019; 297 €/month, Asia Floor Wage, 2018) as well as discrimination against workers in the form of lack of childcare in the factories and lack of complaint mechanisms targeted at women.
Houda El Fadhle reports on her experiences during the event in Bonn, on 17.09.19. © FEMNETHouda El Fadhel started working as an apprentice in a textile factory at the age of 16. From the very beginning, she had to work many unpaid overtime hours and withstand the massive time pressure caused by, for example, additionally regulated toilets. Those who were 5 minutes late from the already tight lunch break were sent back home. She and her colleagues were constantly insulted and insulted. Once, even a pallet truck was deliberately pushed against a worker. While Houda was talking about her experiences, her angry voice (her Arabic was translated into German by an interpreter) showed how much she still hurts and angers these circumstances.
The burning question: What can we do?
After almost every presentation, the question arose as to what, from their point of view, must be done here in Germany in order to improve the situation in the production plants. There is no one answer to this, but several recommendations and demands, among others, to municipalities and manufacturers:
In addition, Amani Allagui stressed that the membership of the manufacturers/clients in an independent multistakeholder initiative such as the Fair Wear Foundation has a positive influence on the working conditions of the
There are textile workers in the factories. This would be ensured in particular by increased transparency, accompanied improvement of grievances, regular checks and sufficient complaint mechanisms for the workers. Nevertheless, a certification or membership is not a panacea, but only a step (of many necessary) on the way to more sustainability in the workwear industry.
The public sector as a whole has great market power: In Germany alone, around 280-360 billion euros are spent annually on public procurement. About half of this is accounted for by local authorities. Purchasing service and protective clothing, for example for gardening and forestry operations, waste collection, the fire brigade, hospitals, etc. If care is taken here to ensure that human and labour rights are respected in procurement, this has a great effect for everyone – both for workers worldwide as well as for procurement managers and consumers.
Further information
The study on working conditions in the production of workwear is being carried out as part of our Project work on fair public procurement.
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