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20 February 2020 Well protected? Exploitation for European workwear - studies published

Extremely low wages, fixed-term contracts and the suppression of trade unions: Two new studies by FEMNET criticize precarious working conditions in the production of workwear in India and Tunisia. Such goods are also purchased by public institutions in Germany.

Uniforms, warning jackets and safety pants are intended to protect employees in Germany, among other things. But what protection do the people who make these garments receive? The country studies in English and the summary factsheets in German provide information about the study results and recommendations for action.

Catastrophic working conditions

On behalf of FEMNET, the The Indian Cividep Organization and this Tunisian Institute FTDES in a total of seven textile factories. They conducted interviews with employees and management. This research is particularly important because so far extremely little research has been done on working conditions in the workwear industry; The vast majority of studies are on everyday fashion. The disastrous result: Working conditions in the production of workwear are just as bad as in many other fashion industries. These results play a key role in public procurement: More and more municipalities want to integrate labour and social standards into their procurement practices.

Forced overtime on Indian farms

The textile industry is one of India's oldest and largest industries. It consists of an extensive and often difficult-to-understand network of factories, suppliers and subcontractors. The textile and clothing sector generates about 15% of India’s export revenues and provides wage labour to over 45 million people. In northern India, the majority of employees are men. In South India, on the other hand, 80-90% of the workforce consists of female employees, most of whom are first-generation industrial workers. In addition to everyday fashion, India is also producing more and more workwear for Europe.

In India, research was carried out in three subcontractors that supply to three European companies: the German respiratory protection manufacturer BartelsRieger, the German textile company Olymp and the Czech occupational clothing company Cerva. Particularly striking: In these factories, employees work in conditions that are not far from forced labour in the strict sense. Employees earn an extremely low basic salary, which must be supplemented by daily overtime. These overtime hours are not voluntary. They can only be rejected at the risk of losing their jobs. If employees try to take action against these unsustainable conditions, the termination threatens: Factory management actively took action against trade unions in all the companies under investigation.

High job insecurity in Tunisian factories

The textile sector in Tunisia has been booming since the 1970s, but is experiencing a decline over the last 15 years. A total of about 20,000 employees sew workwear; In total, more than 160,000 people work in the textile industry, four-fifths of them women. The textile industry plays an important role in the Tunisian economy: One-fifth of gross domestic product and one-fifth of export revenues are generated by textile and clothing production. German and European companies are important customers for workwear sewn in Tunisia: 95% of exports go to the EU, 14% to Germany alone.

On behalf of FEMNET, four factories were examined that sew protective and workwear for three European brands: the German manufacturer S-Gard, the Dutch company Havep and the Belgian brand Alsico. Result: The situation in Tunisian suppliers is intolerable. Employees earn extremely low wages, which are far below a living wage. And not only that: You always get short-term fixed-term contracts, although long-term employees are legally entitled to an indefinite contract. This is made possible by a perfidious practice: Factories are closed from one day to the next and reopened. contracts lose their validity; Employees are often re-hired under worse conditions.

If they make mistakes, the seamstresses are under tightened observation. Tunisia, 2018. © FEMNET

More transparency for members of the Fair Wear Foundation

FEMNET confronted the European brands with the alarming conditions in their factories and asked them to comment. None of the companies producing in India – BartelsRieger, Olymp and Cerva – complied with this request. We received answers from companies with suppliers in Tunisia: S-Gard, Havep and Alsico. Only S-Gard and Havep, who are members of the multi-stakeholder initiative Fair Wear Foundation, scored with transparency. They took note of the findings and stated that they were working to eliminate them. Havep claims to have adjusted all wages at least to the statutory minimum wage level. S-Gard, supported by the Fair Wear Foundation, is in the process of introducing a living wage.

The workwear industry needs to be fairer

FEMNET calls for: European brand companies must be represented by a Supply Chain Act be required to comply with their due diligence obligations. They must encourage their suppliers worldwide to comply with national and international labour standards. This includes: the payment of a living wage, the voluntary nature of overtime and the right to freedom of association. Fair procurement can help achieve these goals: on the one hand, through consistent fair procurement practices; on the other hand, by making a clear, proactive call on workwear companies to comply with labour standards.