Belgium : Forced labour & trafficked on rise in garment industry
February 19, 2014
Fibre2fashion.com, India
Traffic slave labour popularly perceived to be confined to the informal economy and especially to the sex trade is now a growing problem in the global garment industry, the United Nations Forum to Fight Human Trafficking was told in Vienna.
Citing examples from Mauritius, Jordan, Taiwan, India, Argentina, Romania, the United States and China Neil Kearney, General Secretary of the Brussels-based International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation (ITGLWF) said workers were been trafficked to industrialised and developed countries alike and their production was on sale in every high street in Europe and shopping mall in the United States.
The workers involved were the victims of an evil triangle involving labour brokers, garment manufacturers and global retail chains held them for maximising profit at the expense of the workers who produce the clothing.
“The victims all have common characteristics. The common characteristics of being young, cheap, submissive, unprotected and often invisible†said Mr. Kearney.
“Typically they are recruited in their villages, required to pay a fee to the labour broker of up to 20 years the local minimum wage. This fee is usually commuted into a loan which must then be repaid with interest.
This becomes the bond with the labour broker which often enslaves a young worker who is then transferred to a holding or transit centre where they can be held for up to three months while their travel documentation is being obtained.
“A change of mind is not permitted. As the workers are usually fitted out in distinctive overalls – often florescent – they are easily identified as belonging to a particular broker.
They are then air-freighted to their temporary owner. However, usually their only contract is with the labour broker who supplies them ‘en bloc’ to the manufacturer who thus avoids all legal obligations for their working conditions.
“Frequently the broker holds on to their identity documents while they work long hours for low wages under often appalling abusive conditions.
Deductions from wages for the repayment of the loan, travel costs, accommodation and food, and fines for mistakes, talking while working, etc. eat up much of their income.
“In one case in China the labour broker was taking more than 30% of the wages for repayment of the recruitment fee alone. In another case workers actually ended up owing money to the broker at the month end and after all the deductions had been made.
“Though not naked or in chains but without identity documents, far from home and facing a strange language and culture they are no less slaves.
“The labour brokers are the villains in all this but the garment manufacturer is a willing accomplice and brands and retailers sourcing the goods in this way greatly profit from this traffic slavery.
Mr Kearney called on governments to legislate to ensure decent work and forcefully to implement theresulting rules.
“The activities of labour brokers must be closely regulated. Recruitment fees must be outlawed in line with ILO Convention 181 with the manufacturers meeting all recruitment and travel cost, etcâ€: he said.
“Every migrant worker should have an employment contract direct with the employer and should enjoy conditions no less favourable than the indigenous workforce.
“Comprehensive advice should be given on rights before departure from the sending country and on arrival in the host country.
“All migrant workers should have the right to join local trade unions and to bargain collectively their wages and working conditions.
“When labour brokers are employers engaged in illegal exploitative activities the workers involved should be awarded exemplary compensation and the penalties for the transgressors should be punitiveâ€: concluded Mr. Kearney.
International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation
