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Report: No Excuses for Homework

Report: No Excuses for Homework

Report: No Excuses for Homework

Working conditions in the Indonesian leather and footwear sector.

Indonesia is the fourth largest footwear manufacturer worldwide after China, India, and Vietnam, producing one billion pairs of shoes in 2015 which equals a world share of 4.4 %. It is hence worth taking a look at Indonesia to learn more about the social and ecological footprint of leather shoes worn in Europe. But despite some initial achievements and the existence of considerable legislation, working conditions in the Indonesian leather and footwear sector leave much to be desired. This is the result of report published today by SÜDWIND and INKOTA.

Download the report here >>

Download the factsheet here >>

Published March 2017.

Press Release: New research uncovers hidden women who stitch our shoes

Press Release: New research uncovers hidden women who stitch our shoes

For immediate release
Labour Behind the Label
8 March, 2016

New Research Uncovers Hidden Women Who Stitch Our Shoes

A new report, ‘Stitching Our Shoes’, launched today, on International Womens Day, by campaigning groups Labour Behind the Label and Homeworkers Worldwide, uncovers the reality of exploitation in the supply chains of many leather shoes sold on our high streets. The UK is one of the largest footwear markets in the world, with each person in the UK buying, on average, five pairs of shoes per year. New research has found that homeworkers, an invisible workforce of women earning poverty wages in precarious employment, form a key part of the leather shoe supply chain.

There are thousands of women homeworkers in the Indian leather shoe sector alone. These women, often married with young children or elderly parents to look after, mainly stitch the uppers of shoes, one of the most back-breaking and labour-intensive parts of production.

In Ambur, Tamil Nadu, India, homeworkers typically earn less than 10 pence for each pair of leather uppers they hand-stitch, which are sometimes sold by British brands for over £100 per pair. This is well under a minimum wage, let alone a living wage. With no health insurance or benefits afforded to their factory counterparts, this pay does not allow for the medical attention necessary to deal with regular health complaints such as skin rashes from the chemicals used in leather tanning, numbness in the hands, back pain and eye strain.

“We have nothing. That’s why we know this is employer exploitation. We have no other way. That’s why we are involved in this work” Shanti, a homeworker from Tamil Nadu region in India.

These are invisible workers, employed directly by factory middlemen without contracts or any legal or social protection. They provide both the low-cost labour and the flexibility that is so sought after by UK shoe brands.

“Today we may earn 50 rupees but there is no guarantee that we will have an income tomorrow. Those who work in the company have some guarantee for work but we don’t. There is no job security” Sumitra, a shoe homeworker earning 7 pence per pair of leather shoe uppers she stitches.

Many brands themselves deny knowledge of homeworkers in their supply chain
and tracing the origin of a pair of shoes back to the workers who made them is virtually impossible due to complex global supply chains and a near-total lack of transparency in the industry.

“Homeworkers provide extremely cheap and flexible labour which suits shoe brands looking to maximise their profits, but is nothing short of exploitation. We need transparency in the industry to ensure the rights of homeworkers are respected and they are paid a living wage. Brands need to recognise homeworkers as part of their supply chains and publish their social audits and due diligence efforts, particularly in regards to treatment of homeworkers, instead of denying all knowledge or responsibility” said Ilana Winterstein, Communications Director for Labour Behind the Label.

‘Stitching Our Shoes’ report is available to download here: https://labourbehindthelabel.org/report-stitching-our-shoes/

ENDS
Contact
Ilana Winterstein, Labour Behind the Label
Communications Director
ilana@labourbehindthelabel.org
Tel: 0117 941 5844

Jane Tate, Homeworkers Worldwide
International Coordinator
janetate@gn.apc.org
Tel: 0113 320 3214/ 07960214332

Notes
1. ‘Stitching Our Shoes’ report is available to download here: https://labourbehindthelabel.org/report-stitching-our-shoes/

2. Labour Behind the Label campaigns for garment workers’ rights worldwide. Labour Behind the Label represent the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) in the UK. The CCC works to improve conditions and support the empowerment of workers in the global garment industry. The CCC has national campaigns in 15 European countries with a network of 250 organisations worldwide.
http://tracking.etapestry.com/t/31523642/1183091806/65863076/0/90567/
http://tracking.etapestry.com/t/31523642/1183091806/65863077/0/90567/

3. Homeworkers Worldwide is a UK based NGO which works to supports
homeworkers around the world in their struggle for rights and recognition. HWW
support grassroots organising with homeworkers, campaigns for companies
to improve conditions for homeworkers in their supply chains and lobbies for
strengthened regulation to better protect homeworkers.
www.homeworkersww.org.uk

4. Change Your Shoes is a partnership of 15 European and 3 Asian organisations. We believe that workers in the shoe supply chain have a right to a living wage and to safe working conditions, and that consumers have a right to safe products and transparency in the production of their shoes.

Education: ‘Stitching Our Shoes’ homeworkers fact sheet

Blog: The Invisible Women Who Stitch Our Shoes

The phrase ‘sweatshop labour’ conjurs up images of factory settings in far away lands with row upon row of machines operated by young women, all working long hours for poverty pay to earn profits in the millions for the western garment and shoe companies they stitch for. You might think of factory disasters, such as the 2013 Rana Plaza factory collapse in which over 1,130 workers were killed or the 2012 Ali Enterprises factory fire where 254 workers lost their lives. But you probably won’t think of a woman, we will call her Jyoti*, sitting bent double on the floor of her home, hand stitching leather uppers for shoes to be sold on UK high streets.

Stitching just one pair of uppers could take her up to one hour. For this work she will earn, if for example she is one of the thousands of women homeworking in the leather shoe industry in India alone, the equivalent of less than 10 pence per pair of leather shoes. This is back-breaking labour-intensive work that requires the precision of hand stitching instead of a machine. The work often leaves women with health issues and complaints such as hand numbness, eye strain, back problems, and skin rashes from chemicals used to dye the leather are all commonplace, and unlike their factory counterparts, homeworkers have no health insurance to allow them to seek medical attention.

The maximum Jyoti can stitch in one day is 16 pairs, earning her under £1.60.
Although cost of living differs, this is simply not enough to cover her basic needs. A kilo of rice alone costs her 43 pence. Jyoti earns well below a minimum wage, let alone a living wage, yet “whether we like it or not, we have to stitch. It is our only means of livelihood” she said. As a married woman with young children at home to care for, she combines her long hours stitching with unpaid domestic work, taking care of the home, children and her elderly parents. Given the entrenched gendered division of domestic work, for many homeworkers like Jyoti stitching leather uppers for shoes offers her the only opportunity for paid work that also allows her to maintain her family responsibilities, so cutting out homeworkers from the supply chain is not the answer.

2016-03-07-1457364683-9962881-Indiahomeworkers.HeatherStilwell.jpg

The shoe industry is an immense global business, with over 24 billion pairs produced last year alone, equating to three pairs of shoes made for every single person living. The UK is a key part of this industry as one of the largest footwear markets in the world with, on average, each person in the UK buying five pairs of shoes per year.

Homeworking in the shoe industry is not confined to India, instead there is a global workforce of women, often from the lowest social strata or caste, working from their homes across the world, from Bulgaria to India, Portugal to North Africa.

Uniting these women are: poverty wages, well below those of their already low factory counterparts; extreme job insecurity, they have no contracts and are employed on a daily basis; lack of any recognition or benefits, such as health insurance or a pension, that are afforded to factory shoe workers. “We completed the work we got yesterday. We may or may not have work tomorrow. There is no job security.” said Sumitra, a homeworker from Tamil Nadu in India. They are a hidden workforce, providing both the low-cost labour and the flexibility so sought after in the footwear industry.

This is the invisible underside of global shoe production. An ugly sole stitched from the exploitation of homeworkers, and one which remains unseen by consumers and often even by the brands themselves.

Today, on International Women’s Day, Labour Behind the Label with Homeworkers Worldwide are launching a new report, Stitching Our Shoes, looking at the key role homeworkers play in the production of leather shoes sold on UK high streets.

As shoe consumption continues to rise, it is vital that we stop the exploitation and poverty trap that women homeworkers find themselves in. The answer is not the knee-jerk reaction that some brands may advocate of banning homeworking from their supply chains. This would result in homeworkers losing their jobs and the meager income they currently rely on, leaving them desperate and with no social security net to catch them. In fact, such a response may not even be possible, as homeworking is an established part of the supply chain and this may push the practice further into the shadows, thereby leaving homeworkers even more vulnerable to unscrupulous agents who take a cut of their pay: “We cannot negotiate with the middleman because the middleman knows many people who really need and want a job. So if I negotiate for one rupee or two rupees…They will give (the work) to some other area” Runa.

There is a lack of transparency that runs through the shoes industry that enables exploitation on this scale. For change to truly happen brands need to publicly map their supply chains, to acknowledge homeworkers as key part of their production workforce, and to ensure that their rights are respected and that they are paid a living wage. They must do this through publicly sharing social audit reports and due diligence efforts. They must do this to ensure that women like Shanti face a better life:“We have nothing. That’s why we know this is employer exploitation. We have no other way. That’s why we are involved in this (work). If I had any other income, I definitely wouldn’t do this”.

 

*Names have been changed to protect workers indentites

This blog was first published in Huffington Post and EcouTerre in March 2016. 

By Ilana Winterstein

Report: Stitching Our Shoes

Report: Stitching Our Shoes

New report reveals hidden workforce of homeworkers stitching our leather shoes

Our new report, ‘Stitching Our Shoes’, uncovers the grim reality of homeworkers in India, the invisible female workforce who stitch the leather uppers of shoes bound for sale in the UK.

The shoe industry is an immense global business, with over 24 billion pairs produced last year alone, equating to three pairs of shoes made for every single person living. The UK is a key part of this industry as one of the largest footwear markets in the world with, on average, each person in the UK buying five pairs of shoes per year.

Complex global supply chains mean that tracing a pair of shoes from the shop floor through the factories, homes and tanneries in which they originated is virtually impossible. A lack of regulations allows this multi-billion pound industry to continue to operate without transparency. Issues with workers safety and poverty wages abound in an industry built on exploitation, however those at the bottom of the chain are homeworkers. These are the ‘invisible’ women who stitch leather uppers in their home, earning next to nothing, with no security or benefits.

There are thousands of women working as homeworkers in the leather shoes industry in India alone. Stitching just one pair of uppers could take her up to one hour. For this work she will earn the equivalent of less than 10 pence per pair of leather shoes, far from a minimum wage let alone a living wage. This is back-breaking labour-intensive work that requires the precision of hand stitching instead of a machine. The work often leaves women with health issues and complaints such as hand numbness, eye strain, back problems, and skin rashes from chemicals used to dye the leather are all commonplace, and unlike their factory counterparts, homeworkers have no health insurance to allow them to seek medical attention.

Homeworkers receive a bundle of leather uppers to be stitched by a factory middleman each morning. The middleman returns that evening to collect them and to pay her piece rate poverty wages for each pair she stitches. There is no guarantee there will be more work the next day. They provide the flexible and cheap labour demanded by the shoe industry.

We completed the work we had yesterday. We may or may not have work tomorrow. There is no job security.

 

Sumitra, leather shoe homeworker, South India.

Homeworkers are often women from the lowest social strata or class, who have very few other options available to them. Due to gender divisions, they may feel restricted to home working to enable them to also complete their unpaid domestic duties, such as looking after young children or elderly relatives. Due to the isolated nature of their work, it is difficult for homeworkers to organise and collectively demand their rights. In many cases they do not know which brands they are producing for.

We have nothing. That’s why we know this is employer exploitation. We have no other way. That’s why we are involved in this (work). If I had any other income, I definitely wouldn’t do this.

 

Shanti, a homeworker from Tamil Nadu, India.

 

What should shoe brands do?

All shoe brands should publicly map their supply chains, from the processing of leather to the final product.  This should be done in a transparent way, in collaboration with other companies, trade unions, NGOs and workers.

Homeworkers should be recognised as part of the supply chain, and given equal treatment to other workers including rights to a living wage, health insurance, other forms of social protection, health and safety in the workplace, security of employment, and to organise collectively for their rights.

To find out more, please read the full report.

This report is part of the Change Your Shoes campaign and has been produced with Labour Behind the Label, Homeworkers Worldwide and Cividep.

 

Download the report here: Stitching Our Shoes Report PDF

 

Published in 2016.