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Clean Clothes Podcast
Trailer
Bonus
Episode 1
Season 1
Organising workers in the time of COVID
The half hour episode explores how organisations in different countries from across the Clean Clothes Campaign network supported workers in the time of COVID. In this episode, we hear how:
- Community mobilisation defended a garment worker in Romania;
- Trade unions and worker organisations made gains in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka;
- The effects of the pandemic in Turkey has led to a re-think on future campaigns to support worker rights;
Plus thoughts and reflections on the impact of COVID on worker organising.
Please share your feedback, comments and questions, by emailing: podcast@cleanclothes.org
Speakers:
Laura Stefanut, campaigner and former investigative journalist, Romania
Anton Marcus, Joint Secretary of FTZ&GSEU (Free Trade Zone and General Services Employees Union), Sri Lanka
Kalpona Akter, Executive Director of BCWS (Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity)
Bego Demir, Clean Clothes Campaign, Turkey
Christie Miedema, Clean Clothes Campaign International Office, Netherlands
Mandy Felicia, EILER (Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research), Philippines
Host: Febriana Firdaus (febrianafirdaus.com)
Sound Engineering Support: Steve Adam (www.spectrosonics.com.au)
Producer: Matthew Abud
Clean Clothes Podcast Team: Anne Dekker, Johnson Ching-Yin Yeung, Liz Parker, Tanne de Goei
Full Transcript
HOST
Welcome to the first episode of the first series of the Clean Clothes podcast. I’m Febriana Firdaus.
As this episode is being produced, we’ve all heard terrible news out of Myanmar, with the military overthrow of the elected parliament.
From all of us on the podcast, and certainly everyone in Clean Clothes, we want to express our solidarity and support to everyone from our network in Myanmar.
And to all the people of that country who stand for democracy, and for human rights and the rights of workers.
We’re also sending our solidarity to my co-host, Manny Maung – she’s completely caught up now, in the response to the military coup.
We’ll have more to say from Clean Clothes, at the end of the show.
We know that under COVID, brands have cancelled orders and refused to pay for completed work.
Many suppliers have cut wages and fired workers, who have far too often also been excluded from social safety nets and other support.
In Romania one worker, Angelica Manole, protested against her wage cut.
Laura Stefanut is a former investigative journalist there, who got involved in the campaign. She tells the story.
LAURA
Angelica is a brave worker who spoke about the fact that she was only paid about one hundred and forty Euros for one month’s work. Each day she worked at least eight hours a day and she was paid like about half the minimum legal wage in Romania. So she spoke about this on Facebook. I believe she was the first garment worker that was so outspoken and so open to speaking to journalists and to Facebook friends. That’s how we found out.
The company Tanex where Angelica was working, they’re among the biggest garment factories in Romania. Certainly they’re a famous factory. They were actually in the past they were trying to attract workers by saying that they pay more than other factories because as you probably know, in Romania workers are only paid the minimum wage, they work extra hours many times unpaid, the living wage is way above the legal minimum wage here so we’re talking about people who work but stay poor.
At the factory what they did when the inspection went there, they said that she didn’t work actually. So basically they lied, they said that she didn’t come to work. But then you know it was a public scandal, I mean I helped her write some complaints to the Ministry of Labour, to the worker inspection, I also myself wrote complaints. I also contacted the Labour Ministry in Romania directly by phone and I was promised that things would be resolved and somehow they were, I mean there was another inspection which found the first inspection was wrong, and actually the factory did not register any absence of the worker, she was obviously there. So they fined the factory.
Angelica was fired by Tanex. So even having all the national media’s attention on you, even having strong figures who are taking your side like the Minister itself, she was still fired by the factory. Why, the factory wrote that she was fired because she spoke to the media.
I decided to generate a fundraising for Angelica, so we can cover the costs for her during the trial which lasted at least six months and have her paid the minimum salary, what she had at the factory. And it was amazing, in less than two days all the money were raised and there was huge support for Angelica from the public, you know, they were like cheering her, and actually so much money was raised that we were able to help three persons who were laid off from the factory.
I think that this was utterly important, because the factories try to show that if you don’t do exactly what the factory wants you to do, then you are, it’s game over for you. And it usually is you know, so it’s so important to show that the community can support you in such cases. It’s utterly important.
Then I proposed this Urgent Appeal to the Clean Clothes Campaign on Angelica’s case because I thought it made all the sense. She was very involved, she was very active, we knew the brands, we had a lot of data on the factory. They contacted the brands that were headquartered in those specific countries. At first it didn’t seem to go well because the brands were reluctant, they were saying we were not right, the factories were saying everything is ok, look. So the CCC actually provided proof of these fines, and proof that the factory was actually lying to the brands. And they finally you know, they were convinced.
All the workers were paid. This was indeed a victory, even those who were fired, they were finally given the money, all the money they were owed. But this was just a case where everybody got involved you know. There are over one hundred and twenty thousand workers in this industry, like legally registered. So in order to make things work like for a bigger length of time, you have to have the people inside who know their rights, who are organised in one way or another.
There was a trade union, Unicomf, which was pretty active meaning that they heard about the case, they went there, they tried to get inside the factory, they were not allowed. So then they pushed together with the help of the brands and they were allowed inside the factory, they could talk to workers. But after this point they couldn’t form a trade union. So they said Ok, guys we did what we could, we went there, we presented the case. If the workers didn’t get subscribed then we cannot waste much resources because we don’t have so much resources. Which I can understand, but at the same time we know that community organising or forming a trade union somewhere, it takes a lot of time and patience and some resources. They were helpful, but unfortunately a trade union was not formed there.
Things would not have been solved for the workers there, they would not have received their salaries, if there was not an international involvement and push. If you are not bullet proof when you go to war then they destroy you because the way they’re lying, it’s so you know natural I was shocked. I was shocked to see it, yeah. It’s good to have the proof there, and to have as many witnesses as you can and as many documents as you can so when you go you just punch them and it’s knockout.
HOST
That’s Laura Stefanut from Romania.
Angelica Manole was offered her old job back before the court case – but refused it. She’s since found another job in her community.
COVID has hit garment workers hard in factories across the world. But the impacts and the responses are far from uniform.
A critical factor is the political space that trade unions can claim, along with other worker support organisations.
Our producer Matthew Abud, takes a look at the experiences of two South Asia countries, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
REPORTER
In Sri Lanka, a sudden lockdown in March left tens of thousands of garment workers stranded in Free Trade Zones, far from home villages and community networks of support.
The Free Trade Zone and General Services Employees Union, organised food rations, and also petitioned the government to help workers get back home.
In April the lockdown eased. Anton Marcus, is the union’s Joint Secretary.
ANTON
And then the government gradually reopened the factories. At that time we proposed the government to set up a tripartite task force to deal with the labour matters, because we told the government this is the time we have to come together. Because even the employers, or the government, or the trade unions cannot face these challenges alone.
REPORTER
The government had to move on the Task Force for several reasons.
ANTON
Because it very seriously impact on the export sector, and so our union is the majority union who represents the export sector employees. The other was at that time the government was preparing an election, general election. So politically they were very nervous, that if there is any campaign or any protest, it will impact on their election result. So that is why the government had to appoint this task force.
REPORTER
Social distancing requirements meant factories couldn’t re-start with a full workforce.
ANTON
Then the employers took up the position that they’re not in the position to pay the wages for the workers who are not reporting for work. At the beginning they said there are about five hundred thousand employees in the apparel sector, they want to dismiss three hundred thousand. So we said no way, because workers has to manage with their own. After we got the assurance that no-one will be dismissed, and then we said ok, we are agreed to introduce rotational system.
REPORTER
As well as defending jobs, through the Tripartite Task Force, Anton Marcus’s union also negotiated financial support.
The eventual agreement meant that workers would not receive less than seventy five percent of their previous wage, even if they were not working.
In Bangladesh meanwhile, a recent report says over three hundred and fifty thousand garment workers lost their jobs.[1]
As in Sri Lanka and other countries, unions mobilised to get food to workers.
Kalpona Akter is Executive Director of the labour rights advocacy organisation, Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity.
She says order cancellations by brands, and factory closures, brought fear and repression.
KALPONA
But you know the workers’ situation was more dire when factory management is started hand-picking them and firing. Like, pregnant workers was targeted, like they were like hand-picking these leaders and firing them. Many cases, I mean most of cases they didn’t get the severances even. And one case I should mention that, the retaliation went that end that the factory kidnapped one of the union office-bearers middle of the night, and we had to jump on and we had to start fighting and keep calling all the polices and every security agency we can, to make sure that the guy not take away and he’s not shipping to anywhere. And you know, we had been succeeded because we respond very rapidly on that but the factory keep doing retaliation to these workers as well. And lately our federation also facing that. But you know in general, this is what kind of freedom of association violations that our workers was facing. They were going in both ways, some of them was really afraid, that they don’t want to raise voice because they will be lose their jobs which they cannot afford. And some of them really really says no, we have to fight back.
REPORTER
Yet along with the hardship, unions in both Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have been able to build on their many responses, to boost membership.
For Anton’s union, this started by making sure workers were aware of how their rights had been defended.
This defense included stopping employer efforts to cut overtime payments, and to reduce labour law protections.
ANTON
Because of our intervention in the Tripartite Task Force, we got these kind of protective measures. And then we published, because worker don’t know, workers don’t know about these things. And the employers also hiding. So we published in the newspaper the basic thing of the Task Force decisions, and then we distributed the leaflets to raise the awareness among the workers about their rights under the pandemic, and as a result of our intervention some of the factory workers contacted us and they organised unions now. We got more than two thousand new members. So we supported them, and as a result they become members of our union.
REPORTER
Kalpona says while union membership initially dropped, unrelenting effort turned that around in mid-2020.
This includes her own organisation, which as a grassroots operation, has tens of thousands of solidarity members.
KALPONA
Like last, first few weeks, few months, we have been seen that it is decreasing enormously because then were so much fear just, they were focusing just to save their jobs, so they have money and they can feed themselves, at least they can live, you know, alive. I think we have been done our organising good in June July, during those two three months. And then from end of August it has been turning around and workers started coming to our centre in person. And we had to open the centre for them as well. So we took our life risk because they’re taking risk as well. So it is been turn back and now I think that workers are more strong enough to do organising though they knows that there might be so many consequences. They knows that they need to fight..
REPORTER
Kalpona thinks the emphasis of some labour organising may need to shift.
KALPONA
The COVID is not going like overnight or over year, it’s a long run thing that we have in our planet now. So you know, if it is goes long then it will be consequences with the business, and if it is consequences with business that will be directly affect to the workers. So that in one way we feel we have more responsibility to work with government, manufacturers and brands, to make sure that our workers has unemployment insurance, has social security. So those are the areas will be focusing or working on more these days.
REPORTER
Anton also sees several future challenges.
ANTON
Employers are very much getting, come together with the government. And we know that gradually the Army presence is getting increase in Sri Lanka, all the things are now undertaken by Army. So we see that there is a challenge. And maybe there will be a kind of a repression on us, so we have to be ready to face these challenges.
This is the good opportunity for workers to understand how important is the global solidarity, because this is the global challenge. We cannot find solution nationally. So therefore, we use this opportunity to educate the workers how important the global solidarity. And we want to see that the global unions and the other campaign organisations who are supporting for the employees, has to come together.
HOST
Anton Marcus ending that report from Matthew Abud.
In Turkey the challenges to organising and supporting workers impacted by COVID has a different context.
After the attempted coup d’etat in 2016, the government cracked down on civil society, arresting thousands and shutting down many non-government organisations.
The coup’s impact on trade unions and other worker support organisations remains profound. Bego Demir is with Clean Clothes Campaign in Turkey.
BEGO
The formulation of union also is changed. Like some union is also very close to government, like they organise factories when you check their numbers it’s rising, but the worker, the union who actually support the workers right, which is like they work independently when you check their number it’s going down. Like, clearly you understand from that picture like there is pressure like and effort from the government behind it.
HOST
The structure of Turkey’s garment sector also has a big role.
BEGO
The supply chain is big and it’s differently formulated than other countries. You can see a lot of Tier 3, Tier 4 factories with just a few workers. Those small factories are unregistered, the workers work are unregistered, so unregistered workers, they don’t have any rights.
HOST
Bego says this means that, during the short lockdown in March, workers relied on family and community networks to survive – unions only had a minor role.
Unlike elsewhere, brands didn’t cancel orders, likely because Turkey is so close to European consumer markets.
Factory workers were also exempted from later lockdown.
But they travelled and worked in crowded conditions where social distancing was impossible.
That meant a change of campaign tactics was needed.
BEGO
At the first when Clean Clothes Campaign start their campaign, Pay Up Campaign, pay your workers campaign, so we joined that campaign but we saw the campaign is not covering all textile needs. So we start a campaign here as COVID to be recognised an occupational disease. Because legally when a worker has an occupational disease, doesn’t matter when it’s registered or unregistered, government have to give their rights. Because like, one hundred twenty one countries accepted like recognised COVID like occupational disease for health sector. So we so not just for health sector, for all workers. We get support for the campaign from all doctors, from like health sector as well, so we hope they will accept it, but it is a big challenge because it will be new. Let’s see the result.
HOST
Without this measure, unregistered workers can’t get official support if they become sick with COVID.
Unregistered workers also can’t legally join unions.
Over the longer term, protecting any of their rights – including health, or wages, or freedom of association – means this has to change.
BEGO
We reorganised our future structure. We were mostly focused on the living wage, on the workers’ rights, but one of our main campaigns in future will be a way to register workers. Now we also spoke with some other partner in Turkey, some other NGOs, and they all realised that’s a big problem. So in the future, somehow we need to push the government to make it work. I think like the reason government is not very strong to make all worker being registered, they want to attract people, attract brand especially, so they want to be in a competition with China. We want to change that, we want to convince them that cannot be a benefit for country.
HOST
That’s Bego Demir, from Clean Clothes in Turkey.
We’ve looked at several different examples of building trade unions and worker organisations, and defending rights in the time of COVID.
We asked Christie Miedema
CHRISTIE
I’m Christie Miedema. I work at the International Office of the Clean Clothes Campaign
HOST
And Mandy Felicia
MANDY
I am Mandy Felicia from ILIR, Philippines
HOST
For their thoughts on how worker COVID’s impacted worker organising
MANDY
During this COVID what stands out is really the collective effort of all the workers to try to sustain workers’ organisations. We only do organising in communities and boarding houses of the workers. But during the pandemic it also prevented us from doing that, no? So what stands out really is the creative form how the workers tried to get in touch with each other. Using the new technology, and also the old technology of passing letters, no, to each other to give news to eqach other and to keep the organisations alive, by maintaining contact.
CHRISTIE
What stands out to me is that COVID 19 has really created a threat of rolling back gains that were made in the past, rolling back workers rights, rolling back also maybe in the field of practices of brands becoming a bit more aware of how their choices influence their supply chains. We see them turning their backs on their supply chains, despite all those years of convincing brands that they’re responsible for the supply chain.
MANDY
The pandemic also exposes the rottenness of the system, the capitalist system, how profit is given more importance than the lives of the people. Sad to say the system also took advantage of the crisis to exploit more, and take away the gains of the movement. The pandemic has taught us to rely more on ourselves and pinpoint the real importance of organisation, and the need to belong to one. There has been a lot of consciousness not only on the level of solidarity among the workers but also of international solidarity. Workers now see and understand more the global supply chain. They now look at how pandemic affected the workflow, the orders, you know the movement of the products have become very very conscious of that.
CHRISTIE
I think a lot of the challenges that we’ll continue to see are the ones that we did already. It’s the fact that wages are not being paid, that workers are being dismissed without receiving their full severance pay, and the continued rollback of rights.
MANDY
We don’t only have a problem with the pandemic. But also government using pandemic as an excuse to further repress and stop the people from being organised to challenge government policies. Last year on December 10 many unionists were arrested simultaneously, and a lot of unionists and labour rights defenders are now being accused of being rebels and are being put into jail using trumped-up charges. So we view with concern what is happening in Myanmar because we might have the same situation here, you know.
CHRISTIE
And I think also the good thing is we have already learned from this, it took us all by surprise in March, in April, but we have learned to stay together and to face these challenges. So I think while the challenges might be similar, or while there might be new things coming towards us, we are stronger now, we have made up our minds and we know that we can stand together.
MANDY
There is a need to continuously assess, no. Not only our situation but also our methods of organising and education, which is of paramount importance. But probably form is only secondary to the need of always working and being with the workers in their communities and workplaces if possible. We hope to find ways to better, for better security and health measures because I think the pandemic should not stop us from going to the workers. And that is the only thing that is constant for us, the need to organise ourselves, to assert our rights and together shape a better normal post-pandemic.
HOST
That’s Mandy Felicia.
And that’s the end of our show.
Please send your thoughts, feedback, and questions. Email us at this address: podcast@cleanclothes.org. You can also see the email address on the podcast webpage.
Matthew Abud produced this episode, with Anne Dekker, and the Clean Clothes Podcast team – Liz Parker, Tanne de Goei, and Johnson Chin-Yin Yeung.
I’m Febriana Firdaus. See you for the next episode.
Before we go, a message from Clean Clothes about the situation in Myanmar.
MIMMY
This is Mimmy Kowel, Coordinator of Clean Clothes Campaign South East Asia Coalition. This is our message to the workers in Myanmar. We, the global Clean Clothes Campaign Network, stand in solidarity with you. We condemn the military coup in Myanmar, and strongly urge all political leaders and military officials, to respect the 2020 election results, and restore the democratic process. All detained political leaders and activists should be released and no further arrests made. We will continue to closely follow the situation in your country, and we are ready to support as much as we can.
[1] Live blog, Jan. 23: https://cleanclothes.org/news/2021/live-blog-on-how-the-coronavirus-influences-workers-in-supply-chains