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| Sunday, 29 February 2004 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Oxfam report : Women workers suffer with globalistian of trade by Kaminie Jayanthi Liyanage An indepth analysis of labour issues of women working in global supply chains was presented by Oxfam International in their Global Labour Report, "Trading away our rights", launched at World Trade Centre on February 18. Amongst those who expressed their views on the occasion were Phil Esmonde, Country Representative, Oxfam Great Britain, B. Gowthaman, Programme Co-ordinator, Oxfam International, Chris Eijkemens, Head/Bureau of South Asia, Novib, Padmini Weerasooriya, Treasurer, Women's Centre and Rev. Fr. Reid Shelton Fernando, Chaplain, YCW/CWM. The report which combines research from 12 employment-related campaigns from rich and poor countries including Cambodia, Honduras and Bangla desh, and interviews with more than 1,000 women workers, farm and factory managers, global brands, importers, exporters and union and government officials, is part of Oxfam's sustained campaign to Make Trade Fair. The report highlights that big brand companies and retailers in the fashion and food industries are driving down employment conditions for millions of women workers around the world including Sri Lanka. It aims to set standards for responsible purchasing and business practices which respects the rights of women workers and make benefits of trade reach the poor at a time when Multi-Fiber Agreement is being phased out in Sri Lanka and the local garment industry is being restructured to facilitate full blooded international competition. The Oxfam report recommends among other things, that big corporate brands and buyers create respect for labour rights integral to their supply chain business strategies; that governments enforce international labour standards to promote decent employment for poverty reduction, gender equality and development; and that producers provide decent jobs that respect the rights of workers. Currently, Oxfam is working with trade unions, labour NGOs and support organisation regarding women labour issues and will launch its next report on market access issues in late March. The newly-launched report explains that in the current model of globalisation for trade, the benefits of flexbility for companies at the top of global supply chains have come at the cost of precarious employment for those at the bottom. The rise of the "flexible" and the temporary worker with no job security has been accompanied by the rise of the female, often "migrant", worker. Globalisation makes the hand of the retailer and the brand company more strong. New technology, trade liberalisation and capital mobility have opened up many more countries through which they can source their products and many producers hanker to be on such supply chains. International acquisitions and aggressive pricing strategies have concentrated the market power in a few big retailers with international empires. Such buyers use tremendous negotiating power to push the costs and risks of the business down the supply chains. This business model focuses on maximising profits for shareholders and demands increasing flexibility through "just-in-time" delivery, but with tighter control on inputs, standards and ever-lower prices. Burdened with this pressure, factory and farm managers pass on the costs and risks to the weakest links in the chain - the workers - specially, the woman worker. Usually the producer labour strategy is to make labour flexible, and make it cheap. Under fluctuating orders and falling prices, the producers hire workers on short-term contracts, set excessive targets, and sub-contract to sub-standard, unseen producers. The ultimate result is that corporate rights are becoming stronger while the poor worker's rights are being weakened and thousands of women workers are paying the social costs. There is a fundamental shift in who will gain from trade under the present model of globalisation. If this is to be an indication of the future export-oriented employment, trade will never be able to exercise its potential for poverty reduction and gender equality, the report says. |
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