Events for ETI Members

RAISING THE STAKES
ETI AGM November 2002

Roundtable Workshop 3
Engaging with workers in China

Chair:	Alan Roberts, Chair, ETI
Speakers:	Doug Cahn, Reebok International Ltd Neil Kearney, General Secretary, ITGLWF
Case Study:	Louise Jamison, Impactt

Who participated

17 participants attended and amongst members there were 8 companies, 1 Trade Union and 2 NGOs represented. Staff from ETI Secretariat were also in attendance.

Key points from presentations

Doug Cahn, Reebok International Ltd

• Workers -committees need access to management at a higher level than the factory
• Management change in a factory can have a significant impact on your work - positive or negative.

Louise Jamison, Impactt

• The project focuses on the need to break the vicious circle of poor production leading to overtime. Factories involved sell between 10 and 60% of their production to an ETI member but the average is 20-30%.
• After considerable work with factories eventually ALL admitted that they were keeping double sets of books to show to customers.
• Project has to date been successful in reducing hours in 2 of the six participating factories.
• The project has introduced participatory rural appraisal techniques (PRA) to the industrial context for the first time in China. Crucial to this is communications and understanding perceptions - often things are expressed differently but they are really the same issues.
• Aim is for factories to show what can be done with intention of having a 'domino effect' locally.

Neil Kearney, International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federation, ITGLWF:

• Strong need to get opportunities to work with factories.
• Must get workers' perspectives and its crucial to be able to communicate effectively.
• Its no excuse for buyers and incompetent auditors to say "workers want the time" - excessive overtime is an indicator of poor management.
• Overtime reduction in Vietnam has succeeding in reducing it to 9 hours per week - with this, productivity increased and also profitability.
• Companies must develop and further abilities - the ETI Base Code refers to parallel means not being a substitute for freedom of association.
• There is a need to listen to the workers and provide training to understand how to keep records, negotiate, and report back to workers. Importantly, if you do joint training workers see that management are involved - without this workers can feel management are against their being taught.

How do you do this?

• Competitivity in the global context.
• Right product in the right conditions
• Allows broaching rights
• Next step is to train workers in (i) What it means to be trade unionist and (ii) how to organise workers
• There is a need to involve trade unions and NGOs with specialist skills and if possible to avoid the ACFTU.
• Communications with workers via representative committees are needed.

Barriers include local management, party officials in senior management group keeping an eye on the business, labour ministry and officials of the local party. Finally:

• Workers have the same rights wherever they are.
• Business needs to engage with social partners.

Key issues arising

• Level of awareness of social issues within China varies and especially when you go beyond clothing and textiles.
• Compliance attitude is leading to hiding problems (e.g. double book keeping) rather than changing.
• Need to get factories to understand benefits of change outweigh hiding problems
• Break vicious circles and demonstrate positive elements of change
• Need to get local law implemented and patterns of waivers ceased.
• ACFTU engagement is varied according to which region or area you are in
• Need to focus on skilling management and workforce
• Beijing and central government keen for China to be seen to be operating at international level with WTO and Olympics looming
• Correlation between overtime and productivity
• Security of contract is key for suppliers
• Workers and management have same issues often

Summing up / recommendations

• China Working Group needs to build capacity locally.
• Need to work with NGOs and TUs; who need opportunities to work with factories.
• Need to build the reputation of ETI in China.
• Need to work on lead times and planning (cpa) - with management, on why overtime levels are so high.
• Develop and use examples of how specific changes benefit all workers, management and customer: need practical work and case studies.
• Need to work with local authorities:
  • To push for implementation of law
  • So as to prevent fear amongst factories & workers
  • Leverage current need to be seen to have international standards
• Need for creativity in work and honesty from suppliers

for full presentation notes please contact: adil@eti.org.uk

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See also:

• ETI Annual Report 2001/2002 - "Raising the Stakes"
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• Events