190
sustaInaBlE FashIon : a handBooK For Educators
Eleven brands and retailers including Debenhams, H&M,
New Look, Marks & Spencer and Next took part in
a three year project in China where, as in many other
garment exporting countries, garment workers often work
12-13 hours per day seven days a week to increase their
pay packet. The companies worked with local Chinese
partners to see if it was possible to reduce overtime
without cutting workers’ monthly take home pay, improve
efficiency and reverse worker dissatisfaction. The project
aimed to tackle root causes of overtime and create a
win-win-win result for workers, factories and buyers by
addressing poor management and communication, buyers’
purchasing practices and the poor quality and/or late arrival
of inputs (raw materials).
Case study of a project factory: Basic people
management training was given to factory management
and supervisors, and workers were given skills training.
Communication skills workshops were provided for
workers, managers and supervisors. New ideas and
techniques gained during the project led to better
production planning in this particular factory. By the end
of the project, productivity in the factory had improved.
Only 5% of the workers who had received skills training
had left a year later and workers no longer worked on
Sundays or past 8 pm during the week. A system of
incentives and production bonuses were introduced,
which made it possible for 95% of workers to earn
the minimum wage by working just their basic hours,
compared to 40-50% before the project.The experience of the project in a number of factories in
China showed that workers need to have a strong voice
and be allowed some negotiating power for the project
to succeed. Bigger factories were more successful in this
project than smaller ones, which could be put down to
availability of resources.Half the factories involved in the project at some stage
presented false or inaccurate records. This fact was assigned
to the pressure factory management are under from all
buyers to demonstrate compliance with codes of conduct,
not just those involved in the project. Buyers also need to
address their purchasing practices so that, for example, low
prices and short lead times don’t result in low wages and
overtime to meet tight deadlines. In addition, long-term
trading relationships need to be in place to create security
among suppliers.Summary taken from Factsheet 11: Reducing Overtime Hours
http://fashioninganethicalindustry.org/resources/factsheets/#project: reducing overtime hours