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Fashion United
9 hours ago
- Business
- Fashion United
Trade union freedom is still a long way off in fashion: "It's essential that brands sit down with employees"
2023 and 2024 were years of protests for Bangladeshi garment workers. Tens of thousands of workers took to the streets, demanding, among other things, payment arrears and the lack of structural improvements: a living wage, meal allowances, raises for night shifts, and more lenient work duties for pregnant women. These protests were intended to be peaceful. According to agreements Bangladesh has had with the ILO since 1972, the workers were fully within their rights. However, employers and authorities silenced them with almost routine, degrading tactics such as violence, intimidation, and sometimes even imprisonment. Over one thousand trade unions have emerged in Bangladesh since the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory. However, in practice, employees who organise to defend their rights often find themselves powerless. Union busting Union busting, the systematic suppression of trade unions, is a social sustainability issue in Bangladesh, as well as in Myanmar, Cambodia, India, Egypt, Lesotho and other weakly regulated production countries. It violates two fundamental workers' rights: freedom of association (FoA) and the right to collective bargaining with employers. Union busting manifests itself, for example, in the form of violence, intimidation, harassment, dismissal or the arrest of union members and leaders. Also common is the 'separation' tactic. This is where employees active in the union are isolated from their colleagues and friends as punishment. They may also be strategically transferred to another department to weaken important social ties crucial for an effective union. These tactics are also used to deter non-members. For fear of reprisals, they are less likely to join an association. In this way, employers fuel a vicious cycle in which the union shrinks and loses its bargaining power. Recent cases The Business and Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) reported on recent union-busting cases. In Sri Lanka, an employee was forced to withdraw from her association, The Women's Centre. When she persisted, she was transferred to other production lines (separation). When she refused the request to switch from her camp to her employer's 'works council', she was dismissed. In Cambodia, union leader Soy Sros was arrested after speaking out on social media about planned redundancies of union members, including a pregnant woman. Brands such as Michael Kors and Tory Burch have luxury accessories made in the factory. Yellow unions A driving factor in the persistence of union busting is the rise of 'yellow' unions, which do not act in the interests of garment workers. They are not independent, like a 'red' union. Christie Miedema of the Clean Clothes Campaign explains: 'Yellow unions are usually set up by factory management or officials. Union leaders are often pressured to cooperate with management, in exchange for, for example, a promotion or pay rise.' At JAW Garment in Cambodia, for example, management tried to bribe union representatives with salaries of 600 dollars (three times the minimum wage) to quit their jobs, according to the BHRRC report. In some cases, management succeeds in this approach, and unions can change colour. They start out independent but become yellow through bribery. Yellow unions follow the same registration process as red unions, but are approved more quickly because they have the support of management or the authorities. An example is Dekko Designs in Bangladesh, which produces for brands including Asos and Bestseller. At the end of 2021, one-third of the workers registered for a red union. During that process, 19 employees lost their jobs and more were harassed, intimidated and burdened with extra work. When the Ministry of Labour visited for an audit – as a standard part of the procedure – workers who wanted to sign up were threatened. As a result, the inspection did not find enough members to officially recognise the union. Meanwhile, a yellow union in the factory, supported by the employer and the government, was registered without any problems. Inside a garment factory in Asia. Credits: Clean Clothes Campaign. Worker committees Sometimes factory management presents worker or participation committees as an alternative structure. Miedema emphasises that these are not trade unions and that they are very limited in their bargaining power and rights. Employers and brands often point to worker committees as proof that there is a representative body to represent the 'worker voice'. In practice, this is often not the case. Miedema also stresses that legally only employees are allowed to form a trade union. 'Management is not allowed to interfere with this at all, and certainly not allowed to set up alternative employee representative bodies. They must ensure that employees have the space and freedom to organise and stand up for their interests. This is also laid down in the relevant international conventions, ILO 87 (on freedom of association) and 98 (on collective bargaining)." Impact of fake unions According to Human Rights Watch, both yellow unions and committees are increasingly used in major RMG producing countries such as Bangladesh. Independent trade unions, in turn, suffer from this, says Miedema. 'When factories or brands are confronted with questions and public attention about violations of trade union rights, they put forward these alternatives as 'legitimate' representatives. Independent unions then have to refute this, which costs a lot of time and money. Moreover, it can lead to confusion in the media.' The fake unions also create confusion within the factory, Miedema says. This makes it difficult for independent unions to recruit enough members; without mass, a union has no recognition and no bargaining power. Ongoing problem The obstacles to freedom of association and bargaining vary greatly from country to country, says Kate Jelly, labour rights researcher at BHRRC. 'In Cambodia, a factory can have dozens of unions, but few are independent due to employer tactics (union busting). China has no legal framework for establishing independent trade unions at all. In Myanmar, one emerged after the economic and political liberalisation of the early 2010s, but after the 2021 coup, its enforcement was halted and a harsh crackdown on unions and their leaders began. This resulted in an increase in labour and human rights violations.' Jelly notes that these problems are not new, but that the dominant fast-fashion model has triggered their presence – and restrictions on freedom of association in general. 'When independent unions achieve results for workers – in the form of higher wages and better working conditions – it costs employers money. Fundamental to the fast-fashion model is that buyers at the top of the supply chain constantly pressure their suppliers to produce as cheaply as possible. Independent unions pose a threat to that system.' Add to that the fact that the apparel industry is in dire straits, and it becomes more understandable why brands are not very active in pursuing improvement. Meanwhile, human rights organisations continue to document abuses through so-called trackers, in which the brands involved are also named and can respond with an official statement or compensation. Often, their response is lacking. One example: after the murder of union leader Shahidul Islam in Bangladesh in June 2023, the Clean Clothes Campaign set up a compensation fund and called on brands such as New Yorker and InWear to contribute. The counter stands at two percent. Workers in Bangladesh demanding from Adidas to pay wages owed. Credits: Clean Clothes Campaign Success stories Recent success stories show what unions can achieve when they are well organised. Take the case won by the Turkish union BİRTEK-SEN against manufacturer Baykan Denim. After employees lost their homes in the severe earthquakes of February 2023, they were dismissed without compensation. Affiliated brands such as Next, Gina Tricot and Urban Outfitters acknowledged the violation but went no further than advising the workers to pursue a costly lawsuit against Baykan Denim themselves. Under pressure from the Clean Clothes Campaign and one brand, Inditex, the factory relented and paid out 32,000 dollars in compensation almost three years after the disaster. At the Serbian sock factory Valy d.o.o., which supplies Primark, among others, the Sloga union achieved success in a case concerning underpaid overtime. After attempts at union busting, including a lawsuit against union leader Željko Veselinović, 98 workers were finally paid their back wages. Even greater is the impact of the global PayYourWorkers campaign, which has been endorsed by 285 trade unions and human rights organisations. The campaign asks brands to contribute half a percent of their order costs to a permanent fund for affected garment workers. Through joint pressure, 40 million dollars has already been raised for wage arrears and severance pay. The road to freedom of association What does the road to freedom of association for garment workers look like? Miedema: 'Clothing brands can ensure that all their suppliers publicly support the right to freedom of association and communicate this to their employees. They can indicate to suppliers how important they consider free trade unions and reliable audits. They can actively address reports and complaints about violations of this right at their suppliers. They can sit down with the unions to further elaborate on this, and they can publicly express their support for due diligence legislation in the Netherlands and at the European level.' The European CS3D, or 'anti-blind-eye law', after years of lobbying, creates opportunities for social sustainability in the textile supply chain, particularly with the option of suing a company in, for example, Bangladesh, in a country like the Netherlands. Earlier this year, the law was undermined by a new Omnibus proposal, which would exempt many large companies from their social sustainability obligations – a setback for human rights organisations. And yet, says Jelly, it offers prospects for the unions. 'Even with a weakened CSDDD, due diligence can initiate necessary conversations with workers and trade unions – they themselves are experts on human rights violation risks in the most vulnerable links of the textile supply chain.' Source list: This article was translated to English using an AI tool. FashionUnited uses AI language tools to speed up translating (news) articles and proofread the translations to improve the end result. This saves our human journalists time they can spend doing research and writing original articles. Articles translated with the help of AI are checked and edited by a human desk editor prior to going online. If you have questions or comments about this process email us at info@
Business Recorder
13 hours ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
Women still paid less
'The gender pay gap in Pakistan is high from an international perspective', proclaims the ILO Gender Pay Gap in Pakistan Report 2025, which is a detailed empirical analysis and policy implications endeavor by the ILO Country Office. A joint Foreword penned by ILO Country Office and Federal Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development states that 'The persistence of the gender pay gap (GPG) is one of the clearest indications of gender inequalities in the labor market. The GPG implies that women earn less than men for the same work, or for work of equal value. It exists for a range of reasons, including vertical segregation in the labor market and the presence of a penalty against 'feminized' occupations. The GPG also perpetuates gender inequalities outside of the labor market. In particular, a large gap decreases the incentives for women to pursue education, enter the labor force and progress in their careers. This, in turn, perpetuates the unequal distribution of unpaid care work and unequal bargaining power within the household. Reducing the GPG is, therefore, important from multiple perspectives.' Women all over the world face various gender-based prejudices but continue their struggle to attain equality. Acknowledging the significance of women and their remarkable competences and potentials is imperative for them to get equal recognition. The acknowledgment is mostly in rhetorical speeches and vague commitments despite the fact that discrimination is systemic, especially in a patriarchal ecosystem. Credit is of course due to enlightened employers who endeavor to provide a level playing field to women employees and who go the extra mile to implement fair and gender-neutral policies in recruitment, in privileges, and in promotions. Planning and approving the induction of women employees in the enterprise requires a comprehensive and pragmatic decision-making attitude since it is a precursor to a healthy, facilitative, and gender-equality dynamics. The question then still hovers beyond the employment landscape. Why do women get paid less than their male counterparts? The ILO Report has done a deep dive study, taking into account the disparities. Using data from the country's Labour Force Surveys from 2013 to 2021, it offers updated estimates of the level of the gap, as well as the main drivers behind it. Moreover, the GPG is larger in agriculture and manufacturing compared to the service sector. Highlighting the LFS, the Report notes that 'discrimination likely plays an important role in explaining the gender pay gap, and that discrimination is most prevalent in the informal economy and low paid jobs. The data shows that the GPG decreased by approximately eight percentage points in Pakistan between 2018 and 2021 when measured using both hourly and monthly wages. This observed decline can principally be attributed to a reduction in the contribution of the unexplained component of the gap. While this unexplained component still accounts for most of the GPG, especially at the bottom of the wage distribution, its role has decreased in recent years'. The role of Employers and Workers Federations, as well as the women politicians and social activists, need to be considered too. Every year, International Women's Day is celebrated widely by nearly all of them. Seminars, rallies, marches, and banners are a common feature. Speakers and experts talk passionately about gender equality, discrimination, women rights, and what not. Many such seminars and conferences are held in plush hotels where the women workers are relatively less in attendance. Resolutions are presented and approved but the next day it is back to normal. The female workers continue to walk few miles or take a rickety bus to work, put in long hours, and then face the ordeal of reaching home to take care of family chores. Most of them are resigned to accepting a lower paycheck, and if working in the agriculture sector, may be working without emoluments. Women Parliamentarians usually have a nonchalant attitude towards women workers. Take ILO Convention 190 on Harassment and Violence in the World of Work. It has been six years since the ILO International Labour Conference in Geneva adopted this Convention. However, Pakistani Parliamentarians have other priorities to tackle instead of ratifying C190. Probably, a large majority of women Parliamentarians are least bit concerned nor have any knowledge about this essential Convention. Another depressing factor is that the Boards and Executive Committees of Employers and Workers Federations are mostly male-oriented, and some have token women representation. Obviously, this male-dominant culture negatively impacts on fighting for rights of women. Media must also promote gender equality and equal pay and rights. There is a tendency in soap operas where in more ways than one, the male character in various plays and serials is primarily more dominant, depicting his 'importance' in office or place of work, and seemingly very dictatorial. If women are demeaned through any character in these dramas, there is generally a muted response from social activists as well as from women-based organizations. The ball is in the court of women too. The Report reveals that 'Pakistan has the largest gap between men's employment rate (79.2 per cent) and women's employment rate (23.2 per cent in 2021) in the South Asia region. This employment gap has not substantially decreased over the last decade. Women account for just 13.5 per cent of employees in Pakistan' and 'on average, the GPG in Pakistan is larger among older workers, individuals with low levels of educational attainment, informal workers and individuals working in the private sector'. The Report further states that 'In occupations where men are more highly educated than women – such as craft and related trades, as well as elementary occupations – the GPG is even larger'. It lists three factors that partially motivates GPG. 'The first is occupational segregation, whereby women are concentrated in lower-paying sectors and jobs, where wages are lower than in male-dominated sectors or jobs. The second is a lack of transparency in salary structures. Specifically, many organizations do not disclose their salary ranges, which can perpetuate unequal pay practices and make it difficult for women to advocate for fair wages. Third, the presence of direct discrimination and gender bias in salary negotiations appear to contribute to the persistent gender pay gap, whereby women are paid less than men in the same roles in a company'. Employers Federation of Pakistan (EFP) has been in the lead in motivating and sensitizing entrepreneurs regarding women empowerment, gender equality and equal pay. EFP will now seriously study the Report and go full force to motivate member enterprises to revisit their established policies, if any, of employing women at a lower wage in comparison to male workers. Member companies would be encouraged to increase women employment and, if needed, upskill and mentor them for promotion and more managerial responsibilities. Companies must adopt an honest approach that goes above and beyond in nurturing women right from the start of their careers. They must implement fair and gender-neutral policies prioritizing individual skills and talent during recruitment. It is time to end gender stereotypes and biases affecting hiring, promotions and workplace dynamics. The overarching goal is to achieve systemic changes that would advance women in their careers instead of cosmetic implementation of gender-centric policies that look impressive on paper. Geir Thomas Tonstol, Country Director, ILO Islamabad Office, encouragingly offered that 'ILO is committed to providing targeted technical assistance that supports the development of wage-setting mechanisms promoting fairness and equity, across both formal and informal sectors. Our aim is to ensure that pay systems are transparent, responsive to sectoral realities, and aligned with principles of equal remuneration for work of equal value'. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Time of India
21 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
India must adapt to rapidly changing work landscape, says International Labour Organisation Director
Employment patterns continue to shift dramatically, according to Michiko Miyamoto , Director of the International Labour Organisation ( ILO ) DWT for South Asia and Country Office for India. Speaking to on the sidelines of the 3rd Global Industrial Relations Summit organised by FICCI-AIOE in collaboration with ILO and IOE Geneva, Miyamoto highlighted the critical need for adaptive strategies in India's evolving employment landscape. Addressing concerns about artificial intelligence's impact on employment, Miyamoto acknowledged that AI is "definitely affecting our jobs and will continue to affect our jobs." However, she emphasised the importance of understanding which occupations and demographic groups face greater risks. "We already know that female employment is more likely to be affected in many countries," Miyamoto observed, pointing to gender-specific vulnerabilities in the AI transition. The ILO director stressed that protecting workers requires "a platform of conversation and agreed strategy between industry, workers, and supported by government." She identified social dialogue and industrial relations as key mechanisms for managing technological change. "The pace of change is so rapid; we have to have this continuous conversation all the time. That's the only way to ensure that work is protected and people benefit more than are negatively affected," she explained. With nearly 60% of the global workforce still engaged in the informal economy, Miyamoto highlighted the urgent need for formalisation and social protection extension. She acknowledged that transitioning from informal to formal economy represents a complex challenge that "everyone knows is not an easy path." "Meanwhile, what can we do to protect people working in the informal economy? The main thing we can do immediately is provide social protection," she stated. Praising India's social protection initiatives, Miyamoto specifically mentioned the e-Shram scheme as a positive step. "It's good to have a pathway for informal economy workforce to be registered so they are connected to existing social protection schemes. That is absolutely important," she noted. The director emphasised that many workers remain unaware of available schemes, making awareness and connectivity crucial components of protection strategies. Miyamoto identified skills development as fundamental to India's employment strategy, particularly given rapidly changing job requirements. She called for stronger connections between industry and education systems to ensure training programs deliver immediately employable skills. "There's basic education - we need to continue and increase the quality of it. At the same time, job requirements are changing so quickly. The trick is connecting industry and education systems closer and closer, so training systems offer skills that are employable to industry straight away," she explained. Discussing global economic uncertainties, including potential impacts from US trade policies under President Donald Trump, Miyamoto advocated for robust domestic economic strategies. "We're living in a very uncertain world. We don't know how global policy will affect your economy today, tomorrow, next week," she observed. "In that environment, we need really good country strategy." She praised India's focus on building strong domestic economic foundations, arguing that "if people in the economy are strong, then that's the most reliable source of a country's economy."
Time of India
a day ago
- Business
- Time of India
India must adapt to rapidly changing work landscape, says International Labour Organisation Director
Synopsis Michiko Miyamoto of ILO spoke about the changing job market at a summit. She said AI impacts jobs, especially for women. She wants talks between companies, workers, and the government. Miyamoto noted the need to protect informal workers with social programs like e-Shram. She stressed skills training linked to industry needs.
Business Recorder
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
Gender pay gap
EDITORIAL: While Pakistan has made notable progress in increasing women's participation across various fields of national endeavour — including those traditionally dominated by men — the gender pay gap continues to persist. Findings from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) study titled 'Gender Pay Gap in Pakistan: An Empirical Analysis' reveal that women in Pakistan earn, on average, 30 percent less than men, even when they have similar qualifications and experience and are employed in comparable roles. This is a troubling reflection of the deeply entrenched gender bias that continues to shape the country's labour market. The report further notes that Pakistan's wage disparity is among the highest compared to other lower-middle-income countries — a stark reminder that, despite visible gains, sexism remains a major barrier to achieving genuine gender equality. This economic inequality is fuelled in large part by usual gender stereotypes that continue to devalue women's work. These biases are often implicit, embedded in workplace culture and decision-making processes, making them harder to identify and even harder to challenge. As a result, women frequently receive lower pay than men for doing the same work, not due to performance or qualifications, but due to the perceived lesser value of their work. The wage gap is particularly wide in the informal sector, where a large number of women are employed in unregulated settings with little to no labour protections. According to the ILO report, even women with higher levels of education often earn significantly less than men with similar — or in some cases, lower — qualifications. This disparity points to deeply rooted biases in hiring, salary setting, and promotion practices. In the formal private sector, the pay gap is somewhat narrower, and it is lowest in the public sector, where regulated wage structures and standardised pay scales offer a greater degree of parity. Yet, even in government employment, the 'glass ceiling' remains intact. Women are often overlooked for leadership roles and promotions, even when they meet or exceed the qualifications and experience required. This exclusion is especially visible in high-ranking, influential positions, where men continue to dominate. In other words, while women may hold roles similar to their male colleagues, they are frequently excluded from senior decision-making positions, limiting their career growth and earning potential. What these findings make clear is that the gender pay gap in Pakistan is not simply the result of women being concentrated in lower-paying sectors. Rather, it reflects systemic and ingrained gender bias in salary decisions across all levels of employment. Tackling this issue requires a comprehensive, multi-pronged approach. Legal reforms must be enacted and enforced to ensure equal pay for work of equal value. Efforts must also be made to expand women's access to higher-paying jobs and leadership opportunities across all sectors. Also, there is a pressing need to challenge societal attitudes through educational campaigns and workplace initiatives that confront gender stereotypes. Encouraging women to pursue careers of their choice on an equal footing with men is not just a matter of fairness; it is essential for building a more just, inclusive, and economically resilient society. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
