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A study of the Australian garment industry, in which outworkers are used extensively, has shown that employers have been slow to observe mandatory and voluntary rules for protecting labour rights in local and international supply chains.
Many of the leading garment companies, says the report, have little knowledge of these rights issues in their supply chains and some think they are the responsibility only of the suppliers themselves. They also have little knowledge of how to monitor their suppliers’ practices.
The study – conducted by the Brotherhood of St Laurence, a faith-based charity in Melbourne that was formed in the Depression to tackle social injustice and now states as its aim an Australia free of poverty – found a lack of trust among workers, suppliers, labour rights groups and the main companies, which do not work together and fail to understand one another’s circumstances.
The report says: ‘Smaller companies generally believed that Australian consumers did not care about the conditions under which garments were manufactured, and that no business case existed for developing CSR strategies.’
It highlights the outworking, which is done mainly by migrant women with poor English. The researchers recalled that a 2001 report had put average pay at A$3.60 ($3.20, £1.60) an hour. Then most workers averaged 12-hour days and 62 per cent said they worked seven days a week.
Today, said the researchers, conditions were even worse, and a shortage of orders had robbed the outworkers of their bargaining power. One group claimed to receive A$2.50 for a detailed shirt that took an hour to sew.
The report calls for a stakeholder body for the industry and a production organization enabling workers to enjoy ethical conditions. At the same time companies should consult individuals and organizations representing suppliers and workers and make their policies and activities public.
Many of the leading garment companies, says the report, have little knowledge of these rights issues in their supply chains and some think they are the responsibility only of the suppliers themselves. They also have little knowledge of how to monitor their suppliers’ practices.
The study – conducted by the Brotherhood of St Laurence, a faith-based charity in Melbourne that was formed in the Depression to tackle social injustice and now states as its aim an Australia free of poverty – found a lack of trust among workers, suppliers, labour rights groups and the main companies, which do not work together and fail to understand one another’s circumstances.
The report says: ‘Smaller companies generally believed that Australian consumers did not care about the conditions under which garments were manufactured, and that no business case existed for developing CSR strategies.’
It highlights the outworking, which is done mainly by migrant women with poor English. The researchers recalled that a 2001 report had put average pay at A$3.60 ($3.20, £1.60) an hour. Then most workers averaged 12-hour days and 62 per cent said they worked seven days a week.
Today, said the researchers, conditions were even worse, and a shortage of orders had robbed the outworkers of their bargaining power. One group claimed to receive A$2.50 for a detailed shirt that took an hour to sew.
The report calls for a stakeholder body for the industry and a production organization enabling workers to enjoy ethical conditions. At the same time companies should consult individuals and organizations representing suppliers and workers and make their policies and activities public.
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