"Together for Decent Leather" at the occasion of a consortium meeting in Utrecht, the Netherlands, July 2022 Special Magazine

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Research

Research is at the heart of this project. A lot of time and energy is invested in documenting and analysing evidence of ongoing labour rights risks and abuses in the leather industry in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

It is always difficult to investigate labour conditions through worker interviews, as workers are afraid to speak out, always fearing for their jobs. During the subsequent corona lockdowns, live meetings could not take place. Corona turned out to be quite a test of our methodological creativity and flexibility, which we dare to say, passed quite well, coming up with alternative ways to speak to workers, reaching out to them by phone, for example. Workers in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan were interviewed about the impact of the corona crisis on their lives. BLF published an analysis about the situation in Bangladesh. In The Corona Chronicles, which was also translated into German, workers from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan tell about their plight. Desk research and analysis of trends in production and trade in these three production countries was conducted – three papers were published, regarding India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. The larger field research into working conditions of leather workers in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan has also been finalised, involving interviews with hundreds of workers. The Bangladesh field research report is ready for publication, the other country reports will follow suit.

A company survey among selected suppliers of leather clothing and shoes in Austria and Germany, including market leaders in online trade, retailers and manufacturers, to assess whether they comply with their human rights due diligence obligations has been published right before the consortium meeting. Research into the current state of affairs in the supply disclosure of luxury brands and footwear brands has been conducted. The behaviour of hundred brands was scrutinised; brands were questioned about their supply chains. This research is reflected in two papers that will be published in September 2022. A publication on caste-based discrimination and a review of labels and certification schemes are also in the pipeline.

First conclusions from the field research

• Leather workers ear poverty wages, often below the legal minimum wage. Home workers and daily workers are worst off.
• Workers face discrimination based on age, gender and caste.
• In all the three production countries where this project is executed, extensive labour legislation is in place, but enforcement is a huge problem.
• There are hardly any workplace-level unions; even the legally required workers committees are often not in place. Workers experience a lot of pushback from their employers in organising themselves in unions.
• Workers are not always aware of their labour rights.
• There is child labour.

For full details, case stories and analysis, keep an eye out for the upcoming reports.

Creative research approaches

One of the challenges when doing research in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan is finding workers who are willing to participate. Building trust is key here. Especially during at height of the COVID pandemic, where in-person contacts were very limited, this required a creative approach. By reaching out to workers with a modest gesture of humanitarian assistance, an opportunity was created for workers to share on their employment situation and on their financial hardships. Interviews were held over the phone. Study circles were held on WhatsApp. This resulted in new contacts with workers and increased trust in the organisations in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.

Getting training on labour rights and receiving medical advice on safe working conditions during COVID proved good incentives to make workers participate in the field research interviews. The Asian consortium partners furthermore played a supportive role in the organising of leather workers in their respective countries and in the establishment of trade unions. This is really action-driven research.

Yes of course there is labour legislation, but it is badly enforced.

Campaigning

The Together for Decent leather consumer campaign was launched in June and there are is a good couple of months to go to raise awareness about the labour rights challenges for leather workers in South Asia and generate support for our campaign.

The information from the field research is feeding the public consumer campaign, that Inkota and Suedwind have launched, aimed in particular at consumers in Germany and Austria. Consumers are asked to call upon shoe brand Tamaris to disclose information on their supply chain through an e-mail campaign. Tamaris is a well-known shoe brand that presents itself as a social responsible company. However, research by the German and Austrian consortium members shows that Tamaris is not being transparent about its production processes.

The campaign kicked off with the publication of this investigation. Videos and photos from the three Asian production countries was used to develop campaign material. The first videos have been posted and the campaign started in June. There is a strong emphasis on supply chain transparency, because consumers should be able to know where the products they buy are manufactured.

The exciting question for the campaign now is: 'Can we get enough public attention?' Opportunities are actively sought to collect more signatures, through, for example, media attention, social media campaigns and street actions.

Setting ourselves challenges in media work and consumer campaigning

• We are proud of the high-quality video and photo footage that the project generated so far. More materials are made in Pakistan as we speak. Visuals will be used creatively in the public campaign.
• The upcoming field research reports and discussion papers will be shared strategically with selected journalist and media outlets in the three production countries and in Europe.
• We want to increase our presence on social media – by boosting our creativity, using spoof techniques, and – quite a challenge, but let’s give it a try! – working with influencers!
• The consumer campaign will run for a couple of months more - we aim to organise a number of action moments and a smashing closing event.
• Practically, in the coming months the communication specialists of the consortium partners will get together more often to further develop strategy and activities.

Advocacy

At the same time, lobby and advocacy activities have started up. We organised a number of, including a session on caste-based discrimination at the OECD Forum on Due Diligence in the Garment and Footwear Sector in February 2022. Consortium members reached out to the bigger brands for shoes and leather-based garments and accessories, and of course to governmental actors at national and international levels. With some success, contact has been established with a number of shoe brands, resulting in some cases in dialogue. In other cases, the door remains closed, with brands uninterested to engage with us, at least for the time being.

Thoughts on advocacy

• Clearly formulate our core messages, and fine-tune these messages for each specific target group.
• Link and align advocacy efforts with that of our associates and other allies in production countries, the EU and internationally.
• Think carefully about which groups we focus on, from banks and investors to regulators and law enforcers.
• Strengthen our lobby with the OECD, by being present at the upcoming annual forum on responsible garment and textiles in February 2023.
• Intensify our dialogue with the European Commission, in particular via DG INTPA and the EU Delegations in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.
• Put more pressure on buyers and improvement initiatives, besides dialogue.
• Besides ‘shaming’ companies, we can also choose for ‘naming’ or even ‘faming’ companies, to create a stage for those companies that make real efforts that lead to concrete improvements for leather workers.
• We will explore the possibilities of legal actions, to hold companies legally to account.
• Bring together various groups, to foster exchanges, including labour rights groups from production countries, brands, manufacturers and policy makers – for example in webinars and workshops.
• When promoting core labour rights, put more emphasis on the right to a legal minimum wage.

We have to be more specific about our core messages, and then fine-tune them to the specific audiences.

Worker training

Cividep and BLF have already made a lot of flying hours in providing trainings to leather workers. NOWC is determined to catch up. Many different topics are addressed in a worker training. From information about how to set up a factory-level union, to how to tackle gender-based violence and abusive behaviour on the work floor. It often happens that management and supervisors apply pressure on workers to make them realise set production goals. The training programmes include informing workers how their rights are protected in local and international labour law. Trainings are also about developing leadership skills.

Some experiences with trainings so far

• Workers are often reluctant to join trainings, for various reasons – one being a lack of time, due to the many responsibilities and tasks that especially women workers are burdened with.
• Workers often do not get permission from their employer to participate in trainings. It seems that employers see such trainings as threatening – they rather see their workers ignorant, it seems.
• Workers do not so easily remember what they have learned.
• It takes a lot for workers to actively apply what they have learned.

Workers are often reluctant to join a training on labour rights. They are shy, have little time, or fear their employer won’t like it. To motivate workers to participate it helps when workers who already did a training recruit new trainees.

Practical tips for upcoming trainings that follow from these experiences

• It is important to start a training programme with a plan for the longer term.
• Combine a (series of) training(s) with providing workers support in organising themselves in a factory-level union, or accompanying individual workers to address their grievances incentivises workers to join trainings.
• Workers need to be encouraged and secured in order to take the step to join a training; organisations offering trainings need to take this into account in their planning and approach.
• Workers can be motivated to join a training by former trainees.
• Make training materials available to workers, to those who participated in a training as well as to others.
• Make work of the dissemination of the results of workshops and trainings.
• It is always important not to jeopardise the privacy and safety of the workers who participate in trainings.
• Follow up with former trainees, offering refresher trainings, and with trainings on additional topic and themes - one-off trainings don’t do the trick.
• Look out for new trainers – in particular also female trainers – maybe from other friendly NGOs.
• Help workers to apply what they learn during trainings.