Email
PrintDignity is not for sale
A group of Thai factory workers have left the harsh reality of sweatshop conditions behind them in setting up their own business making clothes and bags, as East Asia Program Coordinator Christine Gregory explains.
In October 2002, 800 workers at the Bed and Bath factory in Bangkok, Thailand, turned up to work to find they no longer had jobs. The factory, which produced clothing for well-known companies such as Nike, Reebok, Levi and adidas, had closed without warning and the Thai owner had fled the country with the workers’ wages.
As in many clothing factories in Thailand, conditions at Bed and Bath were terrible. Workers were paid according to a target system. At peak times, workers sometimes worked up to 17 hours a day. Wages for a 17-hour day were between AUD$6.90 and $22.50. It’s difficult to comprehend earning $1.30 an hour for working 17 hours straight.
Workers at the factory reported that during busy periods the factory owner put amphetamines in some of the large drink containers, to help them work through the night. Very few workers refused to take them, as it was the only way they could sustain working for such long periods. Some workers were able to keep going for up to 48 hours before they collapsed.
For three months after the factory closed, 350 workers protested outside the Ministry of Labour demanding the right to compensation guaranteed to them under Thai law. The demonstration finally ended on 31 January 2003, when workers successfully persuaded the Employees Welfare Fund Committee to give emergency payments to the workers.
After the compensation claims were received, 35 of the workers went on to form their own small factory making shirts and bags under the name ‘Solidarity Cooperative’. Borrowing money from the bank and sponsoring organisations, they began operating in February 2003 in a rented three-story building in Bangkok.
“Sometimes people outside say we still have to work hard — it’s no different to working in the old factory,” cooperative member Manop Kaewpaga says.
“But we know it is different. In this place, there is no boss hanging over or taking advantage of us. There is no threat and insult. Most importantly, we are in a factory of our own.”
Members of the Solidarity Cooperative - former sportswear factory workers who now run their own clothes manufacturing business. Photo: Junya Yimpraset.
Currently, the cooperative subcontracts orders for export from other factories. They also get orders from trade unions and non-government organisations for campaign t-shirts, banners and other products.
Some of the founding members have left the group due to personal or financial reasons and now 19 members remain. It’s very hard to make a living from sub-contracting with the added overhead costs of running a factory. The workers still have not been able to reach the point where they have financial and income security.
We are supporting the group with a small grant for product brochures to market their business. In order to be a long-term, viable business, these workers need to shift production from sub-contracting to direct production and are aiming to try and sell products to the fair trade market.
“Each piece of clothing that we take from other factories requires 20–30 steps to complete. However, we receive only 16 baht (about AUD 50 cents) per piece — a very low sum,” says group member Sunee Namso. “If we can work directly with the client, our situation should improve.”
The cooperative members believe their work is special, not only because they’re realising their own dreams, but helping to benefit all workers by demonstrating an alternative to working under sweatshop conditions.