Suppliers to adidas and Nike

Sandanski District, Bulgaria.

Profile based on visits to the company in April and November 1999

30 November 1999

Ivanka Laleva, correspondent for the Bulgarian newspaper Trud ("labour"),
(Translation from Bulgarian: Alain Kessi)
Tel. and fax: +359-73-32295 (Bulgarian or Russian)
or via Alain Kessi: tel. and fax: +359-2-9809652 (also English, French, German)

Bettina Musiolek , Clean Clothes Campaign - Germany
Tel and fax: +49-2103-63375
e-mail: B.Musiolek@knuut.de
The Savina factory in the town of Sandanski produces sportswear for adidas and Nike. Savina produces garments under the Outward Processing Trade scheme (Ishleme). It also has a branch in the village of Strumiyan in Sandanski District. Eighty machinists work in the Sandanski factory, and the same number in the Strumiyan branch. Ninety-nine percent of the workers are women.

The company is owned by Hristos Karanidis, a Greek citizen. The Sandansky District is near the Greek border. The company has been developing its operations in Bulgaria for the last seven years. During that time, it has repeatedly attracted the attention of local government, labour inspectors and trade unions. Over the years, complaints have been mainly about:

• low pay
• compulsory, unregulated overtime
• impossibly high production quotas
• creative accounting on the part of the owners.

In the spring of 1999, a strike broke out at the factory, organised by the trade union KT Podkrepa. The trade union had in fact been set up in order to legalise the protests. All workers took part except the supervisors (or 'brigade leaders').

Elena Yordanova, one of the machinists who took part in the negotiations with Karanidis, reported that "these were difficult negotiations which involved severe attempts at intimidating workers; but we succeeded in agreeing on an 8am to 5pm working day with a 30 minute lunch break. However, we did not manage to come to an agreement on the issue of social security and pensions which, according to Bulgarian law, should be based on monthly gross pay. Even now we are only insured on the basis of a monthly salary of 90 DEM. We work under a quota regime and pay depends on fulfilling that quota. We get a maximum of 150 to 200 DEM before tax". Another employee at Savina, Maria Svilenova, added that "some of the quotas are impossibly high. We brought up the issue with our Greek employers but they invariably answer that the quota is set by adidas. We suppose that this is not true, because we know of cases where bosses take it upon themselves to change the quotas to suit their own people."

The information given by the two workers was confirmed by the regional chairman of KT Podkrepa, Dancho Petkov, from Sandanski. "We get many complaints about the back-breaking quotas that the machinists are expected to fulfill," said Petkov. "Some of them are forced to work overtime in order to catch up with their colleagues. One worker came to me who had managed to make only 25 DEM in a period of 17 days. I tried to discuss the matter with management, but they categorically refuse to doscuss the issue."

The incentive for Greek owners to locate production in Bulgaria is low labour costs (five times lower than in Greece), and the lower tax rates charged to foreign investors. The production site in Sandanski is an old hall equipped with old machines and stools, approximately 10 by 30 metres, without air conditioning and without accessible emergency exits. In September 1999, an adidas representative visited the factory to check the conditions under which the women work, but the only points raised during his visit were the absence of fire extinguishers and inadequate lighting. Workers did not raise the issue of working conditions - either because they were not asked or, possibly, because they are afraid of losing their jobs if they complain.

During their break, most workers eat sandwiches prepared at home. There are few who treat themselves to the luxury of drinking coffee or soft drinks during the day. During the summer they eat outside, during winter they have to stay within the working space. Social security deductions are based on the legal minimum wage which amounts to 67 DEM, and not on the actual income for the previous month, as required by Bulgarian law. No one even thinks of taking maternity leave.

The women admit that they are afraid to lose their jobs and therefore do not dare to reveal that they are unionised. "They don't prevent us from organising ourselves but our involvement is not approved of," explained machinist Yordanova. The angry words with which Karanidis, Savina's president, welcomed the journalist who compiled this information confirmed Yordanova's words: "Trade unionists prevent me from working, and I'll leave Bulgaria by the end of the year", he said. When he realised that he was speaking to a journalist, he struck the cassette recorder on which the interview was being recorded with his hand.

Most of the women working for Savina are young mothers with one or two children. Due to massive unemployment in Bulgaria, they are often the only breadwinner of the family. Not one of the Savina machinists wished to have their picture taken, for fear that they might be fired. Savina's owner also refused to allow a camera into the factory.

Roska Vlahova, a dismissed trade unionist from another sweatshop in Sandanski, commented on the situation in the area: "In most factories the working day is unregulated, and workers often have no break, even on Saturdays and Sundays. The maximum monthly income is between 150 and 200 DEM, but salaries are not paid regularly. Sometimes, pay is delayed for two even three months. Overtime, which often amounts to more than 150 hours a month, is not remunerated. In many places, there are no social security or pension contributions made. People often lose their jobs without any reason being given; their work permits are held back (illegally), and there are all sorts of other problems. But because of the high level of unemployment, we have to work under these conditions - to secure the daily bread of our children and families."

The codes of conduct of adidas and Nike are not known to the workers.