In
January 2001 the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations
(SOMO), located in the Netherlands, carried out research on Lesotho's
fast-growing garment industry. Researchers visited 10 factories
and interviewed management, trade union, and NGO representatives,
as well as garment workers. They found appalling labour conditions,
including inhumanly low wages, long working days with forced overtime,
and trade union repression.
Lesotho is a small landlocked country in Southern Africa and
has few natural resources other than water. Most of the country's
estimated 2.1 million inhabitants are involved in subsistence
agriculture. It is one of the poorest countries in Africa. The
International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that half of
the population lives below the poverty line.
In 1967, directly after gaining independence from the United
Kingdom, the government established the Lesotho National Development
Corporation (LNDC) to promote industrial investment, with the
aim of raising the level of employment. The LNDC is the government's
main parastatal agency for implementing the country's industrial
development policy. In practice, the LNDC provides factory buildings,
which are rented out to investors. The LNDC also provides infrastructure,
services (for example serviced industrial lands for rent, so companies
can build their own factories) and an incentive package for investors.
In recent years Lesotho has built up its manufacturing sector
considerably. Major conflicts regarding the election outcomes
in 1998 leading to SADC intervention in 1998 has destroyed a large
part of the infrastructure in the capital Maseru and has caused
a temporary disruption in the growth of the sector. However it
seems the manufacturing sector is not too discouraged and the
garment sector continues to steadily expand.
Between
1973 and 1999 the LNDC has worked with 40 companies that have
investments in Lesotho. In the 1970s and 1980s the LNDC facilitated
investments by 18 companies, who produced a wide range of products
including umbrellas, bricks, auto parts, pharmaceuticals and garments.
Most companies came from South Africa, circumventing the apartheid
boycotts that existed during those years. In the 1990s investments
in Lesotho shifted toward the garment industry: 15 of the 22 companies
investing did so in the garment industry and among these there
was trend towards Asian investment; 11 of the companies were Taiwanese
owned. Most of these garment companies are expanding their factories,
mirroring faith in the future possibilities for producing garments
in Lesotho.
Most of the Asian companies profit from the export possibilities
Lesotho offers in the form of favorable and quota-free entry to
the United States and European markets. The Africa Growth and
Opportunity Act, set up in 2000, allows for even more possibilities
to utilize Lesotho's duty-free and quota-free apparel access to
the U.S. market. Most companies come to Lesotho to bypass the
quotas that are set in their home countries or the countries where
they were previously operating.
Although it seems that trade opportunities draw the garment industry
to Lesotho, factory management mentions other reasons for choosing
this country. Management representatives that were interviewed
mentioned Lesotho's low labour costs for a highly skilled, well
educated labour force, the absence of powerful unions, a labor
law that favors investors, and a reasonably stable social and
political environment.
The race to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) is encouraging
the governments in Southern Africa to offer large incentive packages
to investors. These packages don't seem to attract foreign investors
as much as do the absence of quotas and favorable trade agreements,
instead they are perceived by the investors more as the "icing
on the cake." However, for the countries offering the incentives
the consequences of these packages might make the difference between
profiting from FDI or failing to gain any real benefits for the
country, losing not only in economic terms but also in human and
social terms. As history has proven in Asia, as soon as soon as
workers begin to benefit from foreign investment, for example,
by negotiating to receive higher wages, the industry will quite
easily pack up and leave for a less-complicated or less-demanding
locale.
There
is no export processing zone in Lesotho but in reality the areas
where the factoies are located are comprable. Lesotho's garment
factories are found in several industrial zones; there are two
industrial estates in Maseru and two in Maputso (one of which
is already 30 years old) which have their own police station.
They are closed fortresses, secured by (sometimes armed) guards.
Companies that set up shop in these zones enjoy incentives that
include tax reductions and the lax implementation of labor law,
although it is still valid.
"We sell our people", said one LNDC representative.
"We sell them through their quality, availability, literacy,
and competitive wage rate."
The buyers who contract with these garment factories are almost
all from the United States. Among the largest buyers in Lesotho
are The GAP, K-Mart, and Wal-Mart, companies that allegedly set
labour standards for their production through codes of conduct.
However, in most factories we found conditions that fell short
of all labour standards. Working conditions did not meet the standards
included in Lesotho's national labour law or the standards found
the codes of conduct of the foreign buyers.
In interviews with 30 garment workers in Lesotho, SOMO researchers
learned that the norm in the industry was for long work weeks,
forced and often unpaid overtime, repression of trade union rights,
violations of health and safety standards, illegal dismissals,
and low wages. The following examples of working conditions are
taken from discussions that researchers had with workers (note
that names have been changed to protect the identity of the workers).
No day off
Researchers found that workers often work seven days per week.
In a normal workweek Ella reported that she has to put in 45
hours of regular work (nine hours per day), and most weeks around
27 hours of overtime (on average 2.5 hours of overtime every weekday
and 7.5 on Saturday and 7.5 on Sunday). On weekdays she said that
she does not get paid for the hours she works between 5 and 6
p.m. or for the hours she works later. Meanwhile, management says
that if workers haven't finished their targets, then they have
to work the extra evening hours on weekdays for free.
Forced and sometimes unpaid overtime
Researchers learned that most overtime is compulsory, and that
sometimes workers are not paid for these hours. This is in violation
of Lesotho's labour law. In reality though, daily overtime to
fulfill quotas is often not paid at all.
Muriel reported that workers are required to work through their
lunch breaks if they have not been able to make their targets.
She said that a lot of the workers couldn't make the target within
normal working hours. This means no food or rest until 5 p.m.
Most of the time, 15 lines run during the lunch break, each line
requiring 29 people to work on it.
The company sets production targets. If these are not reached,
the workers have to work unpaid overtime (since they are clocked
out at 5 p.m.). Punishments for not achieving the targets can
include being clocked out earlier the next day, even though the
workers have to remain at work.
Trade unions shut out of factories
Researchers were informed that workers are pressured not to join
trade unions. In addition to the intimidation of workers, trade
unions are denied access to many factories. Some examples of how
workers in Lesotho's garment industry have been denied their right
to organize:
- In 1999 when thousands of workers took part in a procession
organized by the trade union, many were fired just for participating.
- On January 8, 2001 at the end of the day the management of one
factory forbade workers to wear trade union caps at the factory.
The next day, in the morning it extended its prohibition to all
head wear. 11 workers refused to take of their hats and were subsequently
sent home.
Marly reported her factory is not in favor of the union. They
warn people not to join the union, because they will fire them
for it. She also says people who join the union have a harder
time at the factory. They are shouted at and if they are shop
stewards they are not allowed to work overtime. This way they
do not get a chance to make enough money. When LECAWU (the trade
union) members have a meeting with management about problems
in the factory, the time they spend with the management is deducted
from their salary. In contrast, when the workers' committee
(organizations that represent factory workers, in addition to
the union) addresses problems, they are paid the hours they
spend on negotiations.
Appalling health and safety violations, including locked
exits
Researchers heard about serious health and safety concerns.
They learned that most of the factories keep emergency exits
locked with padlocks, creating a grave threat to workers safety
(for example, in the event of a fire). In one factory, workers
said, they are locked up at night. The main door is locked and
they don't know who has the key. In another factory one of the
floors where workers sew clothes is always kept padlocked.
None of the factories have temperature regulation and as a
consequence all factories are very hot in summer and very cold
in winter. Lesotho is a mountainous country and has a continental
climate, which is characterized by extremes in temperatures.
It can freeze in the winter and can be very hot in summer. At
lunchtime, workers eat their food outside the factory and sit
on the ground outside the factory premises, since no factories
provide chairs, tables, or any covering to protect them against
the elements.
There is hardly any safety equipment in use in the factories.
Sometimes cheap facemasks are provided but the workers perceive
them as useless because "particles go right through them."
Some women reported that pregnant workers are treated badly
in the factories. They have to work hard, standing the whole
day and doing overtime, said one worker. Most of the women work
until their pregnancies reach full term.
There were numerous other "incidents" reported to
the researchers. For example, women workers have to walk home
late at night, without the possibility of transport and as a
consequence are raped. In another incident a women who sustained
a head wound was forbidden to leave the factory premises to
see a doctor. Researchers saw workers being beaten and verbally
abused by supervisors. The water that is used to wash the jeans
is not filtered and the chemicals leave the factory straight
into the river.
Unlawful dismissals
The workers interviewed claimed that often workers are dismissed
without a hearing. There is no one to represent them. People
are dismissed for "being slow," for not performing
at high quality, but also "for no apparent reasons"
sometimes.
Low salaries
The salaries paid to garment workers are less than a living
wage, and far below a wage needed to provide for basic needs.
Salaries are sometimes even below the minimum wage
Lina said that the wages she earns are not enough to cover
needs. She said she works hard. She has to support two children,
one husband, her parents, her husband's father. Her children
do not go to school, because she cannot afford it. She explained
that she would need at least 1000 M to make ends meet - nearly
double what she currently makes.
Eight people live off of Juliette's salary (her parents and
five children). She is the sole provider for her family, Juliette
explained. Only two of her children are able to attend school.
The family lives in one room that is divided by a curtain. What
Juliette makes is simply not enough to meet her family's needs.
Women workers humiliated
In most of the factories the workers are humiliated and treated
badly by management and supervisors.
When leaving the factory (at breaks and at the end of the day),
all workers are searched (in one of the factories the researchers
walked down a long line with workers pulling their pants down,
shirt up, shoes off; in another factory workers had to take
off all their clothes). Women search women. However, often supervisors
walk past the line or male workers clock out with the women
so that while the women are being searched they must stand undressed
in view of the male workers.
Buyers show no interest in working conditions
Most of the workers reported that they have seen buyers in
the factory. These buyers never talk to the workers, according
to those interviewed. The buyers check their production, but
nothing else. None of the workers have ever heard about a code
of conduct or other buyer's standards.
Job insecurity
Researchers found that some factories work with casual workers
for years, not providing garment workers with any job security.
The workers have to stand in front of the gate, waiting each
day to find out if they are needed for work, and will be earning
anything for that day.
Meanwhile, cases of labour rights violations that were brought
to Lesotho's labour court are not dealt with or are left pending
for years.
Most who were interviewed mention that a positive part in all
this is that the employment rate has risen, something to applaud
in a country like Lesotho with a very high level of unemployment.
It would be good however to have a look at the long term benefits
of the actual investment in Lesotho. Although it is a familiar
story it still seems scandalous that trade agreements, allegedly
proposed to bring benefits to the world's least developed countries,
are in fact resulting few benefits to them and bringing most
of the profits to the multinational producing companies from
all over the world.
