The
first Trade Union Network created
in a national supply chain, is
that of INDITEX
Da Nang, November 2016
Víctor Garrido - Isidor
Boix
International Secretariat of CCOO Industry
IGU
Coordinators for the application of the Framework Agreement with Inditex
On
November 11 and 12, trade union representatives of 23 of Inditex’s supplier
factories in Vietnam met in Da Nang, in the centre of the country, with another
16 trade union leaders from different levels of the textile sector, who were
from the provinces of Bac Giang, Hai Duong, Thanh Hoa, DaNang, Ho Chi Minh, Long An, Binh
Duong and Dong Nai. The Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) was
represented by Tran Van Ly (Confederal Vice-President) and Ha Phuong
Thao from VGCL’s international department, as well as its sectorial
organisation, the National Union of Textile and Garment Workers and Nguyen Thi
Thuy (General Vice-Secretary). Ta Thi Bich Lien, the International Labour
Organization’s (ILO) national project coordinator, also participated.
The
following participated on the part of IndustriALL Global Union (IGU): Christina
Halagos (Person in charge of the worldwide textile sector), Yoon Hyowon
(Project coordinator in Southeast Asia) along with Víctor Garrido and Isidor
Boix (General Coordinators of the Global Framework Agreement –GFA– with Inditex
and members of CCOO Industry’s International Trade Union Action Secretariat).
The Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) was represented by Erwin Schweisshel (Director
of its office in Vietnam) as well as Do Quynh Chi (an investigator that
presented the current situation of Vietnam’s textile, garment and footwear
sectors).
The meeting was convened as part of the
3-year cooperation agreement between IGU and Vietnam’s VGCL Confederation, with
the support of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, for the creation of a national Trade Union Network in Inditex’s supply
chain in Vietnam, as well as the election of its coordinators. Its
objectives included putting forward, for next year, a specific action plan
integrating trade union strategies in defence of workers’ rights in the sector
in Vietnam.
Development
of the network began in 2015, when IGU held a workshop on unionisation in the
worldwide supply chain on August 13 and 15 in Ho Chi Minh City. On October 9
and 10, 2015, a Trade Union Network was created in the north, followed by one
in the centre and south on March 30 and April 1, 2016.
As
we mentioned in our previous visits, this is the world’s first Trade Union
Network encompassing the suppliers of a brand in the garment, footwear and
accessory sector. It is also the first one in the supply chain of a multinational
in the industrial sector.
In
2014 Inditex worked with 104 factories in Vietnam’s garment and footwear
industry, with about 105,000 workers, mainly located around Ho Chi Minh City
and Hanoi, who manufactured 37 million pieces, 3% of its different brands’
annual total.
During this year, 2016, after the meetings
for the creation of networks in each part of the country, 4 trade union
seminars were held; they were imparted by IGU and FES and aimed at trade union
workers in the factories of Inditex’s supply chain here. Two of them were held
in Ho Chi Ming and another 2 in Hanoi, dealing with matters regarding
collective bargaining, trade union networks and their structures, Vietnamese
and international legislation, and GFAs.
In the end, 4 persons (4 women) were
chosen as Coordinators of the Trade Union Network, one for the north area,
another for the south area, another to represent the federation of Vietnam’s
textile and garment sector, and another at the national level on the part of
the Vietnamese trade union confederation.
In the field of the Global Framework
Agreement with Inditex, this is the first experience in creating a Trade Union
Network, and also worldwide. Trade union networks exist, but not in a supply
chain, i.e. encompassing all the subcontracting of its industrial activities.
It is also worth highlighting the significance of all of this in regard to the
application of the Framework Agreement.
Details of the meeting, objectives and expectations regarding the
creation of the trade union network.
The 23 trade union representatives of the
factories were from 10 of Vietnam’s provinces, in which Inditex’s supply chain
is mostly located (5 in the north, 4 in the south and 1 in the centre). Two of
them work in the production department and the rest are managers or
administrative staff, including several human resources managers. Seven were
presidents of their companies’ trade union and 4 were vice-presidents. The
discussion highlighted the insufficient representativeness resulting from these
figures.
The different participations dealt with
the situation of the sector, the GFAs, the trade union networks, as well as
Inditex’s global and local sustainability model, presented by 2 representatives
of its corresponding department, who attended one of the meeting’s sessions
along with several of its main suppliers in the country.
Do Quynh Chi, an independent investigator,
presented his recent study on the “National Situation of the Textile, Garment
and Footwear Industries and the Supply Chain,” which highlights Vietnam’s
industrial development and its consequences for the garment and footwear
industries[1].
The coordinator of the ILO’s National
Project, Ta Thi Bich Lien, described the collective bargaining carried out by
groups of companies, with the example of activities between the VGCL and ILO,
as well as the Hai Phong EZTU and Da Nang FOL project, whose programmes are
based on support for Vietnam’s national organisation, oriented at creating
trade union capacity in companies, collective bargaining with multiple
employers and social dialogue, respectively.
Below is a summary of the participation of
the factories’ trade union representatives:
Ø They were all private-capital companies:
from Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam. In 2014, they had all worked for Inditex (Zara,
Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti, etc.), although some no longer did in 2015. They
also worked for other international brands, such as: MANGO, C&A, H&M, WALMART,
GAP…
Ø 17 of them worked for the garment sector
and 7 for the footwear sector.
Ø The number of workers in these factories
varied greatly: 6 of them formed part of industrial groups that had from 13,000
to 19,000 workers; 1 had 8,500 workers; 2 had 1,100 and 1,800 workers,
respectively, and the rest between 200 and 970 workers.
Ø In relation to remuneration and working
time, their participation coincided with what we indicated in our previous
reports and the problems detected in our factory visits (in May 2015 and now in
our latest visit to factories in Mango’s supply chain from November 7 to 10).
Ø There also arose proposals to improve
other aspects of working conditions (health and safety, work organisation,
hiring, social protection, etc…).
Ø They all declared union membership to be
close to 100% (according to the VGCL, there is 90% union membership in the
textile-garment sector and around 80% membership in the footwear sector).
Ø The network representatives highlighted
that trade unions must participate actively to guarantee respect, in the
workplace, for the principles included in the Framework Agreement. The formal
introduction of trade unions does not always result in effect trade union
action, with full exercising of trade union rights.
Ø They clearly expressed their willingness
to establish ways of trade union coordination between the factories present and
the others that work for Inditex, as well as others that work for other world
garment brands.
Ø Around 70% of the factories in both
sectors have some formal kind of collective bargaining, company agreements that
generally establish small wage increases in relation to the country’s minimum
wage, which they said were negotiated between the company’s trade union
structure and business management. Most participations were aimed at:
Decreasing
the hours of work, highlighting pending matters regarding the improvement of
work organisation and business management, as well as technology; the high cost
of imported raw materials, etc.
o Problems derived from the demands of
multinational companies in relation to delivery deadlines, the prices paid by
the brands, etc…, which should be dealt with specifically in the negotiation between
supplier companies and multinational purchasers.
o Improving vocational training, of both
workers and managers, and also health and safety.
o As well as boosting the national sectorial
Collective Agreement, based on these ideas.
For our part, we discussed matters in the
context of globalisation, underlining the case of the GFA with Inditex,
explaining its implementation in the world and how we coordinate and monitor
it. We highlighted the need for a trade union action plan in the area specified
by those involved, with clearly defined actions for Inditex’s production chain
that include the formation of this National Trade Union Network, the exercising
of the rights involved, as well as the promotion of collective bargaining. We
provided practical examples from our country, underlining the leading role that
must be played by Vietnam’s trade unions, with the management of the VGCL and
its Textile-Garment Trade Union Federation. All of this with the support of
IGU, as well as all the trade unions in the countries where the companies that
manufacture in Vietnam are based, both multinationals that already have a
Framework Agreement (the case of Inditex and now that of H&M) and those
that have Corporate Responsibility commitments, which are enforceable despite
being unilateral.
Another problem that was raised is the
fact that in most of the factories present (coinciding with most of those we
visited on this and previous occasions) trade union managers also occupy
business management posts (in production, human resources, etc.). This is an
important matter that we already considered in our interview with the VGCL
management during our trip in May 2015.
In short, and in relation to the following
steps to be taken, the following proposals were put forward by those present
for the 2017 action plan:
Ø Coordination System (made up of 4 persons
with substitutes) of the Trade Union Network, with specific functions,
initiative capacity, etc.
Ø Implementing the GFA and activating
mechanisms regarding its knowledge and monitoring.
Ø Improving the industrial situation in
order to improve the sector’s working conditions, to make it more sustainable.
Ø Improving the participation of the
different trade unionists in the Trade Union Network’s companies, to facilitate
its functioning.
Ø Continue working with IGU to attain better
coordination and optimum functioning of the Trade Union Network, creating work
groups on the part of the coordinators in each area of the country.
Ø Holding trade union training seminars for
the National Coordinator’s trade union representatives.
Ø A meeting in November 2017 to evaluate the
work carried out.
Ø Convening a meeting in the country with
the support of VGCL and IGU, institutions and with the participation of the
trade unions in the countries where the parent companies are based (in Europe:
Spain, Swede, Germany…), to discuss aspects of the production chains as well as
the possibility of boosting the National Sectorial Agreement, or other kinds of
actions as part of the ACT project, whose implementation is proving to be
interesting in Cambodia.
Conclusions. -
The creation of this Trade Union Network
and its Coordinator is an interesting project that can be applied to worldwide
supply chains, whose workers make up 50% of the workforce within the world’s
industrial fabric, but only 3% of whom belong directly to the personnel of the
corresponding multinationals.
An experience that sheds light on our
responsibility, as trade unions in the parent companies, in defending labour
rights throughout these production chains, taking into account the great
reference value of the ILO’s Conventions but their scarce direct effectiveness.
CSR is proving to be a useful instrument for progressing towards decent work
that undoubtedly requires greater business involvement, but also a new and
greater trade union initiative regarding which this experience in Vietnam may
be useful. And also reflection on the part of trade unions in order to advance
in trade union coordination in each of the new spheres that are being generated,
such as trade union networks or any other type of system that enables the
organisation of the working class in each part of the world, by means of the
organisations most involved in each case, i.e. each country’s trade unions.
The idea is to demonstrate by our specific
trade union action, not only by words, that we understand that globalisation
is, in many aspects, an irreversible phenomenon and that local, national and
global trade union intervention is necessary for the defence of workers’ rights.
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