Did you buy a new pair of shoes recently? If they are from a global brand, it is likely that they were stitched in Ambur, a leather-hub in the south Indian state, Tamil Nadu. It’s also very possible that their ‘uppers’ were stitched by homeworkers.
Certain styles of footwear require stitching by hand that cannot be done by machines. Many shoe factories outsource this labour-intensive work to homeworkers through agents. The agents, who are almost always men, provide this service to the factories for a commission. In this arrangement, no direct link exists between the homeworkers and the factories. Work is allotted to the agents who in turn distribute it to the women in the villages. In some cases, the agents allot work to sub-agents who carry out further distribution of work. This lack of transparency and traceability makes the supply chain even more obscure; and combined with the absence of legal and social protections exacerbates the situation for homeworkers.
In India, homeworkers are rarely recognised as workers with legal entitlements. Employers benefit from this flaw in labour law, and brands have used this as an excuse not to recognise homeworkers as workers. As a result, they remain invisible workers within supply chains, usually working on a piece-rate basis in their homes, and without a formal employee relationship with the leather shoe factory in the town.
In the absence of formal employment contracts, the employers are absolved of all obligations towards this category of workers. The payment of minimum wages or provision of social security benefits is not considered to be the responsibility of the factories. Many factories are unaware of the number of homeworkers engaged by agents. Homeworkers end up working for piece-rate wages which hardly make up even half of the statutory minimum wage for the industry.
Homeworkers in Ambur are paid anywhere between INR.6 (0.074 EURO) and INR.12 (0.15 EURO) for a pair of uppers that takes them up to half an hour to stitch. It is also ironic that these poorly paid workers have to purchase needles to do the stitching work at their own cost! Factories gain from home working, as they are able to reduce their labour, equipment, and infrastructure costs.
Organising is key to recognition. Homeworkers are often from marginalized communities with very poor socio-economic backgrounds, and their vulnerabilities are various. Almost all homeworkers in Ambur are women, who are tied to care work at home and have at most a few years of schooling. Hardly anyone has cared to organise and educate them about their rights. Many do not know the names of the factories that give work to them. Organising is essential for these workers to gain recognition from their employers to improve their working conditions. However, for homeworkers to organise themselves is a very challenging proposition given the nature of employment relationship and the vulnerabilities women workers endure.
Mainstream trade unions have rarely attempted to organise homeworkers. However, there are examples of successful organisation of homeworkers and informal workers in other manufacturing sectors where workers have been organized into self-help groups, worker collectives, federations, cooperatives and trade unions. Organising has enabled workers to make limited gains, such as access to social security and better wages.
Industry would benefit from worker collective representation. International footwear brands and suppliers stand to gain by supporting homeworkers to organise in their supply chains. The respect for freedom of association is a basic right for all workers and is critical for homeworkers. Homeworkers need recognition to organise themselves. Organising would provide legitimacy and recognition to homeworkers, improving their visibility and providing a starting point to address transparency in the supply chains.
Homeworkers have outlined their key demands:
- recognition as workers,
- fairer wages and regular work
- better working conditions
Their demands cannot be realised without organising. International labour standards and multilateral organisations for responsible business conduct require brands to perform human rights due diligence within their supply chains. This requires brands to identify, prevent and remediate human rights risks in their entire supply chains, including sub-contracting and homeworking supply chains. Recognising and having dialogue with homeworker organisations could make the due diligence process more effective.
Post covid-19 an informed and organised workforce could have legal avenues to address exploitative practices and violations. In the long term, it is not just homeworkers, but the brands and suppliers as well who stand to gain from recognising the labour rights of homeworkers.
Pradeepan Ravi (Cividep, India), Lucy Brill (Homeworkers Worldwide, UK), Annie Delaney (RMIT University, Australia)
