WORK ACTION SHEET

Do you want to just shop, or shop justly?

"The Church insists that an employed person is a full human being, not a commodity to be bought and sold according to market requirements. Workers have rights which Catholic teaching has consistently maintained are superior to the rights of capital. These include the right to decent work, to just wages, to security of employment, to adequate rest and holidays, to limitation of hours of work, to health and safety protection, to non-discrimination, to form and join trade unions, and, as a last resort, to go on strike."

The Common Good, Statement by the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, 1996

All around the world, people are working in appalling conditions making products that we buy in shops here in Britain.

CAFOD's partners report:

Mexico

Families work at home sewing trousers. A whole family including children is paid as little as �1.50 for producing 100 pairs.

Meanwhile, in some factories, workers have almost no rights. They can be dismissed at any time without receiving redundancy money because they have no contract. Health and safety is often lax, with warning signs about toxic materials in English, although workers speak only Spanish. Hours are long, sometimes up to 18 hours a day, and pay is low. A worker would have to earn three times the minimum wage in order to buy the basic necessities of life. In one factory workers have to rent a stool to sit on.

Sri Lanka

A garment factory worker told CAFOD: "We start work at 7.30 in the morning and should be finished by 4pm, but we are regularly expected to work until 6 or 7 in the evening. We get a 25 minute lunch break. About three times a week we are expected to work a second shift straight after the first one, from 7 until 10 in the evening.

"We are not allowed to lift our heads while working, not allowed to talk. It is very hot, there are no fans because I work padding jackets with feathers and the air from the fans would blow the feathers around. The feathers are very irritating and there are no protective masks."

Chile

CAFOD's partners support workers in the fruit export industry. 83 per cent of workers in the sector are employed on a temporary basis and between 40 and 50 per cent are without a contract.

Why is CAFOD concerned?

People need work in order to be able to provide food, clothing and shelter for themselves and their families. The availability of decent, justly paid work is important for development. Badly paid and exploitative work does not help people to escape from poverty; it is an affront to human dignity.

"The wage ought not to be in any way insufficient for the bodily needs of a temperate and well-behaved worker. If, having no alternative and fearing a worse evil, workers are forced to accept harder conditions imposed by an employer or contractor, they are the victims of violence against which justice cries out."

Pope Leo XIII, Rerum Novarum: 45, 1890-91

Fair Deal for the Poor

CAFOD believes that all companies who buy from Third World suppliers should abide by a set of minimum labour standards. We want them to adopt voluntary Codes of Conduct, sometimes called Suppliers' Charters or Codes Practice, which should lay down basic labour rights and employment conditions to which all their suppliers must adhere.

CAFOD is not calling for boycotts. People in the Third World need the employment which companies can offer. However, this should not be an excuse to exploit.

"If a company can stipulate quality standards such as the number of stitches per centimetre or the safety standards for cuddly toys, it can also stipulate that working conditions be acceptable," says British Trades Union Congress International Officer Simon Steyne.

CAFOD and other aid agencies set up the Fairtrade Foundation to encourage industry and consumers to trade fairly with Third World countries. CAFOD wants companies to adopt codes of conduct which meet the minimum standards drawn up by the Fairtrade Foundation, which are outlined below.

Third World Suppliers' Charter

Freedom of association and collective bargaining: a co-operative attitude towards independent worker organisations and no interference in the process of representation.

Equality of treatment: equal access to jobs and training, irrespective of gender, race, colour, political opinion, religion, or social origin. No physical or psychological harassment.

Wages: pay in cash (not in kind), direct to workers, promptly and in full. Understandable information about wages should be available to workers. Wages should meet or exceed industry or legal minima and should meet basic needs.

Working hours: maximum of 48 hours per week, plus voluntary, paid overtime of up to 12 hours. At least 24 consecutive hours' rest per week and at least three weeks paid leave per year.

Health and safety: adequate free protective clothing and equipment, emergency procedures and accident prevention measures conforming to internationally-recognised standards. A Safety Committee, including workers' representation, should be given time to meet. Workers and their organisations should be consulted and allowed to investigate safety issues.

Security of employment: suppliers should not employ workers on temporary contracts or apprenticeship schemes in order to avoid the commitments expected towards permanent workers. This charter applies equally to temporary and permanent workers.

Social security: workers should be included in all appropriate state or private security provisions, especially invalidity benefit, injury benefit and old age benefit.

Employment of children: no children should be employed who are under 14 (or the legal minimum if higher). Under-18s should not work at night or in hazardous conditions. Children at school age over 12 may be employed part time if still in education.

Forced labour: no forced labour should be used.

 

A code of conduct on paper, however, is no guarantee of good labour standards in practice. It does not automatically protect people working for sub-contractors. There is also the risk that if a code is developed, the company will terminate contracts with suppliers which do not meet standards, putting jobs at risk.

For a code of conduct to have meaning, therefore, it must:

	be independently monitored;
	apply to workers of all suppliers, including sub-contractors;
	be accompanied by a process of engagement with existing suppliers to improve conditions.

What can we do?

Throughout the Fair Deal for the Poor campaign CAFOD will be calling on companies to adopt a code of conduct containing these minimum standards. But it must be proved to these companies that this is something their customers support.

What can I do?

Sign CAFOD's Code of Conduct card showing your support for the principle of minimum labour standards. We want to show companies that thousands of their customers care about working conditions. Tell them, "We don't want to just shop, we want to shop justly!"

How can I find out more about the campaign?

CAFOD has produced a background briefing paper, an action sheet on debt, liturgy resource book, video and poster. These are all available from:

CAFOD, Romero Close, Stockwell Road, London SW9 9TY
Tel: 0171 733 7900
Fax: 0171 274 9630
E-Mail: [email protected]