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| View of Sulfuric Lake, Dieng Plateau, Central Java, Indonesia |
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Monday, May 20, 2013
Garment Manufacturing in the Spotlight
While the factory collapse in Bangladesh has garnered worldwide attention, a second factory accident in a week has occurred in Cambodia. Garment manufacturing is often cited as the bedrock of the 'Cambodian development model'. Due in part to the UN's occupation of the country in the early '90s, garment factories have received extra scrutiny here and are supposed to be 'sweatshop free' as evaluated by the UN's Better Factories Cambodia (BFC). These accidents, alongside other incidents over the last few years including mass fainting and fires, question the veracity of that label. But beyond basic safety measures, few observes seem to question the garment industry as a whole and its much touted development benefits.
From the Southeast Asia Globe:
“Cambodia is internationally branded as a sweatshop-free country thanks to BFC’s inspections, but the impact of the programme on workers’ well-being is far from glorious,” said Bent Gehrt, the Worker Rights Consortium’s Southeast Asia field director. “While all neighbouring countries have witnessed important wage raises without any ‘Better Factories’ programme, real wages in the Cambodian garment sector have fallen by 16.6% over the past decade. Workers are poorer today than they were ten years ago, and the vast majority is now employed on short-term contracts. Impoverishment and job insecurity pushed them to accept excessive overtime in factories where basic health and security standards are often not even met.”
From what I've heard from friends and through my job, working at a garment factory is considered a last resort. It's hard work and long hours for low pay, requiring employees to leave their families to share cramped quarters or be trucked in and out at odd hours. After a hard-won 'raise' of the minimum wage from 60 to around 70 dollars per month, local observes predicted that raises in rent and food costs around the factories would offset any gains in purchasing power. Stories of management cheating employees are common. While these claims may be unsubstantiated, it's worth noting that conflicting with your superior in the workplace is considered inappropriate in Cambodia, especially for women (who make up the vast majority of employees).
One of our biggest challenges at CEDAC is younger generations migrating to work in factories or construction. In many areas, it already appears as though there is a 'lost' generation, with villages populated by older people and their grandchildren. Their grown children's presence can be seen in the abundance of motorbikes and cell phones bought with remittance money, but this trend seems unsustainable, at least in terms of supporting a village/family farmer economy. Without dedicated, able-bodied farmers engaging in farming as a profession, the prospects of improving rural livelihoods in the long term is uncertain. Somewhat ironically, given the contemporary image of mass urbanization and industrialization in the developing world, most of Cambodia's factories are located in relatively rural areas. In Kampong Chnang, massive, cheap looking warehouses appear as if they were simply dropped in the rice fields, like in Sim City. I can't imagine there are very stringent environmental regulations, which is especially concerning given the recent discovery of high levels of lead in rice from Asia.
Certainly, Cambodia needs jobs for young people, many of whom are not well-educated. Garment manufacturing is here to stay, and has undoubtedly helped families climb out of abject poverty. But is there any way to improve workers lives in this race-to-the bottom industry ? Western consumers buying the clothes hold the most power to persuade, but it's hard to object to cheap and stylish clothes, especially given the moribund economy. I fully admit that much of my wardrobe comes from H&M and the like. The even cheaper clothes I buy here appear to have 'fallen off the truck' or are perhaps the product of extra (undocumented) overtime. And what happens when another country opens up and is able to offer even lower wages and less scrutiny?
From the Southeast Asia Globe:
“Cambodia is internationally branded as a sweatshop-free country thanks to BFC’s inspections, but the impact of the programme on workers’ well-being is far from glorious,” said Bent Gehrt, the Worker Rights Consortium’s Southeast Asia field director. “While all neighbouring countries have witnessed important wage raises without any ‘Better Factories’ programme, real wages in the Cambodian garment sector have fallen by 16.6% over the past decade. Workers are poorer today than they were ten years ago, and the vast majority is now employed on short-term contracts. Impoverishment and job insecurity pushed them to accept excessive overtime in factories where basic health and security standards are often not even met.”
From what I've heard from friends and through my job, working at a garment factory is considered a last resort. It's hard work and long hours for low pay, requiring employees to leave their families to share cramped quarters or be trucked in and out at odd hours. After a hard-won 'raise' of the minimum wage from 60 to around 70 dollars per month, local observes predicted that raises in rent and food costs around the factories would offset any gains in purchasing power. Stories of management cheating employees are common. While these claims may be unsubstantiated, it's worth noting that conflicting with your superior in the workplace is considered inappropriate in Cambodia, especially for women (who make up the vast majority of employees).
One of our biggest challenges at CEDAC is younger generations migrating to work in factories or construction. In many areas, it already appears as though there is a 'lost' generation, with villages populated by older people and their grandchildren. Their grown children's presence can be seen in the abundance of motorbikes and cell phones bought with remittance money, but this trend seems unsustainable, at least in terms of supporting a village/family farmer economy. Without dedicated, able-bodied farmers engaging in farming as a profession, the prospects of improving rural livelihoods in the long term is uncertain. Somewhat ironically, given the contemporary image of mass urbanization and industrialization in the developing world, most of Cambodia's factories are located in relatively rural areas. In Kampong Chnang, massive, cheap looking warehouses appear as if they were simply dropped in the rice fields, like in Sim City. I can't imagine there are very stringent environmental regulations, which is especially concerning given the recent discovery of high levels of lead in rice from Asia.
Certainly, Cambodia needs jobs for young people, many of whom are not well-educated. Garment manufacturing is here to stay, and has undoubtedly helped families climb out of abject poverty. But is there any way to improve workers lives in this race-to-the bottom industry ? Western consumers buying the clothes hold the most power to persuade, but it's hard to object to cheap and stylish clothes, especially given the moribund economy. I fully admit that much of my wardrobe comes from H&M and the like. The even cheaper clothes I buy here appear to have 'fallen off the truck' or are perhaps the product of extra (undocumented) overtime. And what happens when another country opens up and is able to offer even lower wages and less scrutiny?
Jogjia vs. Phnom Penh
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| Terraced vegetable farms in Dieng Plateau, Central Java, Indonesia |
During Khmer New Year, I visited some friends in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, or 'Jogjia'. Despite being home to the famous Borobudur and Prambanan temples, Jogia is only a minor destination in Indonesia. When I told people of my plans, most people followed up with: "And then you're going to Bali?" As beautiful as I'm sure Bali is, I was happy to avoid the aforementioned 'backpacker strip' and instead get to know Jogjia and take a few day trips. It's a pleasant city brimming culture (batik, traditional dance, period architecture, street art) and great food. It was also an interesting comparison to Phnom Penh. While Jogjia has the advantage of not being the capital (we also skipped Jakarta), it felt roughly equivalent in size and scale to Phnom Penh, just a bit less intense, more laid back. Instead of Range Rovers or McMansions, there are higher-end motorbikes and compact neighborhoods of small but sturdy single-family homes. While there were few exotic fancy restaurants, the quality of food at family places and roadside stalls was obviously superior to Cambodia. This was indicative to me of a more mature and balanced economy
This impression was even more pronounced in the countryside. We did an overnight trip to Dieng Plateau in Central Java, which forms the floor of a caldera complex between volcanoes. I was amazed by the condition of the road despite being the rainy season. But I was more shocked by the access to electricity and irrigation enjoyed by these remote areas. Farmers grow potatoes and other cooler-climate crops in terraces that sometimes reach the top of steep rock faces, with irrigation pipes snaking up alongside vertiginous steps. At sunrise, the valleys are dotted with the glittering home and street lights. In Cambodia, only an hour or two outside of Phnom Penh, people depend on car batteries for electricity. Despite the mostly flat land and the abundance of lakes and rivers in Cambodia, after harvest, most fields are dry and sand colored until June. The government has made some progress in these areas recently, but it has been slow coming.
This is not to say that I think of Indonesia as some paradise. My friends cautioned that Java is much more prosperous than the other islands. Indonesia is also notorious for corruption, topping the inaugural Corruption Perception Index in 1995. But in a way, that knowledge gave me some hope. If the farmers in Dieng have water and electricity despite the country's challenges, perhaps things will in improve as Cambodia develops.
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