FASHION’S INVISIBLE FEMALE WORKERS DEMAND FAIR PAY AND A BASIC SAFETY NET

More than 90% of female fashion homeworkers interviewed in India, Nepal and Pakistan reported earning below the minimum wage, a study from HomeNet South Asia reports.

Women in south Asia making clothes at home for fashion brands are calling for fair pay, regular work and basic social protections, according to a new report.

Ninety-two per cent of female fashion homeworkers interviewed in Pakistan, Nepal and India for the report, Working From Home: The Decent Work Deficit of Homeworkers in Selected Cities in South Asia, reported earning less than the local minimum wage, and most had no access to basic social security protections such as sick pay, pension, and paid leave.

Many homeworkers demanded the same rights and conditions as their peers working in factories. ‘Factory workers have access to modern technological stitching machines… timely payments, social security and health care, while we receive low wages and have no such support,’ said one Karachi homeworker quoted in the report.

But many still preferred homeworking to factory work because it enabled them to combine earning essential income to support their families, whilst also having the flexibility to meet childcare and other domestic commitments. ‘[Factory workers] are working under stress. I am happy to work at home’, said an interviewee homeworker in Tiruppur, one of India’s biggest garment production hubs. A Delhi homeworker also quoted in the report said: ‘They have way too much work, and they work for long hours. We can make time for other things.’ 

‘About 50 million homeworkers in south Asia play a crucial role in global fashion supply chains,’ said Rakesh Supkar, India Business Head for Transform Trade, one of the charities involved in the report. ‘We call on those brands which haven’t yet done so to introduce a homeworker policy. When homeworking is done right, it can provide flexible, dignified employment and vital income to the millions of women who are unable to work in factories.’ 

Of the 250 major brands and retailers featured in the 2022 Fashion Transparency Index, only 28% had a policy on homeworking and only seven per cent revealed making any efforts to improve homeworkers’ working conditions. 

The report, published on International Women’s Day March 8, recommended that brands should acknowledge homeworkers in their supply chains and carry out human rights due diligence by working with suppliers and local civil society organisations. Without an explicit commitment from brand customers, south Asian suppliers tend to assume that brands prohibit their use within supply chains, the report concluded, which ensures that homeworking remains hidden and makes it harder for homeworkers to advocate for their labour rights. 

When brands support suppliers to improve transparency and working conditions, this can lead to a substantial increase in homeworkers’ piece rates, according to homeworker advocates

The report was published as part of the  Hidden Homeworkers project, a joint initiative between Transform Trade and homeworker advocate organisations Homeworkers Worldwide and HomeNet International. The EU co-funded project has put together a toolkit for brands and suppliers wanting to address homeworkers’ labour rights.

‘Brands need to recognise the valuable contribution of homeworkers and commit to working with their suppliers to improve transparency and working conditions of this often invisible group of workers,’ said Lucy Brill, Director with homeworkers charity Homeworkers Worldwide. ‘We’re hoping the new homeworkers toolkit will help more of them come on board.’

‘Governments can work with brands to establish fair pay by insisting on time-motion studies, by ensuring job cards are maintained and better transparency and traceability within supply chains,’ said Sarbani Kattel, Programme Coordinator with HomeNet International, a global network of membership-based workers’ organisations representing thousands of home-based workers (HBWs) around the world.

A recent ILO study estimates that prior to COVID-19 there were approximately 260 million homebased workers worldwide, representing 11.5% of the global female labour force.