Homeworking in global value

chains: case study of leather

footwear

Lucy Brill, HWW trustee &

Research Associate, Manchester Business School

Homeworkers Worldwide:

Building solidarity between

homeworkers around the world.

Defining homeworking

• Paid work, carried out at a place of the

workers’ choosing … in their own home or

a homebased workshop

• Spectrum of employment relations …

some ‘own account’, others dependent on

employer who specifies the work, provides

materials and often equipment, and sets

piece rates

‘Flexible’ working – but for

whom? • Majority (70- 90%) are women

• Seen as ‘flexible’ form of work, easier to

combine with domestic/caring

responsibilities

• Paid on a piece rate basis, per item

produced

• usually completely informal, and often

irregular, so very few can turn work down

when it is available

Mapping homeworking:

horizontally • Starts with snowball sampling, to find

homeworkers

• Peer researchers trained to carry out interviews,

using surveys and photos

• Bring homeworkers together, first stage in

organising

• Write up research and publish, to raise visibility

• Importance of confidentiality, to safeguard

homeworkers’ work

Mapping homeworking:

vertically • Informality means homeworkers are

vulnerable, risk losing their work

• Homeworkers often receive their work

through intermediaries, who take their cut

• Start collating information about employers

and subcontracting chains

• Collect evidence of links to retailers, who

often have the power to influence

subcontractors

Homeworking & Leather

Footwear

Usually involved in labour

intensive stitching work

Leather uppers – loafers, high

quality shoes

Not as mobile as sewing, need

supply of leather

Paid piece rate, for each shoe

sewn

Skilled work, producing high

quality product

Stitching shoes near Santiago, Chile

Tracing the chains

• Origins in north of England: homeworkers part of

shoe industry in Midlands

• Moved to southern Europe: 1990s EC project in

Spain, Portugal and Greece

• 2000s: HWW Mapping – Bulgaria, Chile, India,

China

• Since 2011: South India

• Need supply of leather – another driver to move

the work to countries with less regulation

Stitching shoes in Petrich, Bulgaria

Stitching shoes in Portugal

What can be done?

Caution: risk of losing

work

Vulnerability and Poverty

means women

desperately need their

work

Length of Subcontracting

chain means it is easy to

relocate

Easy option for retailers

is to ban homeworking

Case Study – Pakistan 1990s

• Sewing footballs in Pakistan– campaign in

1990s against child labour.

• Homeworking banned, and work restricted

to stitching centres.

• Men worked in the stitching centres, so

women homeworkers lost their work.

• Or homeworking continued but more

underground.

Case study: Australian Fairwear

Campaign • 1994 TCFUA started contacting

homeworkers >> helpline in different

languages

• The Hidden Cost of Fashion published

• 1996 Fairwear campaign established

• Strategic targeting of companies & brands

• Regulatory code, with transparent piece

rates for different garments

Case study: Chilean seaweed

collectors • Women collect seaweed from estuary, and

dry it on the shore

• Sold through intermediaries, for export –

cosmetics and food manufacturers

• NGO supported women to set up a trade

union, and identify end user

• Negotiated direct and secured 3x increase

in wages

Case Study – Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu – Export of leather shoes or uppers of shoes important and

growing export sector

Homeworkers stitch the uppers of shoes for big brands, majority in UK and

other parts of Europe, also North America

Up to 20,000 women

homeworkers in one

town Ambur, centre

of footwear industry,

work most of the

year for many years

Despite this,

homeworking

remains invisible.

Working conditions:

Informal and

unrecognised

Paid by piece rate

Pay is low

No security of

employment

No health and safety

No social insurance

No workers’ benefits

Dependent on

intermediaries

In Ambur, most

children are going

to school, but help

in the evenings and

at weekends,

especially when

there is a rush job.

Improving

conditions for

women

homeworkers

will improve

their children’s

lives.

Responses

Collect information, to raise

visibility

Bring women together, in self

help and savings groups

Build links with trade unions,

where possible

Through TUs, access to the

welfare boards

Working towards a

Federation, to make a more

powerful presence

Homeworkers Worldwide.

www.homeworkersww.org.uk