Dirty jungle business

[airiefairie.livejournal.com]

Some of us may have occasionally wondered where the clothes in our wardrobe are coming from. Or in what conditions the shrimp and tuna fish that we eat had been packed. For example those coming from countries like Thailand. We may have occasionally asked ourselves for how many hours the people who assembled our tablet had been working until the end product was ready.

The export of such products has been at the basis of the economic ascent of Southeast Asia for the last couple of decades. Thanks to the cheap and bountiful production, that region has turned into an important player on the world markets. But behind the lustre of Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and other countries, there are dirty secrets lurking. The workers in the industries that require cheap labour of low qualifications, are often poorly paid immigrants fleeing from bloody armed conflicts. Coming to the many factories in Thailand, in most cases they find themselves in terrible working and living conditions, with no social, health, or any other protection or aid.

In Thailand, millions of these people work for endless hours in apalling conditions, and get meagre compensations. If anyone protests, they get instantly disposed of, because there are hundreds and thousands queueing for the same job for the same meagre money. And this will remain so, while the local governments and the international companies who have stepped into the region, remain unwilling to change the situation.

Thailand heavily relies on exports-orientated industries, and this has been so ever since the 80s. The main output includes clothes, plastic products, seafood, rubber products (Thailand is among the world leaders in condom production, and Malaysia is fast becoming the world's #1). Among the world-famous brands now producing in Thailand are Adidas, Nike, Reebok, Levi-Strauss and many others. Nearly 30% of Thailand's clothes exports go to the European markets. But in order to sustain their nice image in front of the western consumer, the clothing companies resort to a trick. The produce exits the Thai factories under the guise of another company's brand, which then "sells" it to the big brand. Often these clothes are produced under a different name, and if you directly ask the Thai producer which international firm they are exporting for, they would refrain from mentioning names. Even though those same clothes eventually end up in the H&M stores for example.

In order to be competitive, obviously this production has to be cheap. As we know, this is achieved through extremely low salaries for the workers. For example, in West Thailand the average daily wage at a clothing or plastic factory is about 3 euros, while the official minimum wage for the country is twice that amount. Often the workers sleep crammed in premises adjacent to the factory itself, they work without official contracts, and so they could be fined for any sort of law transgressions you could come up with. This of course creates a prerequisite for blackmail, and effectively turns them into slaves.

Meanwhile, most Western companies at least formally respect the 8-hour work day (with 4 hours extra work time), but according to reports like that of the War on Want NGO, many workers have admitted that they are regularly forced to do extra work in order to meet impossible production quota in less time. For the workers at the local companies (those commissioned by the global corporations), life is even tougher than that. The immigrants from neighbouring countries have one day off per week, they work from 8 am till 10 pm (lunch-breaks and dinner-breaks are not being paid). And that, in case there aren't extra urgent orders (which is seldom the case for too long).

When the deadlines pressure the owner of the factory, they would even force their employees to work until the work is ultimately done, for hours without end. Some workers have reported of 16-hour, even 18-hour shifts. And they have no right to complain. Otherwise they are showed the door outright, and someone is sure to step in on their place right away.

There are millions of such workers from countries like Myanmar, which has been marred by endless civil war ever since the 60s, and where work is available only in the regions where the dominant Burman ethnicity lives. In those areas the government and the military has made some investments, but the remaining ethnic minorities are being completely neglected. There is virtually no infrastructure in the peripheral regions, and life is full of everyday hazards. So, many of those people prefer to become modern-day slaves in neighbouring Thailand, rather than starve or be persecuted at home.

From an economic standpoint, Thailand indeed is attractive to both people from the region and international investors, because it has a market that needs workers of low qualification in many sectors, including in agriculture, industrial production, construction, etc. In addition, the salaries in Thailand are in fact about 10 times higher than those in Myanmar. The Thai currency is also much stronger and more stable on the international markets.

So the circumstances have brought enormous crowds of people to Thailand in search of jobs. According to various estimates, their number varies between 2.5 and 3 million from Myanmar alone. Most of them arrive illegally, with the tacit approval of the Thai authorities. Before the eyes of the border police, just metres away from the official checkpoint at the bridge on the Thai-Burmese border, dozens of boats constantly criss-cross between the two shores. The bolder economic refugees just throw themselves into the muddy waters and swim across the river, holding their few belongings above head. There is no control on who enters and who exits, and no one steps in to regulate the influx through these improvised border checkpoints at all.

Officially, Bangkok admits that Thailand has been the destination for thousands of Burmese workers since 1992. In 2003 Thailand and the countries where this flow originates (Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos) signed a memorandum for cooperation, in attempt to regulate illegal immigration. It was built upon through another document in 2009 between Thailand and Myanmar, considering the issue of temporary passports and work permits for a 4-year period. In exchange, those who legally registered were supposed to get equal rights with the local citizens in Thailand. Sounds good, but in practice things have been rather different.

According to the Thai constitution, immigrant workers are supposed to have equal access to justice, and equal working rights with the local citizens. But meanwhile, the labour law says that all executive members of the worker unions should be Thai citizens, which hinders immigrants from forming their own unions, or participating in the decision-making process. What's more, everything is soaked with staggering corruption, which places Thailand 102nd out of 177 countries in the international index of Transparency International.

The situation is such that one has to pay bribes for virtually everything. If you are stopped by a cop on the street and they see that you have no documents with you, you have to sneeze some cash. If you want to issue legal documents for your job, again you have to push some money under the table. If you want your court case moved forward, you either have to wait endlessly, or slip an envelope. And of course, those desperate people crossing that bridge over the border river, also have to drop a coin or two to the boatman, who in turn shares their income with the border authorities. So the bulk of the Burmese immigrants turn out illegal, and towards the end of last year, out of roughly 3 million of them in Thailand, only 760 thousand were officially registered. With all the dire consequences stemming from that, in terms of social and legal status, and living and economic conditions.

Still, there may be a ray of light amidst all that darkness. Some among these immigrants have now launched NGOs and TV and radio stations, and newspapers in their respective languages, aiming to educate the poor illegal immigrants about their rights, and openly discuss issues such as health-care, work safety, and problems like HIV/AIDS, education, and various cultural questions. They are also willing to provide legal assistance in case of need, and they strive to actively cooperate with the Thai authorities, which at least in theory do not mind that the immigrant workers should have the same rights like the Thai citizens (but in practice have done little to nothing to see that happen).

Naturally, such NGOs and foundations tend to often cross the way of the mighty employers. There is a natural sense of distrust between the two sides, and the Thai government is compelled to walk the thin line between the interests of the two sides. These organisations and foundations also serve another important function: the media in Thailand (which in fact are much freer than those in many other countries in the region) often portray the immigrants along negative stereotypes due to their ethnicity, branding them as poorly educated, criminal, unhealthy and unclean. Which is why the education programs in the Thai language that are predominantly directed at the local audience, are of particular importance for changing that, especially if those could then be replicated in the respective languages of the various immigrant communities.

Although NGOs like for example the MAP Foundation have been trying to improve the condition of the immigrant workers, their activities still remain just a drop in a vast sea of misery. People continue flocking in from Myanmar, Cambodia and the Philippines. The situation in Myanmar is still far from stable, despite the recent optimism from the apparent opening up of the country to the world in the last two-three years. The truce between the various sides in the civil war there seems only temporary at this point, though, and armed conflicts of various intensity tend to periodically resurface. But even without these troubles, Myanmar's economic situation continues to be horrible: 26% of the population lives under the poverty line, 37% are unemployed, the per capita GDP of the country is near the bottom of the world... All these factors contribute to a steady flow of immigrants across the border, which is not going to cease any time soon. So the boatmen along that border river will still be having a lot of work to do. And we will be wearing our fancy clothes and playing Angry Birds on our tablets, largely oblivious to the true origin of those products, and ignorant of the enormous cost in human destinies that stands behind them.

Comments

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

The only thing worse than being exploited by a capitalist... is to be exploited by a capitalist.

But worry not. The Invisible Hand(TM) should be able to fix this at some point. Sometime within the next two or three aeons, I presume.

[telemann.livejournal.com]

Parenthetically, this week was the anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in New York (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fire). 146 (mostly women) lost their lives when doors were locked and a fire broke out on a lower floor. The fire was on the 8th, 9th and 10th floors and fire engine ladders couldn't reach the windows that high. The owners of the building (who survived) were indicted but not convicted of manslaughter charges. Public outrage eventually led to building safety codes being enacted, and was the impetus for the formation of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. The building survived the fire, and when you walk around NYU, you will see a plaque on the side of the building, although there is an effort to have a more meaningful memorial to those who lost their lives. The Triangle workers were paid low wages (the 2014 equivalent of $166 to $285 a week, or $3.20 to $5.50 per hour).

It's interesting that now in China, unions are forming to protect workers' rights and working conditions. (http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/world/2010-11-19-Chinalabor_cv_N.htm?csp=34) Which has caused some customers to take their business to Vietnam and other countries.

[mikeyxw.livejournal.com]

Really, the best thing would be to buy more.

In China, an average factory worker now earns around $600 per month on the coast and just under $500 inland, about 20 times what they would have earned three decades ago. This is a huge improvement over the past few decades and represents the largest decrease in poverty in history. The process which folks went through certainly wasn't fun and wasn't without its problems, but it worked like nothing else ever has. The real reason wages went up is because China's labor pool is shrinking while demand for labor is still strong. Unions in China are there to promote state propaganda, not to represent workers.

Also, the strikes are more about venting frustration than achieving results. This is a big difference from the US where those partaking in protests overstate what they can accomplish, those in China know that a protest is unlikely to achieve anything. I've seen more than once where folks were knowingly protesting in front of an empty building just because they feared the repercussions of protesting against the local officials.

[paft.livejournal.com]

m: "wasn't fun and wasn't without its problems,"

Lovely euphemisms for "frequently lethal and disabling."

Do they apply to China's use of slave labor?

[telemann.livejournal.com]

There is a heavy price for industrialization. (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/26/world/asia/26china.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0)

It's truly remarkable how far China has come. But Chinese cities often seem wrapped in a toxic gray shroud. Only 1 percent of the country’s 560 million city dwellers breathe air considered safe.Industrial cities where people rarely see the sun; children killed or sickened by lead poisoning or other types of local pollution; a coastline so swamped by algal red tides that large sections of the ocean no longer sustain marine life.

And those issues will likely eventually affect the other countries that are industrializing now. Hopefully they'll learn some valuable lessons, but I fear they will not.

[mikeyxw.livejournal.com]

Industrializing has cost every country quite a bit, China is certainly no exception, but it has (http://www.indexmundi.com/facts/china/mortality-rate) upsides. (http://www.indexmundi.com/facts/china/life-expectancy-at-birth) Really your phrase should have been "less frequently lethal and disabling", which reflects the real choices they had.