ICFTU brings out 'Stitched Up' report on global trade liberalisation
06 Dec '05
2 min read
The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) published "Stitched Up” report for trade liberalization competition.
Just as the international trade union movement predicted, the liberalisation of world trade in textiles has turned the sector on its head and had a devastating social cost, according to a report published by the ICFTU entitled "Stitched Up: How those imposing unfair competition in the textiles and clothing industries are the only winners in this race to the bottom ".
As anticipated, China is cashing in on the unfair competition it imposes on its developing country rivals, with exports to the United States and Europe rising by 70 percent and 45 percent respectively between January and April 2005.
The rock bottom prices offered by Chinese manufacturers, which are between 10 and 50 percent cheaper than their competitors in other low-wage countries, explains the current stampede of buyers to China.
These prices are mainly due to the unbridled exploitation of the workforce, characterised - amongst other things - by abnormally low salaries, excessive working hours and frequently intolerable health and safety conditions
Accounts gathered by ICFTU for the new report from trade unionists on the ground show that workers in most countries suffering from China's unfair competition are in a truly dire situation.
Hundreds of thousands of jobs have been lost around the world, either because local factories are unable to compete with Chinese imports or because orders have diminished as buyers flock to China. Employers and governments are using competition from China as a pretext for forcing terrible working conditions and very low salaries on workers employed in the sector, but also to step up their measures against trade unions.
The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), was set up in 1949 and has 233 affiliated organisations in 154 countries and territories on all five continents, with a membership of 145 million, 40 percent of who are women.
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