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Commonwealth Government provides $4 million to No SweatShop label

By Antony McMullen
Social Justice Officer
Justice and International Mission Unit
Synod of Victoria and Tasmania

“One group said they were paid $2.50 for a detailed shirt which took one hour to sew. Another group said they were paid between $2 and $3 an hour. When asked about hours worked, most indicated that they often went weeks without a job but when the work was available they worked long hours.”

– Ethical Threads, report by Brotherhood of St Laurence (2007) on Australian Homeworkers

For over ten years, the Uniting Church in Victoria and Tasmania has been involved in the FairWear campaign to end exploitation of Australian home and sweatshop workers in the textile, clothing and footwear industry. Despite the introduction of legislated safeguards, the Christian community continues to hear of abuses in this industry. At the Commonwealth level, there has been bi-partisan support for maintaining these laws to protect homeworkers in the textile, clothing and footwear industry. Disappointingly, this consensus is not evident in Victoria, as evidenced by the lack of support from the Coalition.

The FairWear campaign (made up of Christian, women’s and worker organisations) has persuaded some Australian manufacturers and retailers to sign the No SweatShop label (Homeworkers Code of Practice) – a code aimed at ensuring that home workers (and workers in small factories) enjoy legal entitlements like the minimum wage and superannuation. Despite this, some homeworkers that were interviewed in 2007 by the Brotherhood of St. Laurence (Ethical Threads) indicated that conditions have worsened in the last five years. Homeworkers still have very little bargaining power when confronted by unscrupulous contractors.

The laws are in place, and there is a code. What is missing is some decent funding to make this framework more of a reality.

I went along to hear an announcement about the allocation of funding to address exploitation in the clothing industry. Hearing the Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard announce this funding for the No SweatShop label (at a small factory in Collingwood called Qualitops) made me feel emotional at times. Actually talking with some of the workers at the factory who are paid their legal wages (unlike so many in the industry) was important. FairWear supporters who were present at the announcement could see some of the people who have directly benefited from the campaigning over the years. A previous homeworker of twenty years, Hong Ly, spoke of the importance of respecting the dignity of homeworkers.

I later thought of the ACT Uniting Church congregation that helped set up a makeshift sweatshop in Canberra in the midst of the WorkChoices debate. I thought about the submissions from across the Christian spectrum calling for justice (including some nuns from Wagga Wagga who no one had heard of). This debate resulted in the conditions for homeworkers being maintained, rather than being watered down.

All this past activity has resulted in a major step forward.

What is new, at the Commonwealth level, is that a significant amount of money is now being spent to get the ball rolling. The Commonwealth Government has decided to allocate four million dollars over four years for the Homeworkers Code of Practice Committee that oversees the No SweatShop label. There is hope that this large injection of funds will help change the buying habits of consumers, so that clothing is not produced in sweat shops or made in the homes of outworkers. The Program is managed by the Workplace Programmes Branch in the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.

Businesses like Qualitops (and others like Rise Up Productions) will gain from this new money. Most importantly, the workers who make the clothes for these kinds of companies will benefit. Also, more consumers will know about ethical alternatives through better promotion of the No SweatShop label. Hopefully the market will grow and more will be employed under decent conditions.

Liz Thompson, FairWear Victoria Campaign Co-ordinator, said “Commonwealth Government support for the nosweatshoplabel is a long time coming, but we’re glad its here. With this grant of $4 million dollars over 4 years, the Homeworkers Code of Practice can improve compliance in the system, try to get more companies on board, and really branch out to make the HWCP and the nosweatshoplabel a bigger player in the industry. The launch, held in the workshop of the longest-serving accredited manufacturer in the HWCP system, Qualitops, also heard from a former outworker, Hong, who has now found full-time factory work thanks to the ongoing support of the Textile Clothing and Footwear Union.“

Liz went on to say, “it was great to hear the new head of the TFIA, Jo Kellock, who has a background as a fashion technician, speaking about the HWCP as the future of the industry. We in FairWear look forward to that future where industry bodies support, rather than attack, the HWCP, and look forward to seeing some ongoing support from both government and industry for the skills training and skills recognition programs that can help more workers like Hong get access to better paid and more rewarding work, whether that be at home or in the factory.”