Simon Parry & Hazel Parry
England football fans display their support by wearing replica team shirts. But with global shirt sales set to rocket in the build up to the World Cup, unions say workers here are getting a raw deal. (Photo: Daniel Roland, AP)
Union Angry Over Meager Wages for World Cup Shirt Makers in Indonesia
As football fans around the world gear up to buy fresh new sets of
their team colors in time for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, in a
squalid suburb of Jakarta young women are working exhausting hours in
grim conditions to make them.
At the PT Tuntex factory in
Tangerang, Banten migrant workers spend from early morning to late
evening for low pay making replica team shirts already selling in
wealthy Western countries for up to $80 each.
By contrast,
their share of the World Cup bonanza making the shirts for Adidas,
Nike, and Nike subsidiary Umbro is a wage of as little as Rp 23,000
($2.50) a day. Unions argue that the amount is not enough to be
considered a living wage.
About 2,000 women work in the
factory, which turns out the official England replica shirts and shirts
to be worn by fans of other teams competing in the 2010 tournament in
South Africa.
The workers would have to toil for nearly a full
month at their basic rates of pay to afford just one of the
best-selling England team shirts they make.
No laws are being
broken, and minimum wages are paid, but labor unions argue that the
brand-name sports companies have a moral responsibility to improve
conditions for workers.
Most workers at the factory are aged
17-24 and their basic pay is Rp 1.05 million ($110) a month for a
five-day week. They can boost their salary to Rp 2 million by working
overtime until 8 p.m. every day.
Most employees are migrant
workers, and many live with their children and families in a sprawl of
ramshackle brick and bamboo huts scattered around the factory that rent
for about Rp 250,000 a month.
“All of us work the maximum
overtime because we have families to support and the basic salary isn’t
really enough to live on,” said machinist Bintang, 22, a worker at the
factory for three years.
“The work is very hard and the pay is
not good, but we are happy just to have jobs because so many factories
are closing down at the moment because of the bad economy.”
Packing
worker Saraswati, 19, who has been at the factory for 18 months, said:
“The bosses are very strict. There was a worker on probation with me
when I first joined and she was sacked on the spot for turning up for
work just a few minutes late.
“That is why we all rent rooms
close to the factory so that we can be sure to arrive on time, even
though they are so expensive. Otherwise we will lose our jobs and may
not find another one.”
Dian Ansar, a spokeswoman for the
Congress of Indonesian Unions Alliance, said conditions for the workers
at PT Tuntex were common — but the World Cup presented a rare
opportunity for change. “People overseas should be aware of what goes
on in this factory and they should complain about it,” she said “These
women do not make enough money for their families to live on at the
moment.
“It is no good saying these people earn the legal
minimum wage. In Indonesia, the minimum wage is too low. They have a
difficult life and if business is bad, they are sacked with no social
welfare.”
Nike spokesman Charlie Brooks insisted that the
company was committed to producing the England and other World Cup
shirts under “fair working conditions.”
“Workers at PT Tuntex
earn more than the minimum wage set by the Indonesian government. Our
code of conduct also requires no more than 60 hours of work per week,
which includes overtime, and one full day off in seven,” he said.
“There
is no commonly accepted, economic definition of a ‘living wage.’ We
firmly believe that wages should be determined by negotiations with
workers and management.”
Adidas spokeswoman Katja Schreiber
said, “The Adidas group strives to ensure that workers are paid a fair
wage. Wages must equal or exceed the minimum wage or the prevailing
industry wage, whichever is higher.”
Samantha Maher,
spokeswoman for pressure group Labour Behind The Label, responded:
“Football fans should be outraged that these shirts are being produced
in such conditions.
“Women are producing these shirts in
terrible conditions for poverty wages. How can fans be proud to wear
the shirt knowing the truth behind how it was made?”
Deutsche Press Agentur
Related articles
Improved Access to Financing Crucial to Indonesian Manufacturing: Economist
9:55 PM 01/12/2009
Indonesian Street Vendors Face Tough Times at the Airport
6:30 PM 30/07/2009
One Stop Shop for Jakarta Street Kids
5:53 PM 23/07/2009
Money Talks on The Campaign Trail for the Poor
4:52 PM 06/07/2009
Voyeurism or Philanthropy? Jakarta Poverty Tours Spark Debate
6:31 PM 23/06/2009
hermesthoth
12:01 PM December 11, 2009When we talk about soccer and other sport merchandising, it would be naive to judge how much a merchandise item should sell just based on the production cost alone. In sport merchandising to right to use the trademarked logos and other insignia means paying royalty fees or face litigation.
Considering how much money top soccer players are paid these days, I don't think owners of insignia copyrights would be happy with low royalty fees.
The actual problem lies in the ridiculous awe in which soccer players are held. There's something very unhealthy about the sports industry, which tries to turn players into gods of the modern age.