War on Want - Protecting Chinese Migrant Workers
Today, China is the world’s biggest exporter of textiles, and since 2007, has seen a phenomenal growth in exports of denim jeans. However, sandblasting techniques used to give denim a worn look, is now one of the biggest risks to the health of Chinese textile workers exposing them to silica particles which cause silicosis, a serious respiratory disease which, if left untreated, is fatal. Health problems connected to sandblasting are well documented and in Europe, sandblasting has been banned since 1966, and in Turkey, since 2009. However, some brands have simply shifted production to countries like China where sandblasting is legal, despite the health risks.
China’s vast workforce includes millions of migrant workers who have moved from rural to urban areas in search of employment. They find themselves trapped in exploitative and dangerous working conditions due to the lack of enforcement of labour legislation, and little or no knowledge of their rights. Migrant workers are particularly vulnerable to exploitation as they have no access to state benefits like education, health care, and maternity leave as these can only be claimed in a person’s place of birth under China’s permit system known as ‘hukou’.
TRAID is funding War on Want with £82,634 to help migrant workers in the Guadadong province in South East China to defend their rights through labour rights education, with a focus on health and safety in the Chinese jeans industry.
In partnership with local partners Worker Empowerment (WE) and Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour (SACOM), an education pack will be produced and distributed to 10,000 migrant workers, and used in support groups, training and outreach activities. The pack will include simple case studies of labour rights violations, and explain basic rights and how to seek redress. These materials will be distributed away from factories to ensure that migrant workers do not lose their jobs and will equip grassroots organisations with user friendly and rights focused materials which are virtually non-existent in China.
The project will also examine health and safety standards in three jeans factories employing 1,500 migrant workers, and this research will be used as a basis for a national campaign pressuring factories to improve standards and legislation. This research and campaigning around the impacts of sandblasting on textile workers will be the first in China to focus on labour rights and occupational health.
At the same time, War on Want, together with SACOM will launch an international campaign to build support in the UK to improve health and safety conditions in Chinese textile factories. The campaign will call at least one brand to stop using dangerous practices which put workers lives at risk.
www.waronwant.org
