23 – 31 July, 2010
Jakarta, Indonesia

Committee for Asian Women is organising one week Training of Trainers on “Production Mapping” for women garment workers from 23-31 July, 2010 in Jakarta, Indonesia.  The purpose of the training is to build the knowledge of the workers about their company, working place and the production system and to motivate workers to enter into contact with flex-workers and local suppliers. Five labour activists from Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia and Thailand and 10 women garment workers from Indonesia will participate in the Training.

Concept Note

Production Mapping Training in Jakarta, Indonesia

1. Introduction

The garment industry is one of the first and most globalised sectors which employs majority of women workers. In Asia of 80% of workers employed in the garment industry are women who are employed in the lowest, unskilled, poorly paid and most often contractual worker force. Most branded clothing and apparel companies outsource to local factories reaping huge profits while the vast majority of women workers are barely making out a living; the wages they earn make up only 6 percent of the sale price of these garments. While some Asian economies boast of adherence to a legal minimum wage principle, the minimum wage as not been revised and in most cases it  is inadequate even to meet decent wage and living standards and do not include provisons for health, housing, clothing, education etc.  Irregular or contractual employment practices, restrictions to organising in free trade zones and government suppression of fundamental rights of workers to association gives limited space for workers, trade unions or labour organisation to organise within the garment industry.

To form a real counterforce “from below” against global and regional production strategies of companies, the emphasis of trade union organizations should be on local structures and on what occurs on the ground. Workers should organize themselves from the basis. Only when organizing comes forth from local realities and is done by workers themselves they experience the reality of their own power. Education and capacity building of workers and their organizations can contribute positively to their ability to organize actions and to enlarge their self esteem and position towards the management of their companies. Workers should develop critical awareness and should be able to translate this awareness into social action (or praxis).

The method ‘production mapping’ was developed by TIE-Brazil, in cooperation with members of different trade unions, and lead to significant results in the strengthening of workers power and the position of trade unions at the working place. The method is build on the assumption that workers have the most updated and detailed information about the production system, because they are the most important part of it. It departs from the mobilisation and ‘collectivisation’ of the knowledge of the workers themselves about their company, working place and the production system. Together, workers collect the major possible amount of information about the production process, like: the number of employees, the amount of working hours, salary, suppliers of material and clients, breaks, holidays and absenteeism in each section of the company. They are stimulated to analyse what is the structure of the company, in what way the production process is organised, whose interests are taken care of and who profits and who does not. Ways of gathering information are participatory, for example, inquiries among colleagues or the drawing of the company to identify where the main problems for workers are found.

 After gathering the information it is systematized and analysed by the workers, permitting them to understand their own role in the production process and the position of their company in the global supply chain. This action research, done by the workers themselves leads to new insights and the identification of action points for the trade union organisation at the working place.

2.      Background

Committee for Asian Women, many of whose members work in the FTZs and garment industry, will conduct a production mapping Training of Trainers (TOT) in Jakarta, Indonesia.  Production mapping entails a collective construction of knowledge because the information is gathered by the workers themselves at their working place (or local reality) and among their own colleagues. The map of the production process is an instrument to look beyond the boundaries of the local working place and to better understand the production planning of the management. This process will also shed light on micro analysis of the supply chain and the macro picture of trade agreements. It will additionally support AFW campaign to build testimonies of workers, unions, labour friendly organization to lay foundation for the tribunal hearing

The training will be conducted in Jakarta, Indonesia from 23- 31 July 2010. Five labour activists from Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia and Thailand and 10 women garment workers from Indonesia will participate in the nine days Training of Trainers (TOT) programme.   

 3.      Objectives:

The objectives of Training of Trainers are: 

• To build understanding of workers regarding companies strategic decisions such as outsourcing production process and the way production is connected to resources in the local context.
• To motivate workers to enter into contact with flex-workers and local suppliers, who were defined by them as “threats” or enemies before.

 4.      Outcome  

• Workers can re-establish strategies and organize for consequent planned actions and gain major control over the production process. Backed by the information they gathered on their working place they enter into negotiations and struggles that can change their realities in an effective way.
• Workers, who for many years have been told that their knowledge and insights are not important, start to realize that their knowledge is important.
• Information and documentation of testimonies of workers, trade unions, labour organisations the tribunal hearing on AFW.