캄보디아 이야기 40 | 캄보디아 의류 공장 노동자의 현실 - 사회적 관심과 노력 필요

캄보디아의 의류 공장 노동자들의 현실 - 사회의 관심과 노력 필요

 

캄보디아 프놈펜(Phnom Penh) 생활 중 - 캄보디아 뉴스나 매거진에 나온 자료들을 열심히 읽으며 공부 중이다.

---

Factory Girls

MONDAY, 07 MARCH 2011

 

 

THE GARMENT INDUSTRY ACCOUNTS FOR AROUND US$2 BILLION OF CAMBODIA'S GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT PER YEAR. WITH PREDOMINANTLY FEMALE WORKFORCES, GARMENT FACTORIES OFFER SOME CAMBODIAN WOMEN OPPORTUNITIES-YET ARE THEY ENOUGH? MAI LYNN MILLER NGUYEN TAKES A LOOK AT THE HEROINES OF THE GARMENT INDUSTRY. 

Photo by James Grant.

 

 

On a Sunday morning, around 500 garment factory workers are assembled on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. For many of them, this is their only day off for the week. And they have chosen to spend it learning about their labour rights.

 

Garment Workers Open University is a one-day course run by Better Factories Cambodia (BFC), a unique programme of the International Labour Organization. Today’s training covers the Cambodian Labour Law.

 

In one classroom, the morning session is just about to finish with a discussion on how to calculate wages. After a lunch break, which includes edutainment skits about the prevention of HIV/AIDS and domestic violence, the workers will discuss issues of occupational health and safety, as well as their own responsibilities under the law.

 

It seems an ordinary scene at a university or, judging by how young some of the workers look, a girls’ high school. Yet for most of these women, school was traded for the factories so that they could help support their families. 

 

 

 

 

WORKING WOMEN

In the country’s shift toward an industrialised economy, young women are the cogs in the machine of Cambodia’s third highest-earning industry, behind tourism and agriculture. 

 

According to the Cambodian Researchers for Development around 90 percent of the 300,000 garment factory workers are women. As the girlish faces at the Open University indicate, most workers are under the age of 25, with the legal minimum working age at 15.

 

“It’s important to recognise the value of the industry and the women that are working so hard,” says Catherine Vaillancourt-Laflamme, training specialist at BFC. “They are the ones driving the development of Cambodia. They are the heroines of Cambodia.”

 

The current minimum wage is US$61 dollars per month. In Cambodia, that salary is a necessity.

“Children, generally, and girls in particular, grow up knowing that they are going to help their family,” explains Bindi Borg, programme coordinator at CARE International, an NGO focusing on empowering women and their communities that has been working with Cambodian garment factory workers for 12 years. “It is unspoken perhaps, but it is clear that is what they are going to do.”

 

 

 

 

WHICH SIDE OF THE LAW?

Around 262 export garment factories are registered in the Better Factories Cambodia programme, which is mandated to monitor and report on these factoriese and help them to improve working conditions and productivity. BFC reports a high level of compliance with the labour law among registered factories.

 

Yet not everyone is fortunate to work in one of these compliant factories. One 30-year old woman interviewed outside her workplace reported that her factory requires working 12-hour days for up to seven days a week, well beyond the legal allowance of 48 hours over six days and two optional paid overtime hours per day.

 

Her overtime is forced and not appropriately compensated, claims Srey Pich (name has been changed), who earns around US$80. If she wants to visit her child in Kampot Province, Srey Pich is penalised US$7 a day for her absence.

 

If she had any other option to support herself and her child, Srey Pich says she would quit her job at once. For the moment, her income sends her son to school.

 

“This factory is only for people with no choice,” she says. “Otherwise, I would not go to work because the salary is very low and the conditions are very hard.”

 

Leng Leakena is a member of the Messenger Band, a group of former and current garment workers. She believes that worker exploitation is intrinsic to the system.

 

“Most factories do not follow the labour law,” she says. “If the employer is compliant with the law, how can they benefit from the workers?”

 

 

 

BEST PRACTICE

Kevin Plenty disagrees. He manages Quantum Clothing, a British manufacturing factory formerly known as New Island. In its ten years of existence, Quantum has built a reputation for its commitment to the welfare of its 1,800 workers.

 

Filled with neat rows of sewing stations, ample lighting and workers dressed in uniforms, the factory floor is a temple to efficiency—creating an atmosphere that bears more resemblance to a hospital than a sweatshop.

 

Workers do five nine and a half hour shifts per week. They also have the opportunity to work overtime on Saturdays. For the two-thirds of workers who are paid by the piece, the overtime day tends to be the most productive, as they are paid twice their normal rate. Quantum states that operators earn an average salary of US$150 per month.

 

The piecework system can benefit both workers and company.

 

“Our efficiency is well above the normal average for the country. Because our workers earn by piecework, our productivity is higher. The company wins by better productivity, the operators win by earning better living wages for their family,” says Plenty.

 

Quantum offers workers incentives, including English lessons for interested employees. Over a hundred workers currently receive two hours of tuition per week, and a new class will begin the course in the next six months.

 

Free healthcare is another benefit. Through a micro health insurance scheme operated by French NGO GRET, Quantum ensures that all workers have access to seven public health facilities, additional to the in-house medical clinic required by labour law.

 

A total of 5,000 workers are enrolled in the Health Insurance Project, with Quantum as the sole factory to have 100 percent worker inclusion. Whereas factories are responsible for half the monthly cost, a sum of 80 cents with workers paying the remainder, Quantum covers the entire US$1.60.

“We try to make sure that when they come in to work, all they’re thinking about is their work,” explains Plenty. 

 

 

 

 

A LIVING WAGE? 

Quantum workers are said to receive twice the minimum wage, including piecework incentives and seniority and attendance bonuses. though most of the industry’s workers are believed to receive around US$85 a month.

 

A study by the Cambodia Institute of Development in February 2009 assessed a living wage as being between US$90 and US$120. A living wage is defined as one that provides decent living for a worker and dependents, allowing for some savings and excluding any overtime.

 

Based on a survey of over 300 factory workers, the research concluded that interviewees were spending a total of US$72 per month, including a remittance of around US$15 to their families.

To allow for family commitments, those surveyed said they spent just under US$1 per day, in contrast to the US$3 of an average resident in Phnom Penh. Some skimp on food to maximise the amount sent home to families, resorting to inexpensive, unhealthy foods or barely eating at all.

Instituted last year, the US$61 minimum wage was a US$6 increase on the previous figure set in 2005. Dissatisfaction with the minimum wage came to a head in September, when 200,000 garment workers walked out of their factories to strike for higher salaries. Demands for a living wage of US$93 were unsuccessful, and the strikes were deemed illegal.

 

Yet in a country where one third of the population is under the poverty line, salaries are relatively high. The World Bank estimates that the gross national income per capita is US$54 a month. The average monthly salary of a teacher, which requires education, is between US$30 and US$60.

“By working in the garment industry, I can earn enough to live by myself and send some to my family,” said one young 23-year old, a three-year factory veteran participating in the BFC Open University. “If I work in another field like construction, growing or farming, I would earn a very small amount.” 

 

 

 

 

THE SOCIAL IMPACT

Because most factories are located close to Phnom Penh, young women are usually living a distance from their families in the provinces. Female labour is nothing new in Cambodia, but the advent of young women living independently challenges the traditional way of life.

 

“This is nothing short of a social revolution,” says Borg. “15 years ago, you grew up in a village, you didn’t leave the village. Now it’s very common for young women to leave their village.

 

“Effectively, women’s economic value has increased, so potentially their social value has also increased.”

 

Though garment factory workers report that society is becoming more open, stereotypes and assumptions still linger.

 

“There’s a cultural dichotomy between workers being sent to the city to work and the city being not such a decent place for young Cambodian women,” says Vaillancourt-Laflamme. “If they send too much money back, depriving themselves here, some people may say, what are they doing in order to be able to send so much money? There’s this sort of assumption that maybe they aren’t pure anymore.”

 

Fighting social discrimination against garment factory workers is a primary goal of The Messenger Band. Formed in 2005 by the Womyn’s Agenda for Change, The Messenger Band is a group of current and former garment workers who sing about their experiences.

 

Leng Leakena, 26, is among the “new generation” of The Messenger Band, which now counts seven members. She has worked in the factories for seven years, and finds that female garment factory workers are often stigmatised.

 

“Some mothers say she is a garment worker, she cannot be my daughter-in-law,” says Leng. “They say that garment workers are not good, during the day they work in the garment factory, but afterwards they might be sex workers or massage girls.”

 

 

 

 

PRECIOUS GIRLS

The Messenger Band encourages women to speak out about injustices, and ignorance. Besides drawing attention to these issues, they inform their families and communities about the hardship of garment workers.

 

“It is good if society opens to accepting garment workers,” says Leng. “We go to rural areas and we explain how hard working garment workers are. Most of the rural people also have daughters working in garment factories, so they should know about the real conditions and situations that garment workers face.”

 

Emphasising the value of female garment factory workers is also the aim of Precious Girl, a tri-monthly magazine that targets factory employees.

 

With simple vocabulary, issues are accessible to those on a low literacy level. Articles offer tips for healthy nutrition and insight into saving strategies, alongside instructions for homemade fashion. The most popular articles tend be those with real life stories of those who have found favourable outcomes in tough situations.

 

Editor and writer Nou Rotha, who is also employed by GRET, believes Precious Girl helps readers to strengthen their sense of self-worth and dignity. “We try to get them to think about their future, what they want to do, where they want to go,” says Nou. “Factory work can be a bridge, they can move forward to something new after they have enough money to create something.”

 

 

 

FOR A BRIGHTER FUTURE

Working in a garment factory can open up many opportunities for Cambodian women. For workers who are able to save money, the future can look much brighter.

 

A helping hand from an NGO certainly make a difference. Teaching garment workers how to save is one of the objectives of CARE’s Sewing for a Brighter Future project. Sponsored by the Levi Strauss Foundation, the project began with the aim of improving knowledge of sexual and reproductive health. Now, it has moved towards promoting savings strategies, working with 10,000 female garment factory workers across eight factories. Another CARE project, Personal Advancement and Career Enhancement (P.A.C.E.), offers life skills training modules with support from GAP Inc. Life skills like communication and problem solving can help workers in their daily work and also to rise to factory management positions, such as line leaders, supervisors, and senior management.

 

Female management is unusual among most factories. At Quantum, Cambodian female supervisors and management are the norm—and perhaps an example to the industry. “We don’t look at the gender of the person in terms of the job that is required,” says Kevin Plenty. “It doesn’t matter to us. We look at filling a role.” Some workers learn trades outside of working hours, equipping themselves to work in a salon or as a tailor. As these opportunities are not be so available in rural areas, living in the country’s capital can open up doors. “Life in the province is one thing, but in Phnom Penh, we have something new to learn,” says one garment factory worker. “In our hometowns, we just grow rice.”

 

“These women seem really hungry for opportunities,” says Borg.

 

But how many can access them? For women bound by the poverty of their families, saving money can be futile. For those who are exhausted by long-days of work, there’s little energy left for further education. “I never think about anything that needs to change,” said one 18-year old worker. “If we work in the garment factory, it must be hard.”

 

 

Source: http://www.asialifeguide.com/

 

---

 

사무실 자료 정리를 하다가 'asia life'라는 잡지책을 발견했고, 그 안에 위와 같은 기사가 실린 것을 유심히 읽게 되었다. 2010년 잡지이긴 하지만 현 상황과 그리 다르지 않은 것 같아 이렇게 이렇게 글을 시작하게 되었다.

 

우리나라의 1970~1980년대와 같은 노동 환경이 현재 캄보디아에서 똑같이 진행되고 있다. 아무리 열악한 노동환경과 임금이라 할지라도 본인과 가족들이 먹고살기 위해서는 어쩔 수 없는 노동을 감내해야 하는 것이 현재 캄보디아 여인들의 철저한 현실인 것이다.

 

공장에서 일하던 여성들은 이후에 성(性) 산업에 종사한다거나 안마사가 된다는 사실이 안타깝다. 어린 시절부터 공장에서 일했기에 정규 학교 교육을 받지 못한 그녀들이 새롭게 시작할 수 있는 일은 그리 많지 않아 보인다.

 

캄보디아 여성들이 꿈꾸는 것 중 또 한 가지는 돈 많은 외국인을 만나 결혼하여 자신의 가족을 부양하는 것이다. 실제로 나는 캄보디아의 수도 Phnom Penh(프놈펜)에서 한 6개월을 살면서.. 짧은 치마와 한껏 꾸민 외모로 나이 든 서양 남자 뒤를 졸졸 따라다니는 젊은 캄보디아 여성을 많이 볼 수 있었다. 나의 한 캄보디아인 친구 역시 친언니가 스위스 남자와 결혼하여 스위스로 시집을 갔는데, 매달 친언니가 가족에게 돈을 보내준단다. 얼마 전엔 언니 부부가 캄보디아에 다녀갔는데 그 이후로 내 친구에겐 SAMSUNG 갤럭시 S 휴대폰이 생겼다. 가난하여 12년 동안이나 한 프랑스 NGO의 아동결연 사업 후원 아래 공부를 했었던 그녀가, 시집 잘 간 언니를 통해 지금은 부족할 것 없는 부유하고도 편안한 생활을 하고 있는 것이다. (이 친구에겐 좋은 일이긴 하지만.. 언니가 다녀감으로 인해 옷이며, 머리며 스타일이 좋아진 이 친구를 볼 때마다 '돈이 참 편하긴 편하구나.' 하는 생각과 함께 왠지 모를 씁쓸함이 느껴지는 것은 왜일까.)

 

자꾸만 공장 노동자들에게, 프놈펜의 도시 빈민들에게 관심이 가지만 그들이 삶이 진짜 어떤지에 대해서는 잘 모른다. '이렇다더라' 하는 -카더라 통신만 들려올 뿐.. 그리고 이렇게 기사들을 통해 그들의 사정을 전해 들을 뿐.. 그들의 삶을 직접 마주해 보지도 못했고.. 그래서 뭔가 직접적인 도움.. 실질적인 도움.. 지속 가능한 도움을 주고 싶은데 답답한 마음이 든다.

 

사실 도움..이라는 말을 좋아하지 않는다. 도움이라는 말은 여러 맥락에서 해석이 가능하지만.. 사람과 사람 사이를 위-아래로 나누어, '우위에 있는 사람이 낮은 위치의 사람에게 무엇인가를 해주는 것'이라는 뉘앙스가 풍기기 때문이다. 그리고 나의 한없이 부족하고 연약함을 생각할 때 나는 다른 사람들에게 도움을 준다는 말을 감히 할 수 있는 인물이 못 된다.

 

하지만 미약하지만, 부족하지만 내가 가지고 있는 재능이나 힘을 필요로 하는 사람들에게 나눠주고, 그것으로 하여금 그 사람들이 삶을 살아갈 힘과 의지를 얻게 된다면 난 그것만으로도 기쁘고, 행복하고, 삶에 만족을 느끼게 될 것 같다. 그럴 때 내가 살아있다는 느낌을 받게 될 것 같다.

 

 

 

사실 이런 꿈을 안고 캄보디아에 왔는데.. 현재는 우리 센터에서 직접 사업을 하고 있는 것도 아니고.. 지금까지 해왔던 사업을 유지하는 일만 하고 있을 뿐이라.. 가끔은 좀 쳐지기도 하고, 여기 왜 왔나.. 하는 생각도 솔직히 든다. 하지만 하루하루 그때그때 만나게 되는 여러 가지 상황과 환경 속에서 캄보디아를 매일매일 배워가고 있음은 확실하다. 그리고 얼마 전 누군가 해 준 말처럼, 이곳에서 그저 살며 캄보디아에 대해 많이 배우고, 이해하며, 이 나라에 필요한 것이 무엇일까.. 이 사람들이 필요한 것이 무엇일까.. 하는 국제 개발론적 시각을 갖는 것.. 그것만으로도 이곳에 온 이유가 충분해지지 않을까 싶기도 하다.

 

글이 옆으로 좀 샌 느낌이긴 하지만... 내가 요즘 느끼고 있는 점들이 이런 건가 보다. 출장을 가거나 외근을 나갈 때면.. 특히 지방 출장을 갈 때면 그렇게 기분도 좋고, 밥도 잘 먹게 되고, 내가 살아있음을 느끼는데, 사무실에만 있으면 몸도 아프고, 쳐지고.. 생각도 많아진다. 지난주에 엄청난 원인 모를 열감기를 앓고 난 이후로 이번 주부터 갑자기 더워진 캄보디아의 뙤약볕 아래 일을 할 체력이 보장이 안 되어 결국 단기 봉사팀 인솔을 못 갔다.. ㅠ.ㅠ 내일 팀이 활동하고 있는 지역에 활동 수행 및 모니터링하러 출장을 가기로 하긴 했지만.. 그것도 어휴.. 체력이 받쳐줄 수 있을까 먼저 지레 걱정부터 된다. 정말 사람은 건강하고 봐야 돼.. 건강하지 못하면 하고 싶은 일도 잘 할 수 없음을 절실히 깨닫게 되는 요즈음이다. 마음과 다르게 움직이는 몸 때문에 속상하기도, 답답하기도 하고, 정말 힘들다. 마음은 펄펄 날고 있는데 맨날 몸이 골골... 허약함의 아이콘이 된 것 같아 슬프다. 그리고 요즘은 정말 누군가의 말대로 내가 '동네북'이 되었다. 사람들이, 특히 현지인 직원들이 나만 보면 "냠 바이 쯔란쯔란. 냠 띡띡 엇 껌랑." 이라고 한다. "밥을 많이 먹어. 밥 조금 먹으면 힘이 없고 아파!" 이런 뜻이다. 난 열심히 먹고 있고 건강관리를 잘 하려고 하는데.. 이상하게 밥을 열심히 먹은 날은 꼭 몸이 아프다. 먹어도 아프고, 안 먹어도 아플 바에는 그냥 매일매일 열심히 먹자! 하는 심정으로 한 1주간 삼시 세끼를 꼬박 챙겨 먹은 적이 있었는데 그렇게 먹어도 열감기에 걸리고.. ㅠ.ㅠ 도대체 나도 내 몸의 어느 장단에 맞춰야 할지 많이 답답하다. 뭔가 건강에 대해 근본적인 해결책이 필요함은 사실인 것 같다.

 

아무튼! 걱정해 주는 현지인 직원들, 주변 사람들이 너무나 감사하고 고맙다. 운동도 하고, 식이조절도 열심히 해보고.. 건강해져야지! 건강해져서 내가 좋아하는 요리도 잔뜩 해주고.. 주변 사람들 행복한 모습 보고 싶다. :-) 더불어 내가 하는 일들이 캄보디아 사람들의 삶에 조금이라도 도움이 되면 좋겠다.

 

8 Aug 2012