So, bargaining power has to come from the framing of a demand that is bargainable and deliverable, and that is appropriately targeted given the structure and economics of the industry as a whole.
There have also been attempts at ensuring fair labour standards through the use of clauses in trade agreements (such as social clause or labour side agreements, etc.). In an industry like garment where the production is spread across the globe, such clauses or agreements do not necessarily deliver bargainable power to workers in a specific country and in fact, may weaken workers’ collective power by dividing them nationally when in fact, they operate within the global production chain in an industry.
It is important to find a bargainable and appropriately formulated demand in the context of a global production chain that would motivate a strategic collective organizing for.
The AFW strategy in this campaign is based on certain objective conditions described below.
However, it is replicable for other industries, in other regions, if these objective conditions apply.
In short, this is a trade union strategy in the context of the global supply chain.
Fact 1:
Now that the garment industry has completed its re-structuring and has bottomed out in Asia , it is important to take a strategic look at this region. Out of the many Asian countries, China, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Cambodia can be said to cover the bulk of the garment production. This workforce constitutes a numerically strong regional collectivity.
Fact 2:
Research on wages of garment workers in these countries show that wage levels of workers in these countries are more or less comparable. So, the relatively uniform wages provide a regional bargaining opportunity. A unified regional strategy would also avoid the danger of jobs moving within these countries because of a wage demand in any one country.
