On Friday, June 24, the Embassy of France organized in Bitola the fourth and final local thematic conference within the framework of the French Presidency of the Council of the EU. In front of an audience of young people, this new conference focused on the challenges of a social Europe.
One of the main priorities of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union is the establishment of a new European growth model, with the aim of making Europe a major continent of production, job creation, innovation and technological progress, offering workers quality jobs, qualified and better paid, but also better protection against the risk of "social dumping". As regards this social segment, French priorities were particularly focused on establishing European legislation on minimum wages, as well as a framework for fair representation of women and men on company boards. This fourth and final conference, organised by the Embassy of France, the French Institute in Skopje and the French Alliance in Bitola, within the framework of the French Presidency of the Council of the EU, will provide an overview of the main social challenges (the fight against all types of discrimination, working conditions, minimum wage, etc.) faced by citizens of EU Member States and candidate countries.
The conference was attended by:
- H.E. Mr. Cyril Baumgartner, Ambassador of France;
- Jacques Landrieu, Vice-President of the Economic and Social Council and for the Environment;
- Hugo Bestel, Director of the French Institute in Skopje;
- Jovana Trenchevska, Minister of Labor and Social Policy;
- Jagoda Shahpaska, former Minister of Labor and Social Policy;
- Kristina Ampeva, President of "Glasen Tekstilec".
In addition, the speech of the president of Glasen Tekstilec, Kristina Ampeva:
Social Europe: activities and reflections of textile workers' unions.
The risk of social dumping or social dumping has been with us since the collapse of Yugoslavia, if we are honest and tell things as they are. I will talk about the textile industry in my city and the entire country, which at the time was the leader of this industry in Europe and the world. We had our own Macedonian brands and we had almost no production of foreign brands, or the so-called loan production. Now we work for European fashion brands, our industry is based on 95% loan production, which means that materials and raw materials are brought to us and only the labor of the textile worker is used here. If we are honest, we will also say the cheap labor of the worker, accompanied by mobbing, violation of human and labor rights, illegal dismissals, discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, parenthood and illness. Working conditions, pressure at work, low wages, mobbing, lack of modernization and automation in production are just a side effect of our dependence on cents for a piece of clothing made for European brands. The way European legislation and Macedonian legislation on minimum wage is something that we in Macedonia as an association started in 2016 with the then opposition and now the government here. Because until 2017 we had a salary of 9000 denars in the textile industry with a fulfilled norm/quota, which was lower than in all other sectors, both in the private and public sectors. And that is good legislation, to have a guaranteed minimum. But it should not be something that does not even 20 percent meet the needs of a family.
I will mention Yugoslavia again and say that in the past the textile industry meant women's emancipation, and now it is the opposite, anti-emancipation. In the past, with one salary, workers in the private sector could afford their children's studies, quality education, healthcare, and vacations at the seaside. Now, with one salary in textiles, you can't even afford to pay your bills, overhead costs, and credit.
All this is thanks to the lack of strategies for a specific industry, that we have allowed the qualified textile worker to now be humiliated, disadvantaged, to work six days a week for a minimum wage of 300 euros. All the best to exceptions. And Europeans buy fashion pieces that say made in Europe, thinking that the piece was made under normal conditions for a decent wage. Rarely over the years have we had examples of the Made in Macedonia label. Because the awareness of Europeans and consumerism in particular is on a completely different level.
Additionally, competition from China and India is a problem where we know that there is also cheap labor, but in recent years after the fire in the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh, a large number of European organizations have emerged that have strengthened associations and unions and are actively working on campaigns in the countries where clothes and shoes are sold. Wages have been seriously increased in recent years and are already approaching those in the Balkan countries that have a perfect geographical location, a qualified workforce and the speed of delivery is a day or two to the ordering countries.
There are some shifts because the same networks that are particularly active in the producing countries, of which our association is a part, are putting serious pressure on both brands and the European Union itself, but the latest pressure and law is the German Supply Chain Law on Human Rights Due Diligence.
I will not mention here that seriously, the state, ministries and institutions allow violations of workers' rights to pass with no or minimal consequences. So here I will only mention that during the corona crisis, many dismissals were illegal and the institutions failed. I will mention that like every state, ours also provided serious finances to the private sector to keep jobs and pay salaries. During a declared state of emergency, crisis, finances were given to companies with millions in profits, finances were given to companies that did not meet the conditions, and the most painful thing for a legal state is that a huge amount of finances from the state, the national budget ended up in the pockets of the bosses and there would have been no trace or voice about all of this if it were not for our association to publish evidence, write reports to the institutions, call out through the media and put pressure. In the end, when our accusation of theft during a state of emergency of the national budget was finally heard and confirmed, the public prosecutor's office had the evidence in its possession in August 2020. To this day, the public, we, the Macedonian citizens, do not know of any outcome in the procedure. And we are talking about reforms in public administration and the judiciary. We are talking about a social state according to the Constitution and care for citizens. We are talking here with authorities who believe that if we are loud and care about the worker, for a dignified life and salary, that they can throw us out of their social dialogue because of some kind of union representativeness.
In the 4 years before 2021, there was an increase in social dialogue and respect for international conventions such as the Global Deal, contributing not only to an enormous increase in reports from workers about violated rights, increased trust in institutions and results from the field, but also to an increase in respect for workers' rights and the number of socially responsible companies began to increase.
In contrast, in the past year and a half, what we have pointed out is the reduction of social dialogue, which was a practice, is now starting to disappear and the same is felt on the ground not only in the work of institutions, but also among employers themselves. Any reduction in respect for the conventions to which our country has committed itself will mean a new return to the past.
We encourage social dialogue and appeal for open and transparent institutions, reducing corruption. Social dialogue with the inclusion of all stakeholders, not just entities left over from socialism with old methods and views. If we want to be a member of the EU, only socially responsible companies will survive. This also applies to political and state institutions. Working on new laws, rules and implementing new and European practices will help us get out of the 30-year trap and social dumping will remain a lower limit below which we must not go.
What is needed is if not us, then you as ordering countries in this production chain to seriously push the living wage agenda. Because like the citizens of France, Germany, or any country we sew for, both as a country and as the entire Balkans, we deserve a living wage, corporate responsibility from your brands, and care for workers in the production chain.
More awareness of the standard of living beings in the factory halls of the ordering countries, greater cooperation and more frequent communications are something that will contribute to us not being the Bangladesh of the Balkans, but to everyone taking on the responsibility that they already have.
Thank you..
