Strengthening the Responsibility of South Korean Garment Companies Overseas
In the middle of the hot work afternoon, a loud scream pierced through the rushed mechanic sewing sounds. Indah’s (not her real name) finger had been sewn into the garment she was working on.
Indah works as a seamstress on the outskirts of Jakarta, at a South Korean factory producing for one of the world’s global sporting brands. As per usual, the factory supervisor was shouting at the workers to pick up their speed to produce more shoes to meet their production targets. Stressed by his calls, Indah worked even faster but got herself hurt.
Her supervisor rushed over upon hearing her screams. But he looked displeased. Indah was yet another worker in as many months to be injured, and he didn’t want it to garner too much attention. The supervisor ordered Indah to go to a clinic not usually frequented by the factory’s workers. Too many injured workers going to the same clinic would arouse suspicion that the factory had been negligent. In a previous accident, a worker’s finger was completely cut off.
The supervisor had been rushing workers at the factory to sew faster at the expense of their safety and he didn’t want to be found out. Sometimes when workers wanted to take a break to go to the toilet, he would chastise them for doing so: it would lower production and we would miss our targets!
The workers could file complaints against the supervisor, which would lead to him receiving a warning and sanctions from the factory management. But the workers were also scared to file complaints. So, Indah followed quietly to the clinic.
Prioritizing Workplace Safety to Meet Targets
Accidents like these occur in garment factories across Indonesia. Indah is only one of many workers whose safety is sacrificed when factories push for higher targets while deprioritizing worker welfare.
The Clean Clothes Campaign was in Indonesia in March this year and spoke to some workers at the South Korean factories in Indonesia. They told us that the factory management knew about these accidents, because management still required that these accidents be reported to them. However, not much has been done to fully address the issue. Now and then however, when severe accidents occur and go viral, like when a finger is severed, the attention would be so widespread the factory management would then intervene.
On the other hand, workers are afraid that they will be at the receiving end of the stick when management exact heavy penalties on the supervisors, because then the supervisor becomes more stressed and fearful, and would in turn scold the workers even more, which ironically leads to more injuries—the exact consequence that the workers hope to avoid. In the end, workers may ask management not to be too hard to the supervisors.
It would be more meaningful if the factory management were to prioritize worker safety and put in place mechanisms to ensure that, such as by allowing workers to take breaks when needed and to stop incessantly chasing after workers to meet production targets. The workers explained that if they feel taken care of and the work environment is less stressful, it would be a better motivation for them to meet their targets.
Diverting Attention to Sideline Gender Rights
Globally, the majority of garment workers are women, and Asia is the largest employer of garment workers in the world. In Indonesia, nearly 60% of the garment workers are women. And it is not by chance that women comprise the majority of garment workers, the Clean Clothes Campaign explained, as women are typically perceived in stereotypical ways, such as of being “obliged to adhere”, or “passive and flexible”. Women may not “speak out about the abuses they face on a daily basis, making them the ideal employees in management’s eyes,” the Clean Clothes Campaign added.
Women who decide to start families or are pregnant may encounter “verbal abuse, higher production quotas, longer work hours and more difficult tasks”, to discriminate against them. For young mothers, they would need a place to pump milk for their children. But at one South Korean factory, there were only a handful of lactation rooms for the thousands of workers working there, of whom about four-fifths are women. Many of these rooms were dirty and unhygienic, according to union workers who surveyed the facilities, and it would be unsanitary for the mother to pump milk there.
When the union informed the factory management and requested for the facilities to be improved, it looked like there was a glimmer of hope when the management said they would look into it.
However, one day, the management invited a government district head to distribute milk to the pregnant women at the factory as well as information about women’s health and pregnancy. The district head then loudly declared that the company is one that protects its female workers. The district office works closely with the management on other projects, so it is willing to do the factory’s bidding. After the event, the lactation rooms remained as they were—this is only one method the management uses to divert attention, by doing things to distract from the main issue raised, Melati (not her real name), an union member, told us.
Other gender issues were also sidelined. In Indonesia, it is legal under the Labour Law for workers to take two days of paid menstrual leave, however most workers do not know of this right. When the union reminded the factory management of it and tried to advocate on it, the management was instead concerned that work would not continue. Out of fear, female workers who needed to take leave for painful menstrual cramps instead applied for sick leave. However, in doing so, their attendance and transport allowance were deducted—which wouldn’t have been under the factory’s policies for menstrual leave.
The workers were thus forced to work through their pain, or to lose their benefits.
Respective Livelihoods and Religious Sensitivities
Last year, Indonesia was South Korea’s fifth largest apparel supplier, and the textile and garment sector comprised 6.1% of Indonesia’s manufacturing sector GDP in 2021. On the Java island in Indonesia where most garment factories are located, the lowest minimum wage is just over Rp 2 million, or about 173,430 won. The workers explained that this amount is barely adequate for their basic needs, and this is not yet including for housing.
Based on The Industry We Want and the WageIndicator Foundation, an individual in Indonesia should minimally earn Rp 4.6 million (390,470 won) to Rp 8.4 million (712,170 won) in order to achieve a basic standard of living—this roughly squares with what the workers told us, but is double the current earnings of many of Indonesia’s factory workers. Added to the fact that most workers in Indonesia actually earn below the mandated minimum wage, many workers are in reality struggling or scraping by.
Worse still, last year, Indonesia’s manpower ministry allowed export-oriented industries like the garment sector to cut wages by as much as 25% last year, in response to the Covid-19 crisis and Ukraine war.
Of its 280 million inhabitants, 87% of the population is Muslim. In Indonesia, it is a custom for Muslims to pray five times a day—at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and after dark. In one instance two years ago, an expatriate management who was just transferred from its South Korean headquarters to its Indonesian factory demanded workers not to ask him for permission to pray, in spite of it being a religious custom. The other management staff knew that his demand was inappropriate, but did not rebuke the new transfer. Fortunately workers were still able to pray, by bypassing this new management staff.
In another instance, workers taking a break were eating at their work building—they were however only allowed to eat at a separate building. A Korean expatriate who saw them eating kicked their food away and shouted at them. Under company rules, the expatriate should have taken photos to report it, thus his behavior was unnecessarily overbearing and violent. In yet another instance, a supervisor threw a shoe at a worker while scolding him.
Despite rules that prohibit such bad behavior, they continue to be violated. In most factories, management or supervisors who harass other workers or act violently towards them are warned not to repeat similar behaviors. However, when these rules are not properly enforced and other management staff turn a blind eye to inappropriate behavior, such behaviors continue to persist, and workers are left to fend for themselves.
In Indonesia’s context where religious practices have become a mainstay, the lack of cultural and religious sensitivities is also perceived as offensive, and companies from other countries like South Korea which do not take extra care to respect local customs can find themselves in unnecessary conflict in a country which they choose to set up factories at.
But Melati explained to us that it is understandable that expatriates who are transferred to Indonesia might not be familiar with local customs, but if other factory management could remind their colleagues to show respect accordingly or ensure that this is written into the company’s code of conduct, it would facilitate better working relationships with the workers.
Harassment and Abuse for Speaking Up
When asked how they hoped their factory management could improve their work conditions, Dewi (not her real name) shared that the workers understand the need for firms to focus on profits, but hope that the management could also prioritize the welfare of the workers. If workers feel more appreciated, it would make them more motivated and committed to their work, which would in turn benefit the company as well, she added.
Dewi also shared that when workers try to join unions and organize for better rights, they face harassment or intimidation. Dewi’s union flagged this to the factory management, but instead of addressing the issue, the management decided to resort to more covert ways to retaliate against the activities of the unions, such as by transferring workers who protest out from one factory line to another. Workers who are more involved in union activities were transferred on a more frequent basis. The show of transferred workers to other lines is intended to create the impression that they are not able to perform their job role well, and have to therefore be transferred out. Such actions lead to gossip and discrimination from other workers, and is used as a subtle tool for punishment.
Dewi explained that she hoped the factory management could show the workers more compassion and humanity. In a Japanese factory she previously worked at, she said the superiors did not shout at the workers, and did not use a disrespectful tone when speaking with local workers.
The mistreatment of workers is something perhaps South Korea workers can identify with—a survey released by Workplace Gapjil 119 last year found that 15.3% of South Korean workers have been subjected to direct physical or verbal abuse at work. Gapjil 119 said it recorded workers being hit with objects and even receiving retaliation for reporting the assaults to the authorities. Hanbook Research found a higher 46% of workers to have experienced some level of abuse at work. In April this year, South Korea’s Ministry of Employment and Labor also revealed that it received over 10,000 workplace abuse reports in 2023, and such violations have been increasing every year since the ministry started compiling reports in 2019.
Strengthening South Korea’s Leadership in Asia by Improving Oversight Over Korean Companies
South Korea is increasingly making its mark in the world as a middle power and seeks to play a pivotal role in Asia by championing values of freedom, democracy and human rights, in order to gain greater strategic relevance in the Indo-Pacific. However, when South Korean businesses ill-treat their workers in their factories overseas or disrespect local cultures and customs, it questions South Korea’s commitment to pursuing shared prosperity in the region, as well as puts a black mark on its reputation and undoes the positive branding and good will South Korea has amassed over the last few years.
South Korean businesses thus have a responsibility to uphold the humanitarian values of their country, and its government should enact laws that strengthen the accountability of South Korean businesses to do so.
Last year, South Korean lawmakers and civil society organizations proposed a bill for businesses to take more responsibility to ensure human rights are respected throughout their supply chains. In April this year, the European Union passed a similar law requiring European companies integrate due diligence across their supply chain, as well as to improve their business plans and introduce policies to enhance labor protections. Kim Doo-na, a lawyer from Korean Lawyers for Public Interest and Human Rights involved in proposing the bill, highlighted that Korean companies are “becom[ing] more influential in the global economy, [but] reports on serious human rights and environmental abuses in their transnational operations are growing.” Such a bill could therefore “serve as a legal framework to hold companies accountable for failing to perform due diligence and providing justice and remedy to victims.”
This is thus an opportune time for South Korea’s government to show leadership in committing South Korean businesses to conducting their businesses in a more ethical and responsible manner, and to become a respected leader in Asia.
