Background information

Owing to their global nature, the textile, clothing, and footwear (TCF) industries are highly susceptible to the pressures of international competition. Those pressures have increased over recent years, with the gradual dismantling of the Multifibre Arrangement and the total abolition of the associated quota systems by 2004. This general opening up of the TCF markets will particularly affect the most vulnerable developing countries which no longer have quotas and must therefore boost their TCF production, with a greater emphasis on quality and competitiveness. These changes will impact on the long-term viability of enterprises, alter parameters of competitiveness and influence developments in employment and labour practices. In this context, it is important that efforts to improve competitiveness be set within an appropriate framework that takes into account not only economic factors but also the social factors that increasingly determine the competitive position of enterprises at the international level.

An analysis of the changes in the parameters defining competitiveness in the TCF industries makes it clear that the social parameters occupy an increasingly important place. The domestic competitiveness of enterprises is much influenced by the existence of constructive social dialogue between the social partners. Where the social climate deteriorates, enterprises lose their ability to satisfy new market requirements (“just in time” and “demand-responsive” production) and workers lose motivation to improve their skills and maintain the necessary levels of quality. This leads to a loss of competitiveness which, in a highly competitive market, can lead to plant closures and job losses. The external competitiveness of enterprises is also affected by their image in terms of their observance of fundamental labour standards. The world market for TCF products is influenced by the attitudes of consumers, who are increasingly concerned by the conditions in which their clothes or shoes are produced. This explains the proliferation of codes of conduct and other private voluntary initiatives which, in the case of TCF sectors, refer mainly to observance of the ILO’s core standards.

When international contracting enterprises, whether TCF companies in the industrialized countries or major distribution chains, resort to international subcontracting, respect for the fundamental labour standards and for the national laws of the countries in which they operated is increasingly written into the terms and conditions of the contracts. This practice, which is becoming generalized, influences the strategic decisions of global buyers and consequently the competitive position of enterprises according to their ability to respect national legislation and fundamental labour standards.

Given the growing importance of these social factors in competitiveness in the TCF sectors and the convergence of those factors with the ILO’s strategic objectives, an overall strategy have been developed and tested with our sectoral constituents to improve competitiveness in the TCF sectors by promoting decent work. The strategy has been tested within the framework of an integrated action programme comprising a limited number of pilot programmes established in the countries involved, selected in advance by our sectoral constituents.

An initial pilot programme to raise competitiveness in the textiles and clothing sector by promoting decent work was launched in Morocco as part of the Agreement on the programme of cooperation for 2002-05 concluded during the International Labour Conference between the Kingdom of Morocco and the International Labour Office. The programme has continued until now with the direct support of the ILO and external funding from the Spanish Government.

During 2004-05 and 2006-07, the Office extended this experiment to Romania and the Philippines in order to apply the experience acquired in Morocco.