In the eyes of many, Bulgaria lies as far as the Ural and is just as suspicious. Not so for the German garment industry or retailers like C&A or sportswear producers like Puma, Adidas or Reebok. On the contrary, for them, Bulgaria is much closer than Vietnam, China or Sri Lanka, ideal for covering the (Western) European market. They are using this opportunity extensively. Thanks to a rapidly devaluated Bulgarian currency, labor is even available at low cost - from 20 German Pfennig an hour onwards in small sewing shops in the mountainous regions near the border to Greece and Turkey.
The Bulgarian economy has been in a state of sluggish "transformation" since the beginning of the 90's: its markets are crumbling, the domestic demand has almost disappeared. Who is interested nowadays in the former "flagships" of Bulgarian industry, such as fork-lift trucks, car batteries, pharmaceuticals or cigarettes, when Caterpillar, Bosch, Merck and Philip Morris are conquering the markets?
Factories are being privatized at give-away prices, if they are not already closed down. Both the government and the private sector are accumulating short-term debt - too many tailors for such a small economy (in German, "tailor" is "Schneider", and Schneider is also the name of a famous speculator in real estate property who went bankrupt). The shadow economy is flourishing, including the garment production. Greek and Turkish garment manufacturers have seamstresses sew behind the border at cheaper rates, who work in unprotected employment conditions. Then the producers transport the completed pieces to their own countries, often illegally, and export the goods to Western Europe themselves.
The result of this economic situation especially in 1996 and 1997 was hyperinflation, devaluation of the currency and political turbulence which culminated in an increased intervention of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in the middle of 1997. One of the standard recipes the IMF keeps repeating like a magical formula: export oriented economy. But what should be exported? In this context the cheap labor comes in handy: predominantly women sew, iron, wrap in clothing factories- and the completed garment is exported. Templates and raw materials were provided from outside. In economic jargon this is called outward processing, or commission processing.
For the population, this hovers over their heads like the sword over Damocles'. What economic agony and cheap Leva (Bulgarian currency) do not achieve, is fulfilled by the monopoly structures of the economy, which stem from state socialist times and are now being extended for the benefit of foreign investors with the ambition of economy and government to become a candidate for accession to the European Union.
As seamstresses, Bulgarian women stand a fairly good chance of continuing to work for Western Europe and the USA, but they have to accept the lowest monthly salary on the Bulgarian labor market, about 100 German Mark (DM), with which they can barely pay the electricity and heating bill, neither food nor clothing yet. For comparison: At the end of 1997, a family of four needed more than 800 DM to cover their basic needs and a few extras such as school material. The rise in salaries did not nearly compensate for the inflation (1997: 580%). 80% of employees in the garment industry are women. Their job protects them neither from poverty nor from gender-specific discrimination.
Add to this the diverse methods of exploitation: Employment limited to a period of up to six months, "coincidentally" often identical with the probation period; overtime until the target is fulfilled, which remains unpaid; layoff of unionists; rejection of and endless negotiations on collective bargaining agreements or simply discarding existing agreements; outsourcing to small sewing shops - sweat shops. What shocked me most during my recent visit was how the human dignity of the seamstresses was violated, in a way which, to that time, I knew "only" from Central America and Asia: workers were locked in so that they could not take a break or leave before the target was fulfilled; they had to take all their clothes off to prove they have not stolen anything.
This lies outside of the view of German quality controllers who regularly check on their business on the spot. For them, Bulgaria is rather close, but the Bulgarian workers are nonetheless far away.
About the author:
Bettina Musiolek is a social economist and member of the Arbeitsgruppe Frauen und Wirtschaft des NRO-Frauenforums (working group on women and economy of the NGO women's forum) - one of the organizations taking part in the Clean Clothes Campaign. She recently did research on the garment industry in Bulgaria.
Reference:
Bettina Musiolek (ed.), Ich bin schick und du musst schuften. Frauenarbeit f¸r den globalen Modemarkt (Frankfurt a. M. 1997). (The title could be translated to English as: I look sleek and you slave away. Women's work for the global fashion market)
The forty-five year Bolshevik dictatorship in Bulgaria left behind deep scars in social, cultural and political life. Terrible repression was used against all people with different views and convictions. The ruthless one-party dictatorship persecuted all progressive organizations, including the anarcho-syndicalists. The majority of members of non-Bolshevik groups, organizations and movements were forced into exile, were imprisoned or sent to forced-labour camps.
This had greatly negative consequences for anarcho-syndicalism in Bulgaria. The lack of finances, printing equipment and meeting rooms were an obstacle to anarcho-syndicalist propaganda. What is more, our comrades are now old and have no way of readily contacting the younger generations. We are trying hard to attract younger people to the organization.
We have a rich heritage of anarcho-syndicalist theory and practice left to us by Pano Vasiliev, Vasil Stavrev, Ivan Ziderya, Ivan Kralevski, Georgi Sirakov and many others. Prior to the Bolshevik dictatorship we had a very active organization with its own paper "Worker¼s Solidarity", The journal "Compass" and others. Today we have to regenerate at least a part of this heritage, and this requires persistent, goal-oriented work. The BCL has about 30 members in local groups in Sofia, Pervomaitsi, Veliko Tarnovo & Khotnitsa.
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