BULLETIN Nº 73 APRIL 2013 ALPACA MONTHLY NEWS EDITOR: FRANCIS RAINSFORD EDITORIAL MORE THAN A CENTURY OF SHAME IN THE SWEATSHOP INDUSTRY Around 1900 in New York City, garment production using immigrant labour was at its zenith. The average working week was 84 hours - 12 hours every day of the week - and the term sweatshop was in colloquial use. Then, on 25th March 1911, a fire broke out in the Triangle Shirt Waist factory in lower Manhattan. It was one of the worst workplace disasters in American history and, when it was over, 146 people had died - 17 men and 129 teenage girls and women. Workers had few rights at the time with no set rest periods, poor sanitary conditions and their bags were inspected when they left for the day. When the fire broke out at the Triangle Factory, the exits were locked to prevent theft leaving the workers with no choice but to try to jump to safety from the building s windows. All who jumped died whilst others perished inside the factory. Within two years of the disaster, New York State had passed more than 30 labour laws which set a minimum wage and safer workplace conditions for sweatshops. Federal regulations followed during President Franklin Roosevelt s New Deal in the 1930s. From a total of 354,600 garment workers in 1948 only 16,700 are employed in New York City today. Sweatshop production is now based mainly in Asia and, sadly, the history of more than 100 years ago has repeated itself in countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, China, Vietnam and Cambodia. Effectively what has been have done is an exportation of our sweatshops and factory fires, says Robert Ross of Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts. It s as if the 1911 conditions have been lifted up by an evil hand and dropped into Bangladesh.
According to the Bangladeshi government s Fire Service and Civil Defence Department, 414 garment workers were killed in at least 213 factory fires between the years 2006 and 2009 and, in 2010, 191 people were killed in a reported 20 incidents in the country. The pattern is usually that an electrical fire starts and, without adequate fire escapes and sprinkler systems, the workers surge to get out but, in factory after factory, there are reports of locked gates and locked doors. Last year s fire tragedies included 289 workers who perished in a garment factory in Karachi, Pakistan in September and 112 persons at the Tazreen Fashion factory in Ashulia, Bangladesh in November. The Tazreen Fashion Factory produced garments for well known brandnames such as C&A, Carrefour and KIK - a fact that prompted The Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC), trade unions and labour rights organisations worldwide to urge leading international brands to tackle what is described as their ongoing negligence in failing to address the safety issues highlighted by previous fires as, by definition, they are also responsible for the tragic loss of life. This year there was a fire at the Smart Factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 26th January where 7 female workers lost their lives reminding us that, 102 years on from the Triangle Fire, we all need to be aware that there s a worker behind the cheap clothes that we buy and that we all have a responsibility to insist that the authorities in question enforce health and safety regulations so that garment workers are protected against these preventable tragedies that still stalk the textile industry. CAMELID CLIPS Miguelina Huaman, a 46 year old alpaca shepherdess, was tragically killed by a lightning strike recently whilst tending her animals in the highlands of Macusani, the capital of Carabaya Province in the Region of Puno. She had apparently been listening to a portable radio during the thunderstorm - a fact that the police investigating her death believe attracted the fatal lightning strike. Her Chuquinuyo community are helping her widower who has been left with 8 children to bring up. Over the weekend of 26th and 27th January, Peru s Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism (Mincetur) put on an event in Beijing to promote its upcoming textile fair, Peru Moda 2013, which will be held in Lima from 10th to 12th April. Together with the Peruvian Embassy in Bejing a Fashion Show was staged featuring the Autumn/ Winter 2013 collection by the Peruvian designer, Sumy Kujon, whose alpaca and fine fibre creations are made exclusively with yarns produced by Michell & Cia., S.A. 24 alpaca garments were paraded to textile buyers and the press in the SOGO Commercial Center, property of Junefield Holdings the event s sponsor. The collection also featured alpaca blended with exotic natural fibres such as bamboo, silk and linen. Sumy Kujon s Autumn/Winter 2013 Collection was on the catwalk in Beijing Peru s Ambassador in China, Gonzalo Gutierrez, expressed his country s wish that Chinese Fashion Houses would visit Lima for Peru Moda 2013. 2
This year s Peru Moda 2013 is expected to attract some 1,500 visitors as well as around 500 textile buyers - a fact not lost on the Regional President of Puno, Mauricio Rodriguez, whose local government has been liaising with Peru s national government body, PromPeru, to ensure that alpaca garments produced in his region will be on display in Lima. He said, We ve selected the best designs that employ alpaca fibre and which have been produced by local handicraft workers in the Puno Region. These will be on show at Peru Moda 2013 where we hope that some interest for export will be generated. 3
FINCYT, Peru s Innovation, Science and Technology Fund, has announced that, for its 5th successive year, it will finance 10 projects involving groups of small producers throughout the country. This time around it is Peru s alpaca farmers who will be the beneficiaries with 2 projects selected via PIPEA (Projects of Productive Innovation from Associate Companies); 4 via PIPEI (Projects of Productive Innovation from Individual Companies) and 4 via PIMEN (Innovation Projects for Small Businesses). The programmes will receive non-reimbursable funding as: PIPEA - up to US$ 158,000.00 and up to 75% of the PIPEI - up to US$ 106,000.00 and up to 70% of the PIMEN - up to US$ 32,000.00 and up to 75% of the Projects for consideration must be presented to FIN- CYT by alpaca farmers no later than the end of March. For the first time, Peru has non-reimbursable funds for use as a motor for stimulating the country s agrarian competitiveness. The Compensation for Agrarian Competitiveness Programme (AGROIDEAS) has been launched by the Ministry of Agriculture and is a first step in formalising the visionary activities that come under its responsibility in the country. D.L. 1077 and regulated through D.S. Nº 014 2009- AG and Nº 009-2010-AG. The incentives for management that qualify as partici AGROIDEAS will grant financial resources to support the management of sustainable small and mediumsized businesses that adopt technology to improve their productivity. Amongst others, alpaca farmers who wish to improve their competitiveness and to consolidate their participation in the market can now benefit from the decision taken by the Executive Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture and recently signed into law by means of pants in this scheme include funding for the adquision of agricultural and agroindustrial machinery. 4
IAA ALPACA MONTHLY BULLETIN The IAA Alpaca Monthly Bulletin is aimed at keeping members informed of news from the IAA. We encourage any member to supply articles of interest to update members about developments in the Camelid world. Articles with a human interest angle are particularly welcome. Please submit to the Editor: francisrainsford@yahoo.co.uk Asociación Internacional de la Alpaca International Alpaca Association Campiña Paisajista 106, San Lazaro Cercado, Arequipa Peru Telefax +51 54 229344 http://www.aia.org.pe, www.thealpacamark.info E- mail: aia@terra.com.pe 5