Only in the Philippines

GUESS? clothing sold locally is actually sewed here in the Philippines. And while it is put up for sale at exorbitant prices, the workers just earn a pittance for their hard work.

BY TRINA FEDERIS
Bulatlat

GUESS? clothing sold locally is actually sewed here in the Philippines. And while it is put up for sale at exorbitant prices, the workers just earn a pittance for their hard work. Owning clothes made by a foreign company such as GUESS? never fails to elicit an approving response. This may be due to the brand being widely known for its style, advertisements, or even steep prices. Mrs. Lina Alcantara, a subcontractor for Diversion Industries Inc., a licensee of GUESS? Inc., may be considered a lucky woman, as she supervises a company that puts together, sews, and embroiders cut cloth from and for GUESS? Inc.

GUESS WHAT: The expensive GUESS? clothes we all thought were imported are actually sewn by this woman here in the Philippines, who is paid piece meal by a subcontractor for Diversion Industries, Inc.

Mostly, her company produces children’s wear, such as shorts, blouses, shirts, and dresses. She also puts together dresses for young ladies.

From supervisor to subcontractor

When asked how she started with the company, she says that, while working as a supervisor for a garments company, an Australian supervisor was impressed by what she can do, and suggested to the company that she be made its subcontractor. This was in 1980.

Starting as supervisor with five machines, all borrowed, she began producing for the export market. Barbizon, Escala, and Marfis were some of the brands her company used to produce for export.

She discontinued exporting because the exporting business is difficult, she said. This is mainly because the quantity of finished products demanded of her was too much. “We have to finish 5,000 to 10,000 pieces of clothes within the deadline,” she says.

She prefers catering to the local market now, assembling GUESS? clothes to be sold in the country, which she started doing in 2000. From her beginnings of using five borrowed machines, she now owns 20 machines and employs 17 sewers.

Quality-control

The process starts with picking up the cut cloth, as well as other materials needed, such as labels, zippers, and buttons from the factory of Diversion Industries Inc. located in Laguna.

Then they assemble the cut cloth and sew the embellishments such as embroidery and pockets. They sew in the triangular, tab, main, and care labels, before sewing the pieces of cut cloth together. Then they add the zippers and buttons (if needed). The task of assembling the clothes is divided among the workers.  For example, in assembling a blouse different workers are assigned to sew the collar, sleeves, labels, and so on.

For simple clothes, they are asked to finish 500 pieces a week. The deadline and quantity vary depending on the style and bulk of orders.   

The company pays her for each piece that gets accepted. A little girl’s blouse, for example, will fetch P40 ($0.77 at $1:P51.69), depending on the style.

Before the clothes are delivered back to the factory, a quality-control inspector comes over to her house and checks each finished product to make sure that it meets the company’s standards. If something as small as a stitch is out of line, that piece of clothing is rejected, she says.

When this happens, that piece is repaired (if possible). If it is no longer reparable, the inspector returns it to the factory. The market value of that piece will then be charged to the subcontractor.

Also, she shares, they have to be extra careful with the material they work with. Damage done to the raw materials, such as a small tear, is equivalent to another penalty charged to the subcontractor.

100 percent rejected

Sometimes, if one is unlucky, 100 percent of the clothes are rejected by the quality-control inspector, she says. She has no choice then, but to repair the whole batch or have it repaired in the factory. If it is repaired in the factory, an additional fee is charged to the subcontractor.

Once the clothes are approved by the quality-control inspector, she delivers them to the factory. Another inspection takes place, with the same fate befalling the rejected clothes.

Those that pass the standards will be delivered to various department stores in the country. There, the clothes will be tagged with prices as high as 10 times the amount paid to her, says Alcantara.

Then she waits for 15 days after her delivery to get the payment, 10 percent of which is withheld as some sort of deposit. She explains further that she will get the 10 percent after the clothes are delivered to the department stores. This is to ensure that the clothes are all acceptable.

She pays her employees depending on how many pieces they are able to finish. A slow worker earns less than a faster one. Alcantara gets 60 percent of the amount paid for each piece, from this she allots 20 percent for electricity and other overhead expenses. The remaining 40 percent is divided among the sewers.

For example, if she is paid P40 ($0.77) for a blouse, she gets P24 ($0.46) and the remaining P16 ($0.31) is divided among the workers. Assuming they are able to finish 500 clothes a week or around 71 clothes a day and they are paid P40 per piece, the subcontractor gets P1704 ($32.96) a day. The workers divide the remaining P1136 ($21.97) or an average of P66.82 ($1.29) per person.    

Retirement

Come 2010, she’d rather retire than continue with the business. There have been a lot of problems, such as her P10, 000 ($193.46) electric bill, and the nitty-gritty involved in the work. And then, there’s the problem with “hard-headed employees.”

She claims that she’s not much affected by the economic crisis. Though she observes that sometimes, the number of garments she is supposed to finish are reduced by 1,000.  This usually happens during off seasons such as at the beginning of the year, when people are still reeling from the expenses of the past year.

For such a pittance, it’s surprising that people are willing to do that much work. And yet, for that much work, it’s a pity foreign companies don’t give the workers what is due to them. Bulatlat

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