In this stage there are three basic technologies used. The most advanced and efficient are the large press irons in which the finished folded piece is pressed in one single stage. Another method is the simple electric iron, which is used manually. The third method is the stove iron, which is kept on a stove and used manually. The following table identifies the use o f each type in the two sectors (recorded and unrecorded):
Press iron Electric iron Stove iron No. of Establish ments % No. of Establish ments % No. of Establish ments % Recorded 8 40 19 95 0 0 Unrecorded 0 0 42 70 18 30
The above table (7.18) shows that the majority o f both factories and workshops use electric irons. However, while 40 percent o f the factories also use press irons, only one o f these factory uses solely this kind of advanced tool. On the contrary, 30 percent of the unrecorded workshops still use a stove iron exclusively, while none use press irons.
The above comparisons o f the technologies used in factories and workshops suggest that the differences are minor. This contradicts dualist theories which place the former in the ‘modem’, ‘formal’ sector, and the latter in the ‘traditional’, ‘informal’ sector. In fact, if there is a technological advantage, such as in the ironing stage, it is in the larger scale o f production in the factories compared to the workshops. Several economies of scale exist in the production o f garments. The cutting process has substantial economies o f scale, at least in the time involved per unit. Since few people and limited machinery is involved, even in the larger firms, the cost per unit o f cutting probably drops dramatically as well. Because the skilled labour involved in cutting is scarce, larger firms are able to make better use o f that resource. There are also economies o f scale in the cloth usage in the garment cutting process because the amount o f extra cloth required is minimized.
In the sewing process, there is a fixed lower limit in the production o f a garment, which is a function o f the speed o f the sewing machine and the number o f stitches. The limit is never approached because the garment must be repositioned and reinserted into the machine. A factory manager remarked that more than 75 percent of the time required to sew a garment was taken up by handling, and this is in a large relatively modem facility. The single worker using the whole garment production process needs several times the handling as in the larger modem facility. There are economies o f scale because the production can be reorganized to reduce handling costs.
The economy o f scale mainly occurs as a function o f the size o f a uniform order. The set up time for a line production operation is quite long, so down-time between production runs can be long, especially if the products being made are different. For small orders it is less costly for the whole garment method to be used. However, as we shall see in the following chapter, the advantages o f the division o f labour within the larger recorded factories is compensated in the case of the unrecorded factories through cooperation and division of labour between the different units.
8. Summary
Based on my fieldwork in Shubra El Kheima, this chapter compared labour and production processes in recorded and unrecorded garment establishments. In comparing wages in recorded factories and unrecorded workshops, the only significant difference is in the higher skilled jobs for which wages are higher in the workshops than in the factories. The main differences in wages are not between the recorded and the unrecorded establishments but between different jobs within the establishments. Piece rates and daily wages are the predominant means o f wage payment in the workshops as opposed to monthly wages in the factories. In both cases it is common for workers to enter debt relations with their employer, and these debts are repaid with the labour o f the borrower.
The majority o f workers in the factories do not have work contracts. Those who did, were concentrated in the higher skill categories. Nevertheless, having a work contract does not guarantee the benefits stipulated by the labour law. Employers use various means to evade following the law, including the bribery o f Work Office officials and forcing workers to sign undated letters o f resignation. Average working hours are similar for both groups, far exceeding the eight-hour limit set in the labour law. Similarly, child labour is a common feature in both types o f establishments with widespread mistreatment by employers, low wages and long working hours, despite supposedly strict laws prohibiting it.
In terms o f recruitment, the majority o f workers in both types of establishments are second and third generation residents o f Shubra El Kheima, suggesting that both recruited from the same pool o f labour and that recent migrants were not a significant
source o f labour. There is significant mobility o f labour between workshops and factories, and this does not only, or predominantly take place from unrecorded workshops to recorded factories. Many workers move from the latter to the former. There was also significant mobility within each category. In terms o f education, a higher percentage of workers with formal education was found among the factory workers. However the percentage o f those with less than intermediate education was similar in both cases. And lastly, female workers represented the majority o f the workforce in both types o f establishments. Female labour is concentrated in the lower skill, lower wage jobs. Sewing is predominantly a female job and cutting and ironing a predominantly male job.
In terms o f technology used, the factories used a higher percentage o f electrical equipment, although a majority o f workshops had already turned to using modem electrical equipment. However, when aggregating the comparisons in the different stages o f the production process- cutting, sewing and ironing- there was no qualitative difference in technology between the two types of establishments.
Overall, these findings disqualified the different premises made by dual model theories, in distinguishing ‘form al’ from ‘informal’ labour markets. In the next chapter I will move out o f the workplaces and into the marketplace to find out how the establishments procure their raw materials and how they market their finished products. And if there are any major differences between the recorded and the unrecorded ones within the marketplace.
Interview s:
Employer 1. Owner of an Unrecorded Workshop. Personal Interview. Shubra El Kheima: 3 March 1999.
Employer 2. Owner of a Recorded Factory. Personal Interview. Shubra El Kheima 12 March 1999.
Employer 3. Owner of a Recorded Factory. Personal Interview. Shubra El Kheima 14 March 1999.
Employer 4. Owner o f a Recorded Factory. Personal Interview’. Shubra El Kheima 9 March 1999.
Employer 5. Owner o f a Recorded Factory. Personal Interview. Shubra El Kheima 9 March 1999.
Mohamed. Worker in a recorded Factory. Personal Interview. Shubra El Kheima: 2 February 1999.
Mohamed 2. Worker in an Unrecorded Workshop. Personal Interview, Shubra El Kheima: 10 February 1999.
Mahmoud. Worker in an Unrecorded Workshop. Personal Interview, Shubra El Kheima: 10 February.
Mostafa. Worker in a Recorded Factory. Personal Interview. Shubra El Kheima: 3 February 1999.
Mikhail. Worker in a Recorded Factory. Personal interview. Shubra El Kheima: 3 February 1999.
Raga. Worker in a Recorded Factory. Personal interview, 3/2/1999)
N.B. For all interview entrees, only the first name o f the interviewee was mentioned in order to guarantee anonymity.
C H A PT E R EIGHT