How Nepal is trying to solve its blood brick problem
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Version 0 of 1. Business is booming in Nepal’s brick industry. “Demand is increasing because building is increasing,” says Mahendra Chitrakar, president of the Federation of Nepal Brick Industries. “Each and every man wants to come to Kathmandu and build a house here.” Construction was ranked as the third largest economic sector in Nepal in 2006. High demand for building materials is in turn creating a huge demand for cheap bricks, often with little consideration for the human or environmental consequences. Due to the seasonal nature of the job and the tough and demanding working conditions, brick kiln workers often come from marginalised and poor communities and have few employment alternatives. Many brick kiln owners ensure a steady supply of cheap labour through a system of loans and debt, which ties workers to the kiln for months or years. Brought to the kilns by middlemen, workers are offered the financial incentive of an advance to get them through the monsoon months. In return, they must turn up for work at the start of the next brickmaking season, which runs from November to May, in order to pay back the loan. Workers are paid so little that many find they are unable to pay back their debt before the end of the season, leaving them no choice but to take out another advance for the following year. Others find that, if they want to stop work, they are threatened with high interest on their loans or rent for the land where they live and work. No monthly salaries are paid; instead, workers are remunerated at the end of the season, which means they also risk losing their pay if they want to leave. The upshot is an industry ripe for exploitation. Experts estimate that up to 28,000 children are working in brick kilns across Nepal, of whom half are under 14, with tens of thousands of adult labourers potentially trapped in conditions amounting to forced or bonded labour across the country. Bonded labour in domestic brick production in Nepal and across the Indian subcontinent is well documented yet, within the industry, there remains a reluctance to acknowledge that a problem exists. Mahendra Chitrakar, the president of the Federation of Nepal Brick Industries, denies any suggestion that the industry is abusive. “I don’t think there is bonded labour. I’ve never found any,” he says. Political will to change the status quo is also lacking, according to Andrew Brady, campaigns manager for BloodBricks, a coalition of unions and local and international NGOs campaigning against labour abuses in the brick sector. “If national governments were upholding the law and ensuring that kiln workers were getting a monthly minimum wage salary, then nobody would need to work in a business that was exploit[at]ive. At the moment workers are trapped in debt and being paid so badly because they are largely from communities which can be ignored.’ But could change be on the way? There are already better alternatives to the traditional brick kilns emerging, with an increasing number of larger factories producing bricks made from heavy machinery rather than by hand. As they are permanently based in one place, the owners tend to employ local workers who are paid a regular monthly salary, so cutting out the issue of advance payments. These factories are also starting to pay workers a reduced salary during the monsoon season, when they are closed. Although the price of the bricks is slightly higher, vulnerability to child or bonded labour is significantly reduced. The Brick Clean Group has also launched in Nepal. Part of the Global Fairness Initiative (GFI), the programme aims to incentivise brick factory owners to improve working conditions. The group is encouraging factories to sign up to minimum standards for pay and working conditions that include an end to child, bonded and forced labour, the provision of toilets and drinking water, and a requirement to pay at least the minimum wage. “We want to create standards for the industry to follow,” says Homraj Acharya, Nepal’s country director for GFI. “If [the factories] meet the criteria then there should be benefits. They can become torchbearers for change in the industry.” Acharya argues that businesses which try to change their working practices should be supported by the government. “If the government wants change, it needs to reward businesses that are trying to change themselves,” he says. “If [it] can give incentives to these companies, more people will try to make these kind of bricks. It’s all about rewarding responsibility.” International donors and businesses undertaking construction work in countries where exploitation is rife in the brick industry must also start taking responsibility, believes Brady: “The international community still hides behind the veil of supply chains, but it would be very easy to ensure that there was a national mechanism set up to monitor working conditions in the kilns. It’s about having the will to do it.” |