Introduction

Oxfam Hong Kong (OHK) launched its Make Trade Fair - Labour Campaign on the 12th of April 2004 in a major shopping area in Hong Kong. The call of the campaign was to 'Turn the Garment Industry Inside Out'.

OHK turned the street into a garment factory scene by displaying a sewing machine, an oversized T-shirt, and also T-shirt shaped exhibition boards. The activity highlighted the harsh working conditions of women garment workers in China and Cambodia. OHK also launched a signature campaign which urges HK garment manufacturers and traders to take action to change purchasing practices in their industry. In only a few hours time, over 700 signatures were collected. Campaign leaflets and tags were distributed to the public as well.

A big T-shirt served as the backdrop for the stage -- it listed unfair working conditions: 15 hour work days, HK$2 per hour rates, and lack of legal protection. In the opening ceremony, OHK Executive Director Chong Chan-yau and representatives from two women workers organizations in China and HK symbolically put three X signs on these unfair working conditions. This was followed by the women workers sharing their experiences in HK and China. Besides the speeches, there were also dance numbers from Indonesian migrant workers, a skit from a group of Philippine migrant workers, and songs from a local activist band.

The event was a great success in that it was able to educate and inform participants and passers-by on the difficult plight of women garment workers, as well as raise the issue of exposing unfair trade practices in the industry.