The social drama of fashion workers and an example of awareness of the power of their reaction

By Anila Hoxha

Mirjeta Mulla worked for over two decades in the fashion sector. For him, it was a difficult and poorly paid job. However, Mirjeta became involved in unionism at the moment when she was convinced that the conditions were not improving and that the rights were not guaranteed as required by the Labor Code.

"With those salaries, we received almost nothing. Not even an annual pass. We figured with minimum wage but we got less than that. When we asked for a salary increase, we were not heard, so we started the boycott. We started the protest in 2022 and later, in 2023, another protest", recalls the employee. But, although the fashion industry ranks after tourism and remittances as one of the areas that bring income, the conditions of the workers remain controversial.
With the State Inspectorate of Labor and Social Services, the complaints of employees confessing non-respect of rights at the workplace, mainly non-payment on official holidays, for work performed in overtime, hand-over and incomplete payment through the banking system, are the main complaints. and lack of employment contract. Officially, PHISPHS answers that within one year, 879 employees complained with genuine complaints against the employer.

"From the violation of labor relations for non-payment on official holidays, overtime and lack of a work contract, 24.3 percent of complaints" admits this institution. Other employees in the amount of 18.7 percent reported for back wages, 6.9 percent for non-payment of social and health insurance contributions, 1.9 percent for non-payment of medical reports. "  

The data made available by this institution prove that no one raised a concern or requested an inspection after being affected by an occupational disease.

Under a climate when collective conflicts on labor relations await resolution among thousands of files in court, the mediator Daniel Bica, part of the State Mediation Network, managed to provide a solution for both parties and the employer and employees in the case of a collective conflict in submitted to him for mediation.

Trained by the International Labor Organization (ILO) among many other state mediators certified to assist in the amicable settlement assisted by the Ministry of Finance and Economy, Bica faced the request for a mediation settlement of a collective conflict at a fashion entity in Korca. Engaged at the district level, the Regional Directorate of Employment and Training Korca, he recalls that the employees were involved with the Union through which the negotiations for the conclusion of the collective contract began.

"On the part of the Union, all the actions for signing the collective contract were taken, they sat in negotiations, but they did not find a common language, since they did not agree on the employment conditions that they had defined in the contract. Under these conditions, the Union sought a solution through the mediation procedure, directing the request for mediation to the Ministry of Finance. The Directorate of Employment and Vocational Training Policies at the MF delegated the case to me and charged me to take all measures for the development of the process." says Bica.

He sent an immediate invitation to both parties with the object of mediation.
Both sides responded positively.

"In these moments, taking into account the 10-day deadline that this procedure has, I first scheduled a joint meeting." the state mediator further explains

The union presented its demands in favor of the fashion workers, starting from a reward for the 13th salary, a reward of 100,000 ALL in case of the death of a spouse and a child, a reward of 10,000 ALL to 50,000 ALL in case of marriage, a reward for distinguished workers. Some requests were not accepted by the employer. After several meetings together and separately with the parties, the union and the employer agreed on the conclusion of the collective contract and the terms of employment would be defined in this contract. Both parties agreed and the joint final meeting was set to sign the agreement on the settlement of the conflict through mediation and the conclusion of the collective contract. The mediation process was successfully concluded." says Bica,

Dorina Nika, coordinator of the project "Access to justice for disputes through mediation and reconciliation", an ILO project, says that this is one of the good examples when conflicts are sought and find solutions with understanding and dialogue. She states that it often happens that in the negotiations for the conclusion of the collective contract, the parties do not agree on the conditions and terms of employment of the employees and the talks are blocked. In such cases - as a trade union, as an employer can turn to the state system for free amicable resolution of collective labor conflicts and seek the help of state mediators and state conciliation offices to facilitate dialogue between them and find a solution with understanding of the conflict between them. This is a procedure provided for in the Labor Code and offered as a free service by the State. The procedure is quick, free of cost, confidential and what is most important is a procedure where the parties themselves decide on the way to resolve the conflict through dialogue and understanding. The state mediator does not impose solutions on the parties, but simply facilitates the dialogue and with mediation techniques helps the parties to reconcile their interests and agree on the resolution of the conflict. In such cases, when the conflict is resolved with understanding, both parties win and avoid all the negative consequences and costs that could have other actions, such as a strike for example. confidential and what is most important is a procedure where the parties themselves decide on the way to resolve the conflict through dialogue and understanding. The state mediator does not impose solutions on the parties, but simply facilitates the dialogue and with mediation techniques helps the parties to reconcile their interests and agree on the resolution of the conflict. In such cases, when the conflict is resolved with understanding, both parties win and avoid all the negative consequences and costs that could have other actions, such as a strike for example. confidential and what is most important is a procedure where the parties themselves decide on the way to resolve the conflict through dialogue and understanding. The state mediator does not impose solutions on the parties, but simply facilitates the dialogue and with mediation techniques helps the parties to reconcile their interests and agree on the resolution of the conflict. In such cases, when the conflict is resolved with understanding, both parties win and avoid all the negative consequences and costs that could have other actions, such as a strike for example. but it simply facilitates the dialogue and with mediation techniques helps the parties to match their interests and agree on the resolution of the conflict. In such cases, when the conflict is resolved with understanding, both parties win and avoid all the negative consequences and costs that could have other actions, such as a strike for example. but it simply facilitates the dialogue and with mediation techniques helps the parties to match their interests and agree on the resolution of the conflict. In such cases, when the conflict is resolved with understanding, both parties win and avoid all the negative consequences and costs that could have other actions, such as a strike for example.

Trade unions have an important role to fulfill in terms of protecting rights at work and increasing the level of these rights for the employees represented by them. If they face difficulties in the negotiation process and fail to fulfill their demands through direct dialogue and negotiation with the employer, they have the opportunity and access to seek the help of state structures for mediation and reconciliation of conflicts.

After resolving a conflict by consensus, Mirjeta Mulla counts what the fashion workers achieved.
"We receive the full annual leave, we receive reports and everything provided by the Labor Code and collective contracts. The schedule is eight hours, on the weekend if we are at work we are paid extra. We tried everything and it worked with unionism and mediation" - concludes Mirjeta.

For his part, Alfred Bushi, the trade unionist who was involved in this process, underlines that especially near fashion factories, workers should be made aware of their rights and the power of their reaction.

"Until now, the number of unionized workers is 180. The fashion sector has problems, but like the case of Korca when the workers decided to oppose the injustices, we got in touch with them, and we brought you infrastructure until a collective contract was reached through mediation"/ Fol