Croatia’s textile industry has lost 35,000 workers in 25 years as conditions worsen

Croatia’s textile industry has lost about 35,000 workers in a quarter-century. Those who remain largely work for minimum wages, face high production quotas and labor in factories poorly prepared for climate extremes, according to a field study based on 76 interviews.

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Our work is treated as if it were pocket-money work, not real and difficult work.

Ivana Perić and Dunja Kučinac conducted the research, which was presented at a discussion organized by the Novi Sindikat union and the Clean Clothes Campaign. The study describes a production model in which factories sew cheaply for major foreign fashion companies, while the pressure falls on wages, quotas and workplace conditions.

The industry employed more than 24,000 people when Novi Sindikat conducted an earlier study in 2019. It employed about 51,000 in 2000. Today, around 15,000 to 16,000 people remain, including about 6,000 in clothing production. The sector includes 1,019 subcontracting companies and 1,267 trades. Women make up 79% of employees, and more than half are over 45.

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I am on the edge of retirement, and the state does not care.

Interviewed workers reported monthly pay of €677 to €750. One-third said they worked unpaid overtime, while 38% did not report problems because they feared dismissal or pressure from employers. Maja, a 60-year-old who worked for Benetton for 12 years, said she also tended a garden to supplement her household budget. “Our work is treated as if it were pocket-money work, not real and difficult work,” she said. “I am on the edge of retirement, and the state does not care.”

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The owner decides everything, brands set their conditions, and they do not think they might raise wages.

Foreign workers were described as particularly vulnerable. Filipino workers put in 58-hour weeks, including eight hours on Saturdays, while overtime was counted as compensation for accommodation presented by employers as free. Some workers also had their passports taken. The Clean Clothes Campaign’s Manifesto for a Just Transition calls for safe and dignified conditions, living wages, social protection and a say in workplace decisions. It also links a fair transition to reducing overproduction without shifting the cost onto workers.

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Workers should be allowed to go to the toilet and drink a glass of water as dignified people, rather than having to stare at a sewing machine for up to 12 hours.