Global Manufacturing Industry Comparative

Blacksmiths training project in Liquicia, East Timor

The manufacturing industry is one of the world’s largest, and plays a critical role in developing countries. Countries like Fiji, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, and China rely heavily on income generated by exports and trade of manufactured goods, particularly textiles.

Because manufacturing plays such a large role in the global economy, it's a highly competitive industry. Manufacturers in developing countries perceive their competitive advantage to be low labour and production costs, and they fight to keep them as low as possible. For workers, this often means compulsory overtime hours with no overtime pay, little or no occupational health and safety training, and seven-day workweeks.

Below you can compare average annual incomes in manufacturing across different countries in Asia and the Pacific.

Average Yearly Incomes in Manufacturing (USD, from 2001)

• Australia:$21,156 (2001 figure)
• Cambodia:$744
• China:$815 (1998 Statistic Taken from the National Bureau of Statistics of China
• Fiji*:$4727
• Indonesia:$554
• Vietnam:$813

Note: 2000 ILO statistics

Official wage statistics in developing countries often do not reflect reality. Workers may have to meet unreasonable quotas to receive their full wage, or pay high job placement fees that can equal several months salary. Additionally, manufacturing companies in China, Indonesia and Cambodia are notorious for holding workers' monthly wages for as long as six months to ensure they won't lose valuable manpower during the high season.

Compare Australian and Indonesian manufacturing wages

In Australia

• Award wage for an adult male worker in the metal industry is $467.40/week
• Award wage for an adult male worker in the clothing industry is $467.40/week
• Award wage for an adult male worker in the chemical industry is $500.80/week

In Indonesia

• Average weekly wage for an adult worker in the metal industry is $17.48/week
• Average weekly wage for an adult worker in the clothing industry is $12.79/week
• Average weekly wage for an adult worker in the chemical industry is $12.31/week

What if you worked in a developing country? What could you afford to buy on an average metal manufacturer's income?

How many hours would you need to work to afford...

1 kilo of white rice?

• In Australia: 13 minutes
• In Thailand: 1 hour, 23 minutes
• In Nepal: 1 hour, 29 minutes

A refrigerator?

• In Australia: 30 hours, 20 minutes
• In Bangladesh: 1,929 hours, 49 minutes (that's almost a year!)
• In Indonesia: 245 hours, 53 minutes
• In Thailand: 787 hours, 37 minutes

An average, mid-size automobile?

• In Australia: 932 hours, 44 minutes
• In Bangladesh: 6,578 hours, 57 minutes
• In Colombia: 16,603 hours, 33 minutes
• In India: 14,204 hours, 32 minutes
• In Indonesia: 32,311 hours, 21 minutes
• In Thailand: 51,021 hours, 40 minutes (that's 20 years of work!)

For more information on manufacturers' unions in Australia and around the world, visit these sites:

• Australian Manufacturing Workers Union(AMWU)
• Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia (TCFUA)
• International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)

© Union Aid Abroad - APHEDA 2003.

Last Modified: Sunday, 22-Apr-2007 15:30:59 EST
This page: http://apheda.org.au/campaigns/workers_rights_are_Human_Rights/resources/1123220237_19325.html