The Seamstress’s Low Earnings

Written by Ángela Hernández

Edited by Jewel

Her name is Maria. We had bought the mochilas and wanted to get some satchels to make them special for the delivery. Jay also told me that satchels are super used in Europe and would be a nice touch for people who may want to buy them. I researched online and found a site that I had seen before that was eco-friendly. The price was affordable and wouldn’t add too much to the final cost of the mochila.

I went there, chose the model, placed the order, paid and left. The place was on the other side of the city, a 2.5 hour trip, but it was worth it. I got to see how the people who make the satchels work, and also see a different side of the city I didn’t know about.

When I went to pick up the satchels, only the seamstress was there, so while I waited we got to talk. She told me about her life, and I listened. She was adding handlers to some paper bags for a certain brand, so I helped her out.

I found out that she was being paid 0.06 cents of an Euro per each of the satchels she sewed.

That day I didn’t get the satchels because some were stained by a leak inside the place, so they asked me to go back later on. I went back two times more because when we checked the quality Jay and I weren’t satisfied. The stitching was poor, the casts were not precise, so they didn’t match and the fabric was folded in order to be sewn. The straps of the satchels were also poorly attached or tangled.

After knowing how much she made for each bag, Jay and I felt really sad about it. I also felt angry because we were being charged 2€ for each bag and that was not being reflected on her payment.

We felt it was unfair. It was part of the unfair job conditions that I have fought against, and of the social injustice I so much disliked. I wanted to do something about it. I thought of telling the company to give them better payments, I thought of offering to pay a higher price for the satchels but only if they would warranty me that they would pay the seamstress a higher wage. I also thought of giving her extra money for the satchels she made.

I decided to do this. To give her some extra money, for the satchels she sewed as sort of a tip.

The satchels were sewn again, but only improved a little. So I went to a place nearby home to have one satchel made and have a reference point. At this new place, the satchels cost 10€ each but the sewing was seamless.

We decided to leave the satchels as they were for two reasons: to not increase the price of the mochila and to not waste the fabric already used.

Those days I had been watching Justine Leconte’s video on how she has everything made in Europe because for her fair payment is really important. And we got to a point where I still don’t know what to do. If we have satchels made again, what do we do?

Later on that same day I found this toilet paper dispenser that charged the same ammount she was being paid for (200 COP = 0.06 EUR)

Do we have the satchels made at the more expensive place, where they did an impeccable job and the buyers know they are paying more for that and for possibly better paying conditions to the seamstress? Or do we have them made at the lower price place, but where women who have very limited work options and hard living conditions have some opportunity to make a living?

Ideally, we would have enough bargaining power to ask the company to pay them higher wages. We would be willing to pay double for having them made and pay them a decent wage. But we don’t have that bargaining power now. Should we refuse to get satchels made from these places at all? And if we do, what income would they have? What would I want if I was in her place? What can I do from here?

We still don’t have an answer.

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