During 2018, the project on Decent Work Regulation in Africa (DWR-Africa) investigated conditions of work and the influence of labour standards in the garment sectors of Lesotho and South Africa.
In collaboration with film-maker Darren Hutchinson, the project produced a documentary - Rethabile's Story. The film explores daily life in the Lesotho garment sector through the eyes of an ex-worker and her friends The film highlights the challenges faced in the sector and explores garment sector workers' experiences of working life and hopes for the future.
Rethabile's Story is available on the DWR Project's YouTube channel. A short (8 minute) version is available on Youtube and Vimeo.
Darren Hutchinson has been producing and directing film projects for twenty years and owns the Dreamscope TV brand. With over 1000 hours of broadcast TV credits to his name he is a seasoned film maker and 360 motion specialist, and regularly travels the world filming for organisations big and small. He is a family man who has an interest in nature, travel and creating positive projects that aim to help our vulnerable people and wildlife.
"Creating this ambitious film was a huge privilege and I was honoured when the University of Durham trusted me with the project. It was always my intention to understand the real problems surrounding the textile industry in Lesotho and South Africa, rather than arrive with a pre-conceived idea of how the documentary would look. I wanted real stories to guide the narrative so that the viewer can experience the true issues facing people on a daily basis and I believe this film has achieved that. It is my hope that it will help change attitudes towards budget clothing and the cheap labour used to produce it." (Darren Hutchinson)
Rethabile Ratsiu is a former factory worker and current union organiser at the United Textile Employees (UNITE), a trade union representing workers in the textile, garment, and leather industry in Lesotho. She is a member of the project on Decent Work Regulation.
To download the press kit of the film, please click here: Rethabile's Story Press Kit.
The Regulating for Decent Work (RDW) Conference was held in the UN International Labour Office, Geneva, from 8-10 July 2019. The Conference focused on the future of work, with the goal of identifying the innovative institutions and transformative policies that can help to ensure more equitable and just societies.
The RDW Conference was co-hosted by Durham Law School, which has a longstanding relationship with the International Labour Organization (ILO) through Professor Deirdre McCann, the Principal Investigator of the Decent Work Regulation Project.
The leading international interdisciplinary conference on labour regulation, RDW was initiated by Professor McCann and Dr Sangheon Lee (ILO) and has been held bi-annually since 2009.
Highlights Film
The project on Decent Work Regulation (DWR) held a Special Session on the first day of the RDW Conference (8 July 2019). The Session launched our short film on the Lesotho garment sector - - in discussion with the director and producer, .
Rethabile’s Story was simultaneously launched at the Special Session and on the DWR Project’s channel on YouTube.
The film screening was followed by a round table discussion on Africa in the Future of Work with panellists Natasja Ambrosio (Head of Sustainability, Mr Price Group, South Africa), Limpho Mandoro (ILO Pretoria), Professor Kelly Pike (York University, Toronto) and Marlese Von Broembsen (WIEGO).
The panel was chaired by Professor Deirdre McCann.
Rethabile’s Story was one of to the eleventh annual .
The film was screened on Saturday, 23 November 2019 at 5.30pm at Carlton Cinema, 20 Carlton St, Toronto.
Cliff is a film festival devoted to stories of workers – unionised and non-unionised – and open to the public. Since 2009, CLiFF has been screening films about workers, the conditions under which they live and work, and related social justice issues in over 130 locations across Canada. The festival has become a platform for the voices of workers who seek justice on the job and dignity in their workplaces.
Rethabile’s Story was screened at the 72th Annual Meeting of the Labor and Employment Relations Association (LERA), the leading labour and employment relations network in the United States.
The was part of the symposium is ‘Improving Labor Standards in Global Supply Chains Part II: Trade Unions and Labor Transnationalism’, chaired by Lance Compa (Cornell University). Rethabile’s Story set the scene for a presentation by project member Kelly Pike (York University, Canada) on challenges to the regulation of decent work in Africa and the DWR-Africa project.
Christopher Raymond (Cornell University) also presented on Labor Transnationalism and Horizontal Solidarities in the Bangladeshi Garment Industry. Elizabeth A. Bennett (Lewis & Clark College) acted as a discussant in the session.
The LERA 72th Annual Meeting will take place from 13-16 June 2020. It was originally to be held at the Hilton Portland Downtown, Portland, OR. Due to the Covid-19 crisis, however, it has been redesigned as a virtual conference. The event will include over 80 workshops and sessions and the participation of more than 350 presenters from every community focused on ‘the world of work’.
Rethabile’s Story was part of the official selection in the 9th season of the Workers’ Unite Film Festival (WUFF), the largest worker solidarity themed film festival in the United States.
The Festival was originally set to take place in September at Cinema Village in Greenwich Village, one of the oldest continuously operated art cinemas in New York City. Due to the Covid-19 crisis, screenings were moved to an online format.
WUFF is a celebration of global labour solidarity. It showcases student and professional films from the United States and around the world which publicise and highlight the struggles, successes and daily lives of all workers in their efforts to unite and organise for better living conditions and social justice. Through dozens of documentary screenings, community forums, and interactive events across New York City, the festival provides working people with a platform to tell their stories while leading a movement for meaningful change.
Rethabile’s Story was screened at the 10th ILERA Regional Conference for the Americas in June 2020.
The film’s screening was held on 25 June 2020 and followed by a Q&A session with DWR-Africa project members Rethabile Ratsiu, Kelly Pike, Deirdre McCann, Nthabeleng Molise, and director Darren Hutchinson.
The ILERA Regional Congress for the Americas was held from from 24-27 June 2020. Hosted by the Canadian Industrial Relations Association (CIRA), the event involved over 60 conference sessions and over 250 participants.
The congress was originally planned to be held at Ryerson’s University Red Rogers School of Management, Toronto, ON. Due to the Covid-19 crisis, however, it was redesigned as a virtual conference.
The full programme of the event is available here.
/prod01/prodbucket01/media/durham-university/departments-/law-school/37038.jpg)