Two children aged 12 and 16 work at Lana Leather Goods as respectively a “helper” and a “cutter”.

Workers are paid according to what they produce. They do not work fixed hours, although their days are long.

What happened at the leather cutting factory

Day 1

On the first day of shadowing Jawad arrived at the factory at 6am. He worked on the cutting machine from 6am-9am before the other workers needed it.

At 8.30, the youngest worker arrived. Jihan (12) began cleaning up leather waste. When he finished his cleaning tasks, around 10 am, Jawad told him to bring tea and snacks for everyone from a local restaurant. Jihan came back quickly, as the restaurant was near the factory. By that time, the cutting operator Aniket (16 years old) had arrived at the factory and had taken charge of the cutting machine. Jihan started helping him, by fetching and bringing raw materials.

A client arrived at the business to speak to Jawad. Their exchange was revealing about the approach Jawad takes to prioritising work:

Client: Hey! What’s up? Have you started doing my work?

Jawad: No. Not yet. First, I’ll have to finish the work of (another client). After that, I’ll start your work.

Client: But I gave you my leather before (another client). Then why will you start my work after him?

Jawad: During the lockdown, when I did not have any work, then (the other client) helped me by giving me money. So, what do you think? Is there any comparison between you and him?

Client: No. Of course not. I understand.

It is accepted that the other client’s order should be prioritised because of the credit or loan agreement Jawad has with him.

The CLARISSA researcher notes how unbearably hot the day has become, but the client replies “Do not utter a single word against the sun. It is needed”. Jawad explains that his client is dyeing his leather, so the sun is very important to him for the drying stage.

Everyone went to their homes for lunch. In the afternoon, Aniket and Jihan were cutting leather for keyrings. Jihan was mainly responsible for observing a piece of leather for defects. Aniket was responsible for setting the dice (knives) on the better parts of the leather and pressing the machine to make a cut. After cutting the parts, Jihan separated the cut pieces from the big pieces of leather. He counted and arranged them. Jawad monitored their work to ensure Aniket and Jihan were using the leather efficiently. Clients become dissatisfied if they do not cut sufficient numbers of pieces from the leather.

At 4.30 pm Jihan went to a local restaurant to get tea and biscuits for everyone. After that, everyone worked while eating.

At 7.15 pm Jawad calculated the total pieces produced that day, logging the number in his register book according to the date, the number of leather pieces used, and the number of pieces cut. After this, he packed up 1,320 pieces of key ring parts with Jihan.

Jihan and Aniket left at 8.30pm for home. Jawad did not leave. He started cutting, working until midnight.

Day 2

The factory was open when the researcher arrived at 8am. Aniket and Jihan were working but Jawad was not there.

When Jawad returned, he scolded Jihan for not cleaning the factory premises. At first, he slightly yelled at him. Afterwards he explained:

“If you do not clean the factory, it will become dirty, and your health will be affected.”

Jihan started sweeping the floor and then started helping Aniket in cutting. All of them worked just like the previous day until 10:00 am, when Jawad sent Jihan to the local restaurant to buy tea and samosas.

Again, they worked while eating. They did not break and relax.

At 11.30 am a young boy came to the factory to collect waste leather and had the following exchange with Jawad:

Jawad: Who has sent you?

Boy: Akkas Uncle.

Jawad: Oh! Akkas Bhai? Okay, take the waste. But you’ll tell your uncle to pay you some pocket money for having some snacks.

When the child left the factory, Jawad explained:

“Previously, the waste leather was very valuable. Waste leather was used as fish feed or as fuel. But now, the government has banned that business because processed leather contains a huge amount of chrome which is harmful to health. Now, the waste leather is only used for polishing iron nails and things like that”.

Everyone had lunch at home at 1.30pm and the afternoon work took place between 2.30-8.45pm. They cut 1,286 pieces of leather under Jawad’s monitoring. When the children went home Jawad began cutting again.

Day 3

When the researcher arrived at mid-morning the factory looked different. On previous days the unit had been covered in orange colour leather. Now the place was full of coffee coloured leather.

Jawad said he had received a new contract, this time to cut 2,000 pieces for glove production. He was delighted, saying that the client will pay a higher rate because he has to deliver in a short period of time.

Aniket used two types of dice to cut the leather. One was the shape of four fingers, and another was the shape of a thumb. Jihan separated the cut leather from the big pieces and counted them.

Everyone had snacks and lunch at the usual time.

At four in the afternoon Jawad received a phone call from one of his clients. After the conversation, he told Jihan to arrange a packet of 1,000 cut pieces for key rings and deliver them to the client’s factory.

Jawad explained how this client is the biggest in the locality, who sometimes outsources to deliver products to buyers on time. He takes cut leather and makes finished key rings, suppling businesses all over the country. The researcher asked if he could accompany Jihan on the delivery. Jawad’s response was insightful:

“I don’t have any problem. But they will not permit you to enter their factory. That is an export-oriented factory but employs children for working. That’s why they do not permit any unauthorised person to enter their factory. But if you really want, you can go and see it”.

Around 4:30 p.m. Jihan and the researcher started their journey on foot to hand deliver the cut leather to a factory in the Hazaribagh. True to Jawad’s prediction, only Jihan could enter the factory. The researcher waited outside and after he and Jihan went to a local restaurant to buy tea and biscuits.

Everyone worked until 8.30pm, until 148 pieces of leather had been cut into shapes for the gloves. Jawad was not feeling good, so he also left for home.

Day 4

On the fourth day of shadowing, the researcher arrived at 8.30. Aniket and Jihan were working. Jawad was suffering from a fever.

After some time, Aniket started teaching Jihan how to operate the cutting machine. This had not been observed on previous days. It seemed as though they took the opportunity while Jawad was not there. Aniket explained:

“I am his ustad (mentor). I teach him to operate the cutting machine. I let him do the task by himself. If someone does not learn anything practically, his learning will be incomplete. I want him to learn the skill quickly so that he can earn a better salary. If I can teach him properly, he will remember me as a good ustad his entire life”.

The boys worked until 1.00 pm. In the afternoon a client came and asked for Jawad. Aniket explained he wasn’t there so the client began inspecting pieces of the cut leather. He used abusive language with Aniket and Jihan telling them to improve the quality of their work. When the client left Aniket explained the behaviour as a consequence of the agreement:

“We’ll have to deliver cut leather for 4,000 pieces of key rings. Our employer has taken advance payment from him. When the clients pay some advance payment, they impose different conditions. They demand the best quality. But when they take deliverables on credit, they do not say anything about the quality.”

In the afternoon, Aniket and Jihan spent some time, in between working, playing games and watching YouTube on Aniket’s phone. They also took some rest. They were enjoying their freedom.

At 6.30pm the boys shut the factory and went home.

Business-to-business relationships and the credit system

Jawad works hard to maintain good relationships with clients. In one conversation over tea and snacks he gave the below example to illustrate the importance of honesty in generating goodwill and repeat business: 

“For me, honesty is very important. Once, I delivered 10,000 pieces of leather for key rings. The client had given me the raw materials. We found that, with the leather they had provided, we could make 100 extra pieces of key rings (above the order amount). I delivered the commission and did not charge extra money for the additional 100. When they counted and found the 100 extra pieces, they paid me for them. If I had wanted to, I could have sold those extra pieces at a higher price somewhere else, and they even would not have ever known. But I did not do that. As a result, they trusted me and became a regular client”.

Although some of his clients’ export products to foreign countries and are themselves formal companies, Jawad does not use written contracts for commissions. Small factories like his are contracted in an off-the-record way. Instead, he says that the sector depends on trust:

 “They know me; I know them. They have faith that I’ll be able to do the work according to their demand. And I know that they will pay me after I deliver them the deliverables. That’s how we are running our business. Yes, it’s true that sometimes, we face loss. But in those cases, the clients also face losses. They cannot pay us because their payments are also stuck. In those cases, written contracts also cannot save us. If they do not have money, how they will pay us? “

He does not think a written contract would help him navigate business losses when clients do not pay.

 Credit and loan arrangements are more important than contracts for setting expectations about commissions. In one case, Jawad explained to a client that he was obligated to prioritise the work of another client because of previous financial help, even when the order came in later. In another case, Aniket explains that higher quality work is expected when a commission comes with some up-front payment.

Conclusion

Lana Leather Goods is a small scale, informally run business that supplies domestic and export-oriented markets. The business manages a small step in a fragmented production process, smaller in scale than the owners previous glove-manufacturing business, that he was forced to close during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The business turns a modest profit for Jawad, but he works exceptionally long hours, and he hires children as cheap labour to achieve his profit margin. A window into the economics of his business suggests that the retail price points for the leather products cannot support minimum wages for workers across every step of the manufacturing process.

Lana Leather Goods employs two children. A 12-year-old worker is employed directly as a result of his family’s financial crisis during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Both children do repetitive work over long hours in hot and unhealthy conditions, without proper breaks. Jawad reveals his awareness of the health implications of the work, explaining to the youngest the importance of cleaning up the leather so it doesn’t affect his health.

Jawad expressed empathy for the children who work for him and their financial situation and reports that he strives to retain his staff by paying higher wages than his competitors. He also worries that his staff will be lured to an export orientated factory by the prospect of shorter working hours. The children feel that their boss prevents younger workers from becoming skilled so that they are not tempted to get jobs for more money elsewhere. Both children took advantage of Jawad’s day off (when he was sick) to slow down, play and leave work after a 10-hour, rather than their usual 12/13-hour day.