There was also agreement that all codes should include workers' fundamental rights, including the right to organize, and that workers needed to be involved in the monitoring process. Yet if codes are to be effective it was seen as essential that they are applied to workers who are not factory based, since these workers are growing in number and are the most exploited. In May, participating groups met together in Nicaragua to share the results of their workshops with maquila workers. Once again, the first and overwhelming finding was how little workers know about codes of conduct, and in many cases, about local labour law. Another important similarity in views expressed by Central American and Asian consultation participants was the priority workers and participating groups placed on workers learning more about codes and playing a significant role in code monitoring.
Most people have no idea what they are.
For example, we asked workers at sports shoe factories in Southern China this summer about codes of conduct at their factories. Though the workers were producing for companies that advertise their code to consumers, very few workers knew about the code of conduct. Some actually thought we were asking about the factory rules which list fines given for various infractions. The workers felt that the security guards always watched who was reading the code and carefully kept their eyes on the workers who wanted to read the code. The workers fear that if there is ever a strike in the factory, the workers who were seen by security guards reading the code will be suspected as leading the strike.