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Clean Clothes Campaign condemns employers' minimum wage proposal for workers in Bangladesh and urges brands to take action
The Bangladesh garment industry employers’ association has shown utmost disregard for workers’ wellbeing and for their lives outside of garment factories. On Monday, 16 July, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) submitted a proposal to the relevant public authority for the workers’ minimum wage to be set at 6,360 taka (about 75 USD). Not only does this amount not meet any living wage standard for Bangladesh – it does not even remedy employers’ disregard for the legally required increases over the past five years.
Full support for Bangladeshi garment workers’ demands on minimum wage
Ahead of the long overdue meeting of the national Minimum Wage Board, set to take place on Sunday, 8 July, Clean Clothes Campaign expresses solidarity with workers in Bangladesh and full support for their demands. We urge the Minimum Wage Board to increase the minimum wage to 16,000 taka without delay, and to adopt other measures requested by workers and their representatives.
UNIQLO makes Federer cry: Federer’s new sponsor UNIQLO pays him millions, but refuses wages to workers
Since 2015, 2,000 laid-off Indonesian workers who made clothes for UNIQLO and other companies have been waiting for USD 5.5 million of unpaid wages and severance pay. That must make Roger Federer – known for his sense of fairness – cry as much as it does us. That is why at www.hello-roger.ch/en fans and activists are calling on the tennis star to join an urgent international action to make his new sponsor change its stance. Public Eye and Clean Clothes Campaign are criticizing UNIQLO for failing to live up to its social responsibility towards the affected women and men by refusing to negotiate with Indonesian trade unions over compensation for former factory workers.
Bangladesh could risk trade benefits if it does not get serious about workers’ rights
The European Union and the government of Bangladesh face an excellent opportunity to show they are serious about workers’ rights in the garment industry.
Complaint lodged against the European Commission for failing to uphold fundamental human rights in trade policy
The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC), and the HEC-NYU EU Public Interest Clinic have today filed a formal complaint with the European Ombudsman. The labour rights organizations claim the European Commission is not taking into account its human rights obligations regarding trade policies towards Bangladesh, and is not transparent about doing so.
"Turn Around, H&M!" campaigners demand transparency on H&M's wage efforts
In a letter to H&M's Head of Sustainability the "Turn Around, H&M!" campaigners pointed out the different ways in which the response to CCC's public letter sent in March was unsatisfactory. Campaigners once again called for concrete data and expressed the expectation that H&M will yet live up to its commitment that 850,000 workers would be paid a living wage this year.
Adidas and Nike pay record-breaking amounts to footballers, but deny decent wages to women stitching their shirts
While millions of people are getting ready to cheer their favorite teams during the Football World Cup, a report by Éthique sur l’étiquette and Clean Clothes Campaign, ‘Foul Play’, reveals that adidas and Nike, major sponsors of the global event, pay poverty wages to the thousands of women in their supply chain that sew the football shirts and shoes of players and supporters.
New research unveils gender based violence in H&M and Gap garment supply chains
A global coalition of trade unions, worker rights and human rights organizations released groundbreaking factory level research reports documenting gender based violence in H&M and Gap’s Asian garment supply chains. The coalition calls on H&M and Gap to take immediate action to end the violence and harassment that women garment workers are forced to endure daily.
Work to make Bangladeshi factories safe continues, but IKEA refuses to join
Today, 1 June, the 2018 Transition Accord will take effect, working to make garment factories in Bangladesh safer. It will continue the work of its predecessor, which was established shortly after the deadly Rana Plaza collapse in 2013, to inspect factories and monitor renovations in a credible and transparent way. The new Accord has a range of new features, including the fact that it now welcomes producers of home textiles and fabric and knit accessories, next to garment factories. This means that more companies can join and more workers can be protected. However, IKEA, the largest home furnishing company in the world, has refused to bring the home textile factories it sources from in Bangladesh under the purview of the Accord.
Families affected by 2012 Ali Enterprises fire finally receive life-long pensions
As of yesterday, Saturday 19 May, survivors and families that lost loved ones at the Ali Enterprises fire of 2012 will receive pensions out of a fund financed by the factory’s main buyer, German retailer KiK. The process was lengthy – the families had to wait for more than six years -, but the outcome is ground-breaking. In a global precedent for the garment industry, the families will receive life-long pensions matching international standards as set by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
Workers and activists call on H&M’s shareholders to fulfill the living wage commitment
As H&M’s shareholders are gathering in Stockholm for their annual meeting (AGM), the growing international coalition behind the “Turn Around, H&M!” campaign is drawing attention to the fact that H&M is on course to let down hundreds of thousands of workers who have been waiting for a living wage.
Campaign launch: Turn around, H&M!
Clean Clothes Campaign is dedicating this year’s International Labour Day to the hundreds of thousands of workers who produce garments for H&M. They are waiting for the brand to stop turning its back on the commitment that living wages would become a reality by 2018.
Brands sourcing from Bangladesh urged to support workers’ minimum wage demands
More than 20 of the largest brands sourcing from Bangladesh have received a request for them to support garment workers’ demands regarding minimum wage, which has not been revised in five years and is one of the lowest in the global garment industry. Clean Clothes Campaign also urged the brands to call on the government of Bangladesh to immediately end the harassment of workers and labour activists.
Five years on, Clean Clothes Campaign commemorates Rana Plaza workers and calls for a recommitment for meaningful change in the garment industry
Today five years ago, the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh collapsed. Thousands of workers at their sewing machines in the five factories that the building housed were buried in the collapsed structure ‑ 1,134 of them died, thousands more were injured. On this day our thoughts are with the families who lost loved ones five years ago and with the survivors that have to live with the memories of that dreadful tragedy.
Indonesian garment workers appeal to Uniqlo CEO in letters to take action on severance debt
Seventy ex-workers of an Indonesian garment factory, which until its illegal closure three years ago was supplying Japanese fashion giant Uniqlo, have made a personal plea to Tadashi Yanai - Uniqlo’s billionaire owner - calling on him to intervene directly to ensure they finally receive their unpaid wages and severance.
Five years after Rana Plaza, the need for the Bangladesh Accord persists
On the eve of the fifth anniversary of the Rana Plaza disaster that killed 1,134 workers, global trade unions and labour rights organizations are calling on all brands sourcing from Bangladesh to take responsibility for workers making their products by signing the renewed Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety.
Clean Clothes Campaign starts week of action to urge brands to sign the 2018 Bangladesh Accord
Today, a week ahead of the five year anniversary of the Rana Plaza collapse, Clean Clothes Campaign and allies are starting a week of action, urging garment brands to make factories in Bangladesh safe by signing the 2018 Transition Accord.
H&M is trying to cover up its unfulfilled commitment on living wage
In its 2017 Sustainability Report published today H&M is making bold claims about progress in the area of fair jobs, with a focus on living wage. Clean Clothes Campaign has been closely following H&M’s reporting in this area, as well as gathering information in production countries, and we are compelled to strongly refute the self-congratulatory statements made in the report.
Bravo workers forced to take partial payments from Zara, Mango, Next
Clean Clothes Campaign sends our solidarity to the Bravo workers, who have showed remarkable bravery and demonstrated an unwaivering commitment to the principles of fairness and justice. Following a period of sustained pressure from the brands involved, 140 Turkish garment workers have accepted partial payments towards the debt owed to them when the Bravo factory – which produced clothing for Zara, Mango (Inditex) and the UK brand Next – closed overnight in June 2016. Their struggle has played a vital role in highlighting an issue which affects thousands of garment workers worldwide and demonstrated the power and importance of solidarity between workers and consumers alike.
Clean Clothes Campaign calls for immediate release of Bangladesh trade unionists held on false charges
The Clean Clothes Campaign is calling for the immediate release of seven trade union leaders from the Garment Workers Trade Union Centre in Bangladesh, detained last week on the basis of apparently false charges filed against them by the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.