2012
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December 19, 2012
Tazreen fire: What brands should do, and their responses so far
Brands should help the victims. The brands should take swiftly a clear principle commitment on compensation, which needs to be negotiated with the trade unions representing the workers at Tazreen, and be based on international standards as well as established precedents and customs in Bangladesh. The international buyers from the Tazreen factory bear responsibility for full redress of the victims, which includes contribution to the loss of income and damages for the injured and families of the dead.
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December 19, 2012
Demand justice for the victims of the Tazreen fire
On the 24th November 2012, at least 112 workers died in the fire at Tazreen Fashions, a garment factory near Dhaka, Bangladesh. Many of the workers jumped to their deaths trying to escape from the nine story building. Others, unable to escape the blaze, were burned alive. Tazreen produced for a host of well known brand names, including C&A, KIK, Walmart, Li & Fung, Edinburgh Woollen Mill, Disney, Dickies, Sean Comb (ENYCE) and Kmart/Sears.
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December 13, 2012
Call on Original Marines: stop intimidation of union members
Since May 2012, garment workers making clothing for Italian brand Original Marines at PT SC Enterprises have faced ongoing intimidation for their trade union activities. PT SC Enterprises is an Indonesian supplier located in Central Java exporting to the European market. Outwardly a green, “modern environmentally friendly garment factory”, conditions within the factory are grim, with low wages, long working hours and forced unpaid overtime. Workers are also highly insecure—out of 1,400 employees, 60% are on short-term contracts, 30% are casual and only 10% are permanent.
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December 12, 2012
Christmas 'fashion mobs' for a living wage in Cambodia
Christmas shoppers stand to be taken by surprise this month as campaigners take action in shopping centers around Europe to raise awareness of poverty wages of Cambodian garment workers. With these 'fashion mobs', they pressure H&M, Inditex (Zara), Levi’s and Gap to introduce a living wage in Cambodia.
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December 10, 2012
Aslam Hidayet, ex-worker Kizone factory: 'Adidas deceives us'
More than 5000 of you wrote on adidas' and Justin Bieber's Facebook wall to push them to pay the severance pay of the Kizone workers. Justin Bieber failed to respond, and adidas simply sent us a letter arguing that the workers were satisfied with the food vouchers they had been issued with.
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December 5, 2012
Vigils at European C&A stores for justice Tazreen fire victims
This week Clean Clothes Campaigns in Spain, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands and Austria organise candlelight vigils in front of C&A stores. The labour rights group calls upon C&A and other buyers from the Tazreen Fashions factory in Bangladesh to ensure compensation to the victims, take credible steps to prevent future tragedies in the industry and support a full and transparent investigation into the fires. C&A and Li&Fung have confirmed that they were sourcing from Tazreen at the time of the fire that caused the death of at least 112 workers, and injured more than 50. Other companies that confirmed sourcing from Tazreen in the past year include Spanish companies Sfera and Hipercor (subsidaries of El Corte Inglés) and the German discounter KIK.
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December 5, 2012
“Here in Thailand they know I get a lot of international support. Without that support I would maybe already be dead.”
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December 5, 2012
Court hearing Somyot 19th December: an update
Somyot, a Thai labour activist, human rights defender and magazine editor, has been in detention since April 2011, awaiting trial under the Thai lèse-majesté law* (Article 112) for the publication of two articles deemed insulting to the monarch. He faces up to 30 years in prison.
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December 4, 2012
Trade unions and labour groups’ demands to buyers from Tazreen Fashions
Bangladeshi trade unions and international organizations are calling on all brands sourcing from the devastated Tazreen Fashions factory, which burnt down last weekend killing 112 workers, to provide emergency relief, medical costs and compensation to all those affected by the fire. They are also being asked, along with other key brands and stakeholders, to ensure an immediate and transparent investigation into the events surrounding the fire and to take urgent steps to prevent future tragedies in the industry.
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November 29, 2012
Dismissed Mölnlycke workers continue their struggle
More than one year of workers' struggle has not moved the company Mölnlycke Health Care (Thailand) Ltd., the Thai subsidiary of a Swedish multinational, to reinstate 22 union members that were unfairly dismissed in September 2011. The company produces hospital gowns for among others public health institutions in Sweden and Norway. Norwegian health institutions recently announced it would be particularly hard to sign a new contract with Mölnlycke given the company's continued refusal to reinstate the workers even after a national tripartite body ordered them to do so. Mölnlycke produces a wide range of other medical devices in several countries, including Indonesia, Belgium, Thailand, Malaysia, France, Poland and the Czech Republic.
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November 29, 2012
More action needed on Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety
Labor Rights Groups Urge US and European Governments to Press Apparel Brands and Retailers to Sign onto Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Agreement
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November 26, 2012
Sean Combs’ ENYCE labels found in Bangladesh factory fire
US rapper and producer, Sean Combs, more commonly known as Puff Daddy or P Diddy, is called upon by campaigners to take action today after his ENYCE brand was linked a tragic fire which killed 120 Bangladeshi garment workers on Saturday. Labels from his ENYCE brand were found in the wreckage of the burnt out Tazreen Fashion garment factory by local activists.
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November 25, 2012
Bangladesh factory fire: brands accused of criminal negligence
The Clean Clothes Campaign, along with trade unions and labour rights organisations in Bangladesh and around the world is calling for immediate action from international brands following yesterday's fire in Dhaka Bangladesh, which cost the lives over one hundred garment workers.
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November 24, 2012
Human Rights Trial on Garment Industry Concludes
The National Peoples’ Tribunal for living wages and decent working conditions of garment workers continued today at Kannada Sahitya Parishad, with much rigour and conviction with the participation of experts, union leaders, brand representatives and workers.
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November 23, 2012
India: Human Rights trial hears fashion worker woes
Garment workers alongside international brands and government representatives gave evidence at a tribunal which started in Bangalore this week to assess claims of systematic human rights abuses in the Indian garment industry. 250 garment workers from Bangalore, Gurgaon and Tirupur attended the tribunal, foregoing their daily wage and attendance bonus, to share testimonies of rights abuses and exploitation at the hands of western brands, surveyed by a panel of international judges.
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November 20, 2012
Indian Garment industry to receive human rights trial
Local trade unionists condemn GAP for refusing to attend.
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November 19, 2012
In Memoriam Korshed Alam, August 18, 1966 - November 17, 2012
It is with great shock and grief that Clean Clothes Campaign has learned of the sudden death of our dear friend and fellow activist Korshed Alam, Executive Director of Alternative Movement for Resources and Freedom Society (AMRF) in Bangladesh.
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November 14, 2012
Books and plastic replicas of prison food: a visit to Somyot
In November, our colleague Marcella Kraay visited Somyot in prison in Thailand.
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November 12, 2012
Global protest swamps adidas’ Facebook page
Thousands of people from across the globe are leaving messages on adidas originals' Facebook page about adidas' failure to pay Indonesian workers US$1.8million severance pay.
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November 6, 2012
Esprit and Li&Fung target of international street actions
An international call for action from the Clean Clothes Campaign last week led to protests in cities around the world. In Istanbul, Chiang Mai and Hong Kong workers protested against the failure of Esprit and its agent Li&Fung to pay €4.7 million Euro owed to more than 2000 people who became jobless after the factory closed. 'These actions are only the beginning of our campaign to make Esprit and Li & Fung pay up,' says Ineke Zeldenrust, International Coordinator at Clean Clothes Campaign.
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November 5, 2012
Join our global Week of Action against adidas!
This week, we join hands with our friends from Labour Behind The Label, SumOfUs, USAS, People and Planet, Ms Wanda, ILRF and many more to tell adidas to stop throwing around excuses. We want them to finally pay up the US$1.8 million of severance payments they owe the Kizone workers in Indonesia. The Kizone factory closed in April 2011, leaving 2,800 people out of work and without pay. It's time for a global Week of Action!
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November 1, 2012
Esprit and Li & Fung leave Hey Tekstil workers hanging
For over eight months groups of Hey Tekstil workers have protested in Istanbul for their unpaid wages, severance and other payments from Li & Fung, one of the world’s largest garment trading companies. Li & Fung was sourcing almost all of the production at Hey Tekstil for one brand: Esprit, when the workers were fired without pay.
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October 30, 2012
Textile Discounter KIK makes cheap offer to victims of Pakistan garment factory fire
The Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) calls on the German textile discounter KIK to pay a fair and just compensation for all the victims of the garment factory fire at Ali Enterprises in Pakistan. The immediate relief payments that KIK promised are urgently needed and welcomed, but the amount pledged covers less than 4% of what ultimately will be needed.
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October 26, 2012
Statement Regarding Gap’s Refusal to Agree to a Fire Safety Program in Bangladesh
Gap Inc. has refused to participate in a comprehensive fire safety program, to which two other major apparel brands have already committed, to address the deadly working conditions at its supplier factories in Bangladesh.
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October 26, 2012
Call on Gap to protect Bangladeshi workers' lives
Since 2006 at least 500 Bangladeshi garment workers have died in factory fires while sewing clothing for giant fashion companies, like Gap and H&M. Future tragic deaths could be prevented if companies like Gap would follow the lead of brands like Tommy Hilfiger and the German retailer Tchibo, by agreeing to a fire safety program that includes really independent inspections, mandatory repairs and renovations of safety hazards, a central role for workers and unions, transparency and binding commitments to protect workers.
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October 25, 2012
H&M under fire as Swedish television unearths Cambodian production scandal
A documentary revealing the miserable conditions faced by Cambodian factory workers producing goods for the fashion retailer H&M was aired on Swedish national television last night. Campaigners and the media are calling on H&M to respond to allegations of poverty pay in the industry.
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October 22, 2012
Sweatshop Campaigners unite against Adidas' "Fundamentally flawed" workers rights summit
Anti-sweatshop campaigners from the US and Europe today united to condemn a summit to be held in Lausanne, Switzerland on Tuesday organised by adidas, intended to deal with the issues workers face when its supplier factories close. Whilst United Students Against Sweatshops, the Clean Clothes Campaign, War On Want and People & Planet welcome comprehensive, long-term solutions to workers’ rights abuses in adidas’ supply chain, they say the summit is “fundamentally flawed” and an “empty rhetorical gesture” as workers in Indonesia that made adidas products have been waiting for severance payments for over a year.
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October 22, 2012
Brands and management fail to resolve Bratex dispute
CCC calls on Bratex management and buyers Fruit of the Loom and Viania to resolve a dispute in the factory, which has been ongoing for more than two years. Sri Lankan supplier Bratex has yet to come to an agreement with workers, meaning 31 workers remain without jobs, and workers' demands in relation to wages, bonuses and freedom of association have still not been met. The year long investigation of the Fair Labor Association FLA has failed to produce any results.
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October 18, 2012
Europe's biggest fashion brands embroiled in poverty pay outrage
Europe's biggest fashion brands embroiled in poverty pay outrage - Campaigners mimic factory fainting in stores across Europe
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October 18, 2012
Large public procurer in Norway publicly supports dismissed Thai workers
The South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority, the largest public procurer in the health sector in Norway, publicly supports a number of dismissed Thai workers at Mölnlycke Health Care (Thailand) Ltd. The company which produces hospital gowns sacked 22 unionized workers in September 2011 following their participation in what the gown manufacturer describes as an 'illegal strike'.
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October 16, 2012
Urge KIK to identify buyers and pay compensation to Pakistan fire victims
On Tuesday 11th September almost 300 workers were killed when a fire ripped through the Ali Enterprises factory in Karachi, Pakistan. At the time of the fire the factory was producing jeans for the German low cost retailer, KIK, which has more than 3000 stores in eight European countries.
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October 10, 2012
adidas 'humanitarian aid' gives cold shoulder to Kizone workers
One month after our petition with nearly 50,000 signatures was handed over to adidas by US and European activists, the sports brand issued a statement saying how they intend to respond to the outstanding US$1.8million in severance payments owed to former Kizone workers in Indonesia.
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October 10, 2012
Factory certification body fails to assist victims of Karachi factory fire
Labour rights groups call upon Social Accountability International (SAI) to release information on brand buyers and factory audit reports
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October 4, 2012
Day 230 in the picket line: Esprit involved in Hey Tekstil severance case
Hong Kong-based brand Esprit was a big buyer from the Hey Tekstil factory in the months before closure last February. An estimated 80-90% of the clothes made at Hey Tekstil in Turkey were for Esprit. Sacked workers are still waiting for back wages in the picket line in Istanbul.
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September 25, 2012
US university dumps adidas: first-ever contract loss over sweatshop abuse
US Cornell University announced that they will severe their contract with adidas from the beginning of October 2012, becoming the first U.S. university in history to terminate an agreement with the German company over labour rights. Cornell’s decision comes nearly a year and a half after PT Kizone, an adidas supplier factory in Indonesia, shut down unexpectedly in 2011. The closure left nearly 3,000 workers without $1.8 million in legally-owed severance. Adidas still refuses to pay up.
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September 25, 2012
Pakistan fire victims producing for German low-cost retailer KIK
The Clean Clothes Campaign today express their shock and outrage at the failure of German company KIK to ensure that workers in its supplier factories are employed in safe working conditions after it was confirmed that Ali Enterprises, which last week burnt down killing almost 300 people, was producing jeans for the low-cost retailer.
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September 20, 2012
Tchibo second retailer worldwide to commit to groundbreaking fire safety programme
Bangladeshi garment suppliers under independent building inspections
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September 19, 2012
Human rights and labour organizations today urge that magazine editor and human rights defender Somyot Prueksakasemsuk be immediately released from 17-month pre-trial detention. If convicted, he faces up to 30 years in prison under Article 112 of the Criminal Code (the lèse-majesté law) for the publication of two articles deemed insulting to the monarchy. The group further called on the Thai authorities to uphold international standards of freedom of expression, and to stop using Article 112 and arbitrary detention to criminalize or restrict free speech.
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September 18, 2012
The Clean Clothes Campaign started a Europe-wide campaign called No More Excuses to demand companies pay sweatshop workers in Cambodia enough to lift them out of poverty. Campaigners in 11 European countries will work together to call on popular brands to pay a living wage to workers. You can help!
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September 17, 2012
Pakistan fire victims producing for German low-cost retailer KIK
The Clean Clothes Campaign today express their shock and outrage at the failure of German company KIK to ensure that workers in its supplier factories are employed in safe working conditions after it was confirmed that Ali Enterprises, which last week burnt down killing almost 300 people, was producing jeans for the low-cost retailer.
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September 14, 2012
Pakistani factory struck by fire believed to supply European market
Information emerging from Pakistan today suggests that the Ali Enterprise factory in Karachi, which burned down on Tuesday killing over 300 workers, was supplying goods to the European market. The Clean Clothes Campaign is now calling on all brands and retailers sourcing from Karachi to undertake immediate reviews of all their suppliers.
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September 12, 2012
Global brands should ensure garment worker safety
CCC mourns the senseless deaths of at least 250 garment workers who perished in three factory fires in Pakistan and Russia this week.
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September 5, 2012
On Monday campaigners in Germany, the UK and the US handed over a petition to adidas demanding overdue severance pay for 2,800 Indonesian garment workers. In total 1.5 million is illegally withheld from the workers, which is less than two per cent of the cost of adidas Olympic sponsorship.
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September 5, 2012
Free Somyot! Freedom of speech is not a crime
On 19 September the Thai Criminal Court will announce the date of the verdict of Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, well known editor and long time labour rights activist in Thailand. He can face 30 years in prison. We need your voice again, so let it be loud!
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August 8, 2012
Don't blame the whistle-blower: Mirrai responsible for loss of orders
Clean Clothes Campaign and IndustriALL reproach the Employers' Federation of Ceylon for lashing out at the trade union FTZGSEU.
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July 26, 2012
Insulting offer of adidas food vouchers rejected by workers
An offer by adidas to donate food vouchers to Indonesian workers owed millions of euros has been described as downright insulting by union representatives and labour right campaigners. The workers, previously employed at ex-addidas supplier PT Kizone, have been fighting for over a year to get adidas to pay the 1.5 million euros still owed to them in unpaid severance. Adidas' offer: a food voucher worth just 43 euros.
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June 20, 2012
CCC is gravely worried about the violent repression of garment workers and their labour leaders in Ashulia in Bangladesh.
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June 20, 2012
First time victory: Migrant workers receive minimum wage in Thailand
For the first time, migrant workers in the Mae Sot area successfully demanded wages in accordance with the new legal minimum wage. Factory owner M Apparel (one of Lee's suppliers) gave into the demand of 323 (mostly female) workers after negotiations with the workers who received support of MAP foundation and Yaung Chi Oo Worker Association.
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June 18, 2012
PT Kizone update 15th June 2012 - PT Kizone workers protest at British and German embassies
On 11th June, to coincide with the Euro 2012 football tournament, which is sponsored by adidas, dozens of PT Kizone workers and their supporters held a march in Jakarta calling on adidas to pay the $1.8 million dollars owned to them in severance pay.
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June 11, 2012
Hey Tekstil campaign in Turkish
This is the text of the urgent appeal and the background information, in Turkish
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June 7, 2012
Background on Hey Tekstil, Turkey
Li & Fung, one of the largest apparel sourcing companies in the world, is refusing to pay 2.038 Hey Tekstil workers in Turkey 4.7 million EUR of overdue wages, severance, and notification payments. The conflict began in February 2012 when the last 420 of 3.000 workers from the Turkish apparel company Hey Tekstil Sanayi ve Ticaret L.Ş. were fired from the company’s Istanbul factory without notice. The workers got organized and decided to take action. At the time of the closure, workers were producing clothes for such brands as Esprit and Disney, which placed their orders through Li & Fung. For the last two years, Li & Fung had 80-90% of the production at Hey Tekstil factories, according to former Hey Tekstil representatives.
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June 7, 2012
Hong Kong company Li & Fung refuses to pay workers
We urge you to support 420 struggling workers in Turkey who have been staging a picket line in front of Li & Fung for three months. These workers were employed by a company called Hey Tekstil. From November 2011 to February 2012, the company did not pay them for their last three months of work, fired them without notice, and subsequently failed to pay them their legally-mandated severance and notification payments.
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June 3, 2012
Light the Flame for a fair Olympics
Summer is almost here and with it the Olympic Games in London. The Olympics Games aims to “build a better world through sport” and promotes values of fair play, respect and equality Unfair play, disrespect and inequality aren’t values we usually associate with the Olympics. But for some workers making Olympic goods and sportswear, this is what the Olympic ideal really means.
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May 9, 2012
adidas, step up your game on workers' rights!
adidas, step up your game on workers’ rights and make sure PT Kizone workers get the deal they deserve.
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May 9, 2012
Background on PT Kizone, Indonesia
2,800 workers formerly employed at the Indonesian sportswear manufacture, PT Kizone have now been fighting for over a year to get severance owed to them following the closure of the factory and the abscondment of its owner.
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May 6, 2012
Abuses still exist in Olympic supply chains, says Playfair 2012
Workers making Olympic sportswear for London 2012 for top brands and high street names including Adidas and Next are being paid poverty wages, forced to work excessive overtime and threatened with instant dismissal if they complain about working conditions, according to a new report from the Playfair 2012 campaign published today.
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April 11, 2012
Bangladeshi labor rights activist tortured and murdered
Aminul Islam, a Bangladeshi labor rights activist and former apparel worker was tortured and murdered last week in Dhaka. His body was dumped outside of the capital city and was found by local police last Thursday. According to the police report, Aminul Islam's body bore signs of brutal torture. It is most likely that Aminul was murdered because of his labour rights work.
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March 29, 2012
Release of report on Sandblasted denim and its fatal effects on workers
Killer Jeans still being made. New research shows that sandblasting continues in high street production
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March 29, 2012
New research shows that sandblasting continues in high street production. A new report, Deadly Denim, released by the Clean Clothes Campaign, found that large factories exporting jeans overseas continue to use sandblasting.
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March 22, 2012
Agreement reached with PVH on safety in Bangladeshi garment factories
CCC, together with Bangladeshi and international labour rights groups and trade unions, have signed an Memorandum of Understanding with the US based company PVH (owner of Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein) to improve safety at their suppliers in Bangladesh.
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March 8, 2012
Many people can sympathize with the Robin Hood ‘stealing from the rich to give to the poor’ ideology, but in Haryana, India, the opposite is happening. Mazdoor Ekta Manch is seeking your support for their Stop Wage Theft campaign. Please sign their petition.
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February 23, 2012
The International Olympic Committee are today under pressure to take a stand on sweatshop labour as a report showing widespread exploitation of workers producing merchandise for the London Olympic games is released.
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January 19, 2012
Updates from the Somyot trial in Thailand
On January 16th, Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, editor of “Voice of Taksin” magazine, was brought to Nakornsawan Provincial Court for the third hearing of the prosecution witnesses. More than 40 supporters and family attended, including an international observer, John Maynard, the president of the Postal Workers Union of Australia, and long time friend of Somyot’s.
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January 12, 2012
Just Pay it: Wage compensation for Indonesian Nike workers
After 11 months of negotiation, a Nike supplier factory has agreed to pay $1m to Indonesian workers for 593,468 hours of unpaid overtime.For the 4,500 workers the deal means that they receive an average of about US$ 220 each.
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